PHOENIX, Ore. — While the Phoenix City Council seems intent on moving forward with an amendment to the city code that would allow for an increase in high-density housing, some members of the planning commission, including a council member-elect, expressed disapproval of the measure.

The council met with the planning commission in a work session Tuesday evening ahead of a second public reading (scheduled Dec 21) on the measure that would amend city code to include zoning for high-density housing in areas currently a zoned commercial highway.

“I live here, so I have a vested interest in this town and vested interest in what I see when I drive through this town,” said Planning Commissioner Krista Peterson and councilwoman-elect. “Low-income housing is not a full direction we can go. Trust me I manage apartments that are by low-income housing.”

City Community and Economic Development Director Joe Slaughter, who drafted the proposal, noted that the zone did not require the units to be used for low-income housing.

“It is specifically targeted at two things. One is to provide for more housing just in general in Phoenix,” Slaughter said. “The second part of that is that by providing more housing, and possibly of types that are generally more affordable, then we could help in providing or improving housing affordability across the city.”

The city has been looking at ways to increase housing since the Almeda fire swept through down destroying over 500 homes.

Planning Commissioner Marcia Monceaux said the proposal is an opportunity to change the town and build upon what it was before the Almeda fire on Sept. 8. Unlike Peterson, she showed support for the proposal.

“The north side would be a good place to put some affordable housing or high-density housing,” Monceaux said. “There are too many people that need housing and we need to provide it for them or they’re going to go somewhere else and that’s my opinion.”

Planning Commission Chair Mickey Summerhays raised a concern about the board’s inability to control who comes in to build the houses and she worries for people’s safety.

“We don’t have the same safeguards that we have in residential to ensure that the livability standards are up to what they should be,” Summerhays said.

Peterson agreed with Summerhays and said the current land is “bare-bones” and unnecessary to use for housing.

“Do you think that it’s right that we as the eyes and ears and with Phoenix’s best interest at heart go ahead and throw a bunch of kids and dogs and people on commercial highway? Squeeze them in between landmark and well-burned electric?” Peterson said.

Summerhays said she encourages some sort of housing and thinks it would be good for Phoenix if people are protected. But said after years of experience on the commission, she knows that the appearance of the town has also been a priority for commissioners.

“I don’t mind that some is low-income housing. I’d like to hope that it’s attractive housing since it’s going to be on the highway. It’s going to be the visual image that Phoenix projects,” Summerhays said.

Councilor Al Muelhoefer showed support for the proposal saying it will draw people and developers to Phoenix. He said if the land is not used for housing, many fire survivors will not come back.

“The commercial’s been doing nothing,” Muelhoefer said. “Before the fire, there was so much empty commercial in downtown Phoenix, I’ll walk the blocks with you. If you think a commercial is great, that’s ridiculous.”

Slaughter said although he is not trying to cover Phoenix in affordable housing, he thinks his proposal  would support local businesses that survived the fire by bringing in more residents to patronize them.

“I fear that if we don’t have people living in Phoenix then we won’t support the commercial development we already have in place,” Slaughter said.

Peterson said she hopes the council will not rush to approve the proposal and noted that she would like to have the opportunity to participate in deliberations once she is sworn in as councilwoman.

“I think we just really need to look at it and think it over. I think you really need to think about the people in Phoenix that we are impacting with this zone change,” Peterson said. “This is something that is always going to be attractive to anybody that wants to make money and there are a lot of people out there with a lot of money that want to make money.”