GRACE COFFEY

Grace Coffey is a Senior Planner with Winterbrook Planning. She specializes in housing projects, GIS and spatial analysis, development code research and development, and community engagement.

“I hope to apply my skills to reduce inequalities, provide opportunities, and create better environments.”

Grace received her Bachelor of Arts in Urban Planning and Sustainable Development at  Western Washington University and received her Master of Urban and Regional Planning at Portland State University. Since working at Winterbrook, she has worked on a diverse range of projects across Oregon, on behalf of both public and private clients. Grace provides analysis of development code implications and regulatory frameworks for projects ranging from UGB expansions to housing development. She has successfully worked with municipalities to draft, amend, and implement development codes and comprehensive plans, ensuring effective zoning and land-use policies that are compliant with state law. Additionally, Grace provides on-call planning services to several small cities and has experience in environmental and wetland permitting.

In her free time, Grace enjoys mushroom hunting, making pottery, and going blues dancing!

Representative Experience:

Dayton DLCD Housing Work
Grace worked with Dayton, OR to prepare recommendations for comprehensive plan amendments to comply with housing-related statutes and facilitate housing production, affordability, and choice. Grace prepared a residential buildable land inventory and conducted an audit of Dayton’s comprehensive plan. A large element of the project was extensive public engagement on housing issues and middle housing options. Winterbrook Planning’s recommendations laid the groundwork for comprehensive plan updates needed after the 2025 Housing Capacity Analysis (HCA) and incorporated information from a buildable lands inventory, middle housing engagement, and input from the public.

Vernonia UGB Swap
Grace assisted the City of Vernonia with a UGB Adjustment or “swap” to remove residentially designated land that was unsuitable for efficient development from the UGB and bring in land that was in proximity to a school and surrounded on three sides by the existing UGB.  Grace performed the analysis for the swap and crafted comprehensive plan policies to ensure the land brought into the UGB would be efficiently urbanized. The proposal was approved by Vernonia Planning Commission and City Council and Columbia County Planning Commission.

Turner Development Code Analysis and Update
Grace performed a comprehensive code audit and guided the City Turner through a series of development code updates. Code updates were unanimously approved by the Turner City Council. Grace continues to serve as an on-call planner for the City, and is currently working a series of housing development code updates to comply with recent changes to state law.

Smith Rock Master Plan and Development
After assisting with the land use element of the 2022 Smith Rock Master Plan, Grace helped prepared a land use framework and application for Phase 1 of the Master Plan, including the new Welcome Center, trail improvements and parking lot improvements, guiding the design team on creative strategies to meet local, state, and federal regulatory requirements. Grace participated in the field siting and review of these facilities, helping to balance access and recreation with environmental stewardship. These efforts resulted in  County approval of the Conditional Use Permit, Landscape Management Review, and Site Plan Review.