Hood River City Councilors approved the first reading of an ordinance to change the zoning for the property at 780 Rand Road from R-1 low density residential to R-3 high density. It’s the latest step in the City’s effort to construct an affordable housing development on the land. There was some testimony expressing concern that a traffic study done in September of 2016 was used in preparing staff’s recommendation for approval, but municipal senior planner Kevin Liburdy pointed out that will be addressed in site plan reviews for a development. Liburdy added that a signal light is to be constructed at the nearby intersection of Rand Road and Cascade Avenue in 2023 or 2024.