CC Minutes - 12/13/00 Work Session

Home Browse Search

Mr. Kelly asked if a property owner could choose to "opt out" of the Land Use Code. Mr. Klein said that approach came with a higher risk; it was not clear under the parameters of Ballot Measure 7 that the council had the authority to waive regulations. Mr. Kelly questioned why Eugene could not overrule its own regulations through code. Mr. Klein said that the answer would depend on what extent the City was acting to implement a State regulation. He did not want to rule anything out, reiterating legal counsel had not had an opportunity to analyze the issue. He added that there may be actions the council could take shod of shelving or fully adopting LUCU without substantially increasing risk, but counsel had not examined those options. Responding to a question from Ms. Nathanson regarding the impact of Ballot Measure 7, Mr. Klein said that setbacks and parking lot standards were among the regulations that could be interpreted as limiting the use of a property. Ms. Nathanson thought it important to explain to the citizens the impact and nature of the measure. Ms. Bettman believed that many City land use regulations created a benefit for property owners. She asked how the City could turn that benefit into a way to enforce the LUCU standards or create revenue to fund Ballot Measure 7 claims. She asked if the City could get property owners to voluntarily comply with LUCU standards in exchange for the value provided by actions that intensified a property's use, such as a zone change. Mr. Klein said the approach could be legal if it was voluntary. Ms. Bettman wanted to explore the possibility. Mr. Farmer provided an overview of the FTEs (full-time equivalents) required for the implementation of the Land Use Code Update, noting that some of the costs could be covered by fees but other sources of funds would be required. He reviewed three options for proceeding, listed on the last page of a summary of his presentation: 1. Direct the City Manager to continue to prepare an updated revised Land Use Code based on prior council directives, but to postpone the council January 22, 2001, action date until further council review of cost impacts can be undertaken in light of the overall City budget and to account for legal concerns related to Ballot Measure 7. 2. Direct the City Manager to maintain the schedule for adopting the Land Use Code and to include full implementation in the draft City budget using a combination of General Fund and cost recovery through fees. 3. Direct the City Manager to reduce the amount of staff resources needed to implement the Land Use Code by amending the code to: A. Eliminate Standards Review for large-scale commercial, multi-tenant commercial, and multiple-family residential B. Reduce use of Adjustment Review by creating a points system approach to achieve compliance with design standards. C. Institute use of Professional Certification for Landscape Standards, Geotechnical Reports, and Special Hazardous Materials Review. MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 13, 2000 Page 6 Work Session