CC Minutes - 03/02/98 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Tollenaar said that he did not believe that a right of access to a street to the rear of a property with double frontage provided any appreciable benefit, as described in documents submitted by the City Attorney. Ms. Nathanson stated that she had spoken at length about issues involved in Terry Street assessments in previous council meetings. She said she believed the process involved was unfair and had likely resulted from lack of good planning. She suggested that the Planning Commission should consider ways to alleviate the impacts of such situations in the future. Ms. Nathanson said she approved the need for the improvement and the use of traffic calming proposed for the Terry Street project. Ms. Nathanson said she had trouble accepting the findings of the Hearings Official regarding benefits to property owners, and would not vote for their approval. Ms. Nathanson asked if it was possible to provide an estimate of the assessment that would be paid by a typical property owner for Woodlawn Acres Street improvement and those proposed for Terry Street. Mr. Lyle replied that he believed most home owners' costs for Woodlawn Acres Street were built into purchase prices. He said the current estimate for Terry Street assessments was $75-$85 per foot, so if a property has 100 feet of property, he or she would pay $7,500- $8,500 in assessments. Most parcels have less length. Ms. Nathanson said that properties with double frontage were an advantage to developers, but that often resulted in increased use of cul-de-sacs and other design plans which exacerbated collector street issues. Ms. Nathanson said she was interested in pursuing issues related to full and adequate disclosure of irrevocable petitions. She and Mr. Meisner suggested that the council consider instructing its Intergovernmental Relations Committee to consider making such an issue be a priority for the 1999 State Legislative session. Mr. Lyle said he believed Ms. Nathanson had raised important issues. He said staff was approaching the Board of Realtors regarding concerns about full disclosure of irrevocable petitions. He added that decisions made by the council regarding Terry Street improvement assessments would affect a number of other similar projects being undertaken (Barger, Ayres). He said current policy was that street infrastructure was paid for by System Development Charges and assessments and that if assessments were removed, the only other logical revenue resource available was the Road Fund, which was already very constrained. Mr. Meisner stated that he shared the belief that assessments for street improvements on properties with double-street frontage seemed unfair. He said issues related to such concerns should be dealt with as Growth Management Strategies were implemented. He suggested ways to better ensure that potential buyers of double-street frontage property are fully informed of irrevocable petitions, but that the City need to be very careful it did not take on the responsibilities of the realtors as established by State law. Ms. Taylor said that she shared the concerns expressed regarding the Terry Street improvement assessments. She said she believed the issue should be reconsidered. She suggested that selling of property without full disclosure of irrevocable petitions should result in a penalty. She said she would vote against approving the findings of the Hearings Official. Minutes--Eugene City Council March 2, 1998 Page 3 7:30 p.m.