Wilsonville Development Review Board denies Home Depot’s proposed use of former Fry’s Electronics building

The Wilsonville Development Review Board decided that Home Depot’s proposed use of the former Fry’s Electronics building would not continue the existing non-conforming use, disrupting Home Depot’s plans to move into the building.

Wilsonville Planning Director Miranda Bateshell said in an email that the April 24 decision means Home Depot cannot use the property “as-is.” The company would have to be approved for a “change of use” or submit a development application “that meets the clear and objective standards of the Town Center zone” to use the property.

Home Depot’s representatives have the opportunity to appeal the DRB’s decision to Wilsonville City Council.

The city determined the existing non-conforming use based on how the property was used on June 5, 2019, when the Town Center Plan took effect and it became non-confirming to zoning standards. New regulations said retail use at the property could not extend beyond 30,000 square feet, and the building extends beyond that limit.

Fry’s Electronics operated in the building at the time and its operations were the basis of the city’s decision on what the legally established use of the building is.

In a separate review on the status of the building during an April 15 meeting , Wilsonville City Council affirmed a previous Development Review Board determination that the existing use of the property is a “159,400 square-foot electronics-related retail store,” after representatives of Home Depot appealed the decision.

The Development Review Board’s most recent decision comes after a hearing on April 8, where Home Depot representatives argued the board should allow the company to move into the building.

At Home Depot’s request, the public record was left open until April 15 and a final legal argument was submitted on April 22.

Home Depot representatives’ final legal argument cited many of the same points brought up in the April 8 hearing, as well as the hearing before City Council related to the existing non-conforming status of the building.

Representatives reasserted their argument that the existing non-conforming use is not specifically an electronics retail store, but a broad commercial use based on a land use decision in 1991.

In discussion during the April 24 meeting, Development Review Board member Kamran Mesbah said that to him, the company’s strategy over the last several meetings is a “clear effort to over generalize on one hand, and whitewash the differences on the other hand, and create a nebulous environment where everything from a super-Walmart to the corner grocery store, that has rows and aisles and signage and shelving, is all in the same category and acceptable.”

Mesbah mentioned Home Depot’s argument that the company would have less traffic — and therefore less impact — than Fry’s Electronics. He said this statement was a generalization and a “very universal statement.”