The Troutdale City Council tentatively has scheduled a public meeting Tuesday, Aug. 7, to release the results of an investigation of a controversial building on Mayor Jim Kight’s property.

The City Council has questioned whether the building violates city development and building codes, if Kight misrepresented the building when he submitted the plans to the city and if Kight used his influence as an elected official to get it approved by city staff.

The controversy surrounding the legality of the building was one major issue that led to the City Council’s censure — or official reprimand — of Kight in May 2011.

The City Council then hired the Portland law firm of Harrang Long Gary Rudnick in 2011 to handle the independent investigation into the building and the process leading to its construction.

The City Council has held three executive sessions to discuss the results of the investigation. Executive sessions are closed to the general public but open to the news media.

Council President Doug Daoust said the council is looking forward to releasing the report to the public, noting many residents have asked about the investigation.

“The citizens of Troutdale have waited a long time for this independent report to come out, and council has spent hours and hours reading and digesting what’s in there,” he said.

Kight said he plans to share his side of the story at the Tuesday meeting and has prepared to release a statement, “which will be appropriate.”

Background

Kight has described the building, which was built next to his home on Jackson Park Road by the Sandy River and completed in May 2011, as an accessory structure that was intended to provide office space for himself and his wife.

However, city councilors have questioned whether the building is a house as defined by city code and if Kight misrepresented the building when the plans were submitted to the city.

At 1,016 square feet, the building exceeds the city’s limit on the size of accessory structures by 16 feet. The city did not require a variance.

The building has a carpeted living room, two carpeted rooms that are used as office space, kitchen space with a microwave oven and cabinets, a bay window and a deck.

The building also has a lower level, which Kight called an enclosed crawlspace. City councilors, however, have questioned if it should be classified as a basement, which would be illegal for a residence on the floodplain. There’s also an issue of whether the basement level, including square footage, changes the square footage of the building to 2,032 square feet, more than twice the legal limit.

The city’s regulations prevent residential structures from having basements on the Sandy River floodplain, though they do allow accessory structures to have waterproofed basements.