06/14/1976 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Public hearing was opened. Ed O'Reilly, 1358 Oak Street, representing the new owners, asked that the staff reco~endation be approved, that the Council refer the matter back to the Plan- ning Commission for consideration of changing the zone on the subject property e- to H-Historic District. Public hearing was closed, there being no further testimony presented. Mr. Keller moved second by Mr. Haws to refer this item back to the Planning Commission for reconsideration. Motion carried unanimously. E. Request for conditional use permit moratorium on area between Pearl and High I-B-l and between 1st Avenue (High Street extended) and east/west alley south of 3rd Avenue - East Skinner Butte Friends and Neighbors Manager explained that the Planning Commission on April 13, 1976 after review of the request with no decision asked that the Council give it consideration. Gary Chenkin, assistant planning director, said that the Commission thought the Council in its consideration should be aware that if the moratorium was put into effect;, conditional use permits in the designated area could not be processed during the time the refinement plan was being developed, which would take about a year to complete. He explinaed the positions emerging from the Commission hearing - in favor: a moratorium would help prevent conversion of the area prior to adoption of a refinement plan, holding existing uses until the plan is adopted; the area is one of the few purely residential areas in the city close to downtown, employment centers, university, etc.; precedent had been established with mora- toriums previously imposed in areas such as Goodpasture Island and the South Hills - opposed: no development pressures are occurring now in the area, hence no need for a moratorium; official hearings on conditional use permit applica- tionswould afford consideration of all merits before any change was made. e Mr. Chenkin said there was some hesitancy to adopt a "moratorium on an individual case"basis because of staff position that the neighborhood should be considered as a whole. Manager added that the moratorium was supported by the Historic Review Board. Public hearing was opened. BrianSimonitch, 208 East 2nd Avenue, noted that a clinic had been granted a conditional use permit to locate in the Skinner Butte area after hearings before both the hearings official an4 Planning Commission. However, it had not been constructed because of objections from residents of the area. They were in- terested in protecting the area from steady encraochment of incompatible uses. Also, in encouraging further residential development. Mr. Simonitch said this area was the only residential area ~ear to downtown, other than low-income housing, and should be preserved. He said the original request was for a mora- tori.um to prevent further nonresidential type development until a refinement study ~as completed, but he woqld support also a moratorium on zone changes, then when the plan was completed, land uses for the entire area could be considered. Others speaking in favor of the moratorium were David Filer, 235 East 3rd Avenue; Howard Dixon, 180 High Street; Robert Zink, 380 High Street; Tom Jones, 303 Willamette Street; Jim and Tom O'Malley, 224 East 2nd Avenue. Mr. Filer called attention to property values in the area which he said were based on recent sales and resulted in residential owners being assessed for nonresidential uses. Mr. Dixon and Mr. Zink noted the high percentage of older homes in the area which e- could be of historical value if the neighborhood was preserved. Mr. Jones noted the city's goals statement of trying to preserve the residential quality close -~ to downtown and said this area would fit ideally with that statement. He noted 6/14/76 -6 ~~3