Pendleton Planning Commission to hold hearing on housing development
By Terry Murry on Thursday, July 9th, 2026 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – The Pendleton Planning Commission is holding a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. today (Thursday) on a proposal to create a subdivision in an area of southwest Pendleton that does not have public rights-of-way. The land sits above Pendleton Community Park and McKay Creek Elementary School. Currently, the only access to the property of over 700 acres is the one-lane John Struve Bridge.
The proposal is for the construction of 36 lots with 28 single-unit dwellings and six two-unit homes. There would also be a parking lot constructed by the developer. The staff report to the commission mentions the possibility of connecting with Southwest 44th Street or Southwest Perkins Avenue, which are currently dead ends.
A proposal for a similar development was turned down by the city of Pendleton several years ago. Residents pointed out that for the many homes already in the area there is only one point of egress in the case of an emergency, with the potential flooding of McKay Creek as such a possible emergency. They said additional housing would only add to that burden.
“Because this subdivision is dependent upon construction of future public rights-of-way and utility infrastructure connectivity, a development agreement will need to be signed and recorded on the specifications upon expectations between the city and the developer,” a staff report on the proposal states.
The owner of the land has not changed since the first attempt to develop the land. It is Jim Whitney. The applicant for the proposal is Nicole Whitney-Chamberlin of Chamberlin Homes LLC, which has the same mailing address as Whitney.
The hearing will be in council chambers of Pendleton City Hall. It will also be streamed at https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/280837386442485?p=GwLgCOjhvOrj2Ti9vx. The meeting ID is 280 837 386 442 485 and the passcode is dd6zJ9YN. The full agenda of the meeting is available at City of Pendleton – Meeting Information.
File photo of Pendleton City Council Chambers
