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

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Mr. Tollenaar stated that he did not believe it was inequitable for property owners to pay for street improvements serving their property, but that assessment of property with double-street frontage did not seem fair. He said the proposed street improvements were needed and that if the council rejected the project, it would create serious consequences for other projects and the transportation needs of the area. He said he believed the only option available to the council was to approve the findings and agree that the assessments were not fair because rejecting the request could create significant delay in street development and "spillage" of traffic into non- collector streets. Mr. Meisner said he agreed with Mr. Tollenaar and would vote to approve the findings. He said the situation in question might be inequitable, but that he did not believe the City should be a "retrospective guarantor" of assessments legally made. He said he hoped no effort would be made to place the City in conflict with State requirements for disclosure of irrevocable petitions. He said allowing property owners to choose which frontage assessments to pay would set a dangerous precedent, be unfair to those who have paid them in the past, and create a significant drain on infrastructure development revenue. Mr. Tollenaar moved, seconded by Ms. Nathanson, to approve the Hearing's Official's Minutes, Findings, and Recommendation of February 12, 1998, and authorize design, acquisition, and bidding of improvements to Terry Street from Royal Avenue to Roosevelt Boulevard. In response to a question from Mr. Laue, Mr. Lyle said that three double-frontage assessment issues have or were likely to come before the council in the first quarter of 1998 (Barger, Ayres, and Terry streets). Mr. Laue said that the issues involved in double frontage assessment concerns were significant, especially when one of the streets was an arterial. He pointed out that provisions were in place for not making assessments for arterial streets in areas of difficult terrain and suggested that similar arrangements could be devised for double-frontage situations. Ms. Nathanson said that the reasoning of Mr. Tollenaar regarding the issue under consideration was convincing, and that if her negative vote might defeat the motion, she might reconsider and vote to approve the findings. She said her vote was intended to be a symbolic gesture to underscore how important she considered the issues involved. The motion was adopted, 5:2, Ms. Nathanson and Ms. Taylor voting no. Minutes-Eugene City Council March 2, 1998 Page 4 7:30 p.m.