CC Minutes - 02/28/07 Work Session

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indicated that there had been a mobile home park in west Eugene whose owner desired to convert to a mobile home subdivision. The right-of-way in that park had been upgraded and dedicated to the City. Mr. Corey had no recommendation to offer as he believed the issue was covered by Chapter 9. His presentation was informational in nature. Ms. Taylor had hoped staff would use the materials she brought back from the National League of Cities Conference for the purpose of further research. She had attended a session on the hazards of gated communities and planned developments and provided some information to City Manager Dennis Taylor to share with staff. She had anticipated the work session would occur later in the year after staff research. Ms. Taylor said that one of the speakers at the session was a professor from the University of Chicago, who suggested that such developments were “disasters waiting to happen,” while another speaker thought they were working out. Her question was about City liability, and what it owed to its citizens even if they made mistakes about where they bought their houses. Ms. Taylor said there were sites mentioned in the session where the streets had collapsed and residents lost egress and ingress. Swimming pools became hazards. She asked if the City was liable, or only the homeowners’ associations. She received calls from Eugene residents complaining about conditions in their housing development and asking if the City was responsible. She said if the City was not responsible, perhaps it needed to be more careful about how it permitted such developments. An example of her concern was Whitbeck Boulevard, where residents paid to upgrade the street and then the City approved the construction of three more houses and refused to take responsibility for the damage done to the road during the construction of the houses and maintenance afterwards. Ms. Taylor suggested there was no point in further council discussion until it had more information from staff. Ms. Ortiz asked how many gated communities there were in Eugene. Mr. Corey did not know; he was personally aware of four. He said that more often than not, streets within gated communities were private but that was not always the case. He did not know what percentage of the 34 miles of private streets that were now in Eugene was in gated communities, but some certainly were. Ms. Ortiz suggested that gated communities were in opposition to the City’s density goals as she believed that such development had larger lot sizes and were not as “infilled as they could be.” She believed that such communities were attempts to create a community, which was good in one sense, but in another sense, it was “keeping out regular folks who maybe don’t have any business there.” She said if the City was paying for the streets, it did not make sense to her that it would encourage “this kind of growth.” Mr. Zelenka was also surprised by how quickly the work session was scheduled and the content of the AIS, which was not congruent with the interest expressed by Ms. Taylor. Mr. Zelenka asked how many miles of private streets were built before the Land Use Code update. Mr. Corey believed most were built before the update. Mr. Zelenka asked what City standard existed currently, and if it included sidewalks. Mr. Corey said that the pavement on private streets must meet the City’s structural design standards for public streets but the street did not necessarily have to include amenities such as curbs, gutters, and sidewalks, which were included in the City standard. He added that the design standards were current criteria for private streets, so a developer could not avoid City grade standards or sight distance requirements, for example, by making a street private rather than public. Mr. Corey reiterated MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 28, 2007 Page 7 Work Session