Item A: Adoption of 2007 Legislative Policies

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The City has always supported — and continues to support — the constitutional requirement that property owners who have been deprived of all reasonable economic use of their property by government action should be compensated. The City has opposed legislation and ballot measures that would require compensation if a land use decision deprives a property owner of only some, but not all or nearly all, reasonable economic use of the property. The City’s opposition has been based on the importance of regulations in implementing comprehensive planning and other policy decisions of the council and on the innumerable benefits of these regulations in providing certainty and protection for property owners, developers and neighbors. While some argue that the most basic land use regulations are “takings,” others argue that they are “givings” and that the emphasis on reduction in value is both one-sided and short-sighted. The City of Eugene strongly supports that the legislature track the results of the “Big Look” review, including reasonable replacements to Measure 37, and the City urges the legislature to halt piece meal land use rule changes until after the completion of this assessment. With one exception: The City supports exempting all Goal 5 protections from Measure 37 claims. 2. LAND USE APPLICATION REVIEW PROCESS Bills introduced in previous legislative sessions have attempted to limit local government authority to process land use applications. One of these bills, which passed, instituted the “120-day rule”; a bill to prohibit local government use of a hearings official failed. The 120-day rule, established by legislation in 1993, requires local permit issuers to reach a “final decision” within 120 days of the time a land use application is submitted and deemed complete. Failure to meet the deadline allows the applicant to seek a writ of mandamus from the circuit court, ordering the local government to issue the permit. The 120-day rule applies equally to a two-lot partition and a 200-unit planned unit development. The planning concerns related to planned unit developments are far greater than those applied to partitions, yet the same deadline applies to both. Prior to 2003, an applicant could request a time extension for an application decision in order to provide time for submission of pertinent information. The City of Eugene supported SB 94 in the 2003 Session, which modified the criteria for determining when an application to a city is deemed complete for the purposes of time limit for action by the city. The bill also limited the total of all extensions to 245 days. City of Eugene Legislative Policies, 2007 Session With IGR Mtg 10/17 and 10/26 Amendments C:\Documents and Settings\ceexelf\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK10B\LegPol2007Sesxx1.doc Updated on: 11/6/2006 By: Last saved by ceexmfw 42