Odell

Parkdale's and Odell's community plans progress

The Hood River County Community Development Department recently completed the planning process to designate Parkdale as a rural unincorporated community after the Board of Commissioners’ October 21 meeting. The meeting included a public hearing, Board deliberations, and adoption of the Parkdale Community Plan. Earlier this year, the Community Development Department initiated a similar planning process to designate Odell as an urban unincorporated community.

Both activities are legislative actions that comply with Oregon Statewide Planning Goal 14 (Urbanization) to formally establish unincorporated communities, define boundaries, and outline permitted uses and zoning for residential, commercial, and industrial purposes.

The Parkdale Community Plan Process 

The newly established Parkdale Community Plan will amend the Hood River County Comprehensive Plan, Zoning/Plan Map, and Zoning Ordinance. 

The process to designate Parkdale a rural unincorporated community has been ongoing for some time. It was restarted in 2022 after more than a decade-long postponement due to DEQ-required system upgrades for the Parkdale Sanitary District’s wastewater treatment facility. 

Parkdale Community Plan

Upon restarting the Parkdale planning process, community meetings, a community survey and analysis, draft comprehensive plan amendments, and public hearings were part of this planning process. Staff from the County and consultant MIG developed draft comprehensive plan amendments and zoning code/map revisions based on the input received.

Following this, the County Planning Commission and Board of Commissioners held a joint work session last summer to consider the draft community plan and related comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance/map changes. Subsequent revisions to the community plan and associated documents were made based on input from the Planning Commission and Board.  A revised draft was then presented to the County Planning Commission during a public hearing, which included a recommendation that the Board of Commissioners adopt the Community Plan with some changes. That action led to first and second readings of the draft ordinance at regularly scheduled Board of Commissioners meetings, and the final public hearing before adoption of the plan. Next, the Parkdale Community Plan will be sent to the State of Oregon for acceptance.

A copy of the Parkdale Community Plan and related documents are available on the County Planning Department website at hrccd.hoodrivercounty.gov/departments/planning-zoning/special-projects.

The Odell Community Plan Process

In 2002, the Odell planning process began, and a draft community plan was created. However, the draft was put aside to conduct research, including an industrial land inventory/needs analysis, a population study, and additional public facilities analyses. In 2012, the project was reactivated with updates, but two possible boundary locations were not supported by the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD). Consequently, the Board of Commissioners put the project on hold to consider options.

The County Community Development Department was recently awarded a housing planning grant from the DLCD to restart the Odell planning process. With these funds, the County was able to initiate Phase 1 of the project, which aims to investigate the unmet need for housing, determine the availability of public facilities to serve existing and future development, and identify two or more potential options for boundary locations. It's important to note that an unincorporated community boundary located within 10 miles of an urban growth area (UGA) may not be expanded in the future. Since Odell is approximately seven miles from the Hood River UGA, this presents a distinct challenge for this planning process.

Phase 1 is expected to be completed by the end of May 2025. County staff, along with consultants from ECOnorthwest, have already hosted two community kick-off events — one in Spanish and one in English — to gather input. Approximately 80 community members attended both events held at the Mid-Valley Elementary School. An advisory committee of 10 local residents and/or workers is also assisting the County with this project.

Currently, ECOnorthwest is conducting several assessments to determine the capacities of existing facilities and services to serve future growth. A traffic assessment is also being performed. A follow-up community event will be scheduled to share this information, likely in early spring.

Phase 2 of the project is estimated to begin in about a year and will build upon the findings from Phase 1 to develop a community plan for Odell. This plan is anticipated to be adopted by the Board of Commissioners within a couple of years.

Until Odell is designated as an unincorporated community, the County must classify property there as "rural land." This classification requires a minimum residential lot size of two acres, permits a maximum of one single-family dwelling per parcel, and limits commercial building sizes to 3,000 square feet.

Hood River County has formally identified other unincorporated communities and rural service centers including Oak Grove, Rockford, Windmaster, Van Horn (Pine Grove), and Mt. Hood. Odell is the final unincorporated community left to be completed in the County.

Parkdale