CC Minutes - 01/24/07 Work Session

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Mr. Carlson pointed out that Senate Bill (SB) 417 would abolish the Lane County Local Government Boundary Commission and the council might wish to schedule a separate work session on the subject of the commission. He described the role of the boundary commission, including responsibility for annexations, and said under the City’s current policy all annexations were voluntary and went directly to the commission without involvement of the City Council or Planning Commission. He explained the boundary commission had two processes, one of which was an expedited process at the applicant’s request that eliminated the need for a public hearing if none of the affected districts asked for one. He said that process would not exist if the commission was abolished and the provisions of Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) 222 related to City annexations would be in effect, requiring a City Council public hearing on all annexations and increasing the council’s workload. Mr. Carlson said another feature of having a boundary commission was that noncontiguous annexations were allowed in boundary commission areas and most of the River Road/Santa Clara annexations had been noncontiguous annexation of isolated parcels of vacant land that the owners wished to develop. He said that for those types of annexations to continue, the City would have to annex more road right-of-way to connect those parcels to the main body of the City. He said 25 to 28 annexations occurred per year with 40 percent in River Road, 40 percent in Santa Clara and the remaining 20 percent in the rest of the City. He said the City’s ordinance on annexation would need to be amended as it currently required the boundary commission to approve any annexations approved by the council. He said that was particularly a factor in island annexations, which could be initiated and approved by the City but under the current ordinance would require a secondary approval by the boundary commission. Mr. Carlson explained there had never been an island annexation in River Road and Santa Clara; the last island annexation initiated by the City occurred approximately 15 years ago and affected parcels along West th 11 Avenue. He said there was a series of large island annexations in the 1970s that essentially completed annexation of the Willakenzie area south of Beltline. He noted that the agenda materials included the council’s policy, approved in 1993, regarding the addition of road rights-of-way to privately initiated annexation proposals. He reviewed that policy and said that when staff requested annexation of road right- of-way, it was consistent with the policy. Ms. Ortiz acknowledged the presence of members of the River Road/Santa Clara community and Lane County Commissioner Bobby Green. Ms. Bettman said the boundary commission issue warranted a separate work session. She asked if SB 417 included a provision for noncontiguous annexation. Mr. Carlson replied it did not; it merely abolished the boundary commission. He said that such a provision would require an amendment to ORS 222 and would affect all cities in Oregon. Ms. Bettman agreed with the Metro Plan that the City was the logical provider of urban services. She did not think River Road/Santa Clara residents disagreed with the plan. She thought the aggressive practice of island annexations was scaring people because of the financial hardships imposed on property owners in the past by requiring them to connect to sewers. She agreed with the need for sewers but the issue was more one of the process and not the eventual outcome. MINUTES—Eugene City Council – Work Session January 24, 2007 Page 5