CC Minutes - 09/23/98 Work Session

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Mr. Farr said he agreed with Mr. Tollenaar that people should only be liable for the streets that provide direct access to their properties. But, he added, spreading the costs across the subdivision is not necessarily equitable because more than those properties benefit from arterials and collectors. He expressed support for a citywide SDC system to pay for arterials and collectors. Mr. Meisner said he hoped there were better terms to discuss street improvements to distinguish between improvements to bring streets up to City standards and those aimed at "filling potholes," which is what the public understood by the phrase. He said he was concerned with retroactivity, but also concerned in continuing to permit development that was designed in such a way as to spread the cost burden citywide. He expressed support for the in-lieu-of proposal, adding that the actual benefit was a good approach and should include people who have two accesses and actually use them. That is why, he said, he wished to look at something other than zoning in the alley situation. Mr. Lee pointed out that "benefit" is subjective and difficult to apply/assess, resulting in a value- driven process here. Generally, he said, he favored the in-lieu-of approach over an increase in SDCs. He argued that people living locally will use a local road and should bear more of the cost burden. Mr. Lee said property owners should be more involved at the front-end of the process. He recommended a scoping report to assess the ramifications of the different approaches to give the council a better sense of the policy impacts. Mr. Tollenaar acknowledged the difficulty of the issue, noting that this was one of the few cases where the higher court delegated the problem back to local governments. He reiterated his view that aterials and collectors were more generally used and the costs should be spread more broadly. He said staff was recommending the council move in the direction of expanding the assessment for adjacent arterials an collectors from abutting property to whole subdivisions. He said the in- lieu approach would only be useful in the case of new subdivisions so something was needed to deal with existing development. He concluded that staff's recommendation was better than the current practice but believed there must be a better way. Mr. Tollenaar noted a problem with maintaining a front footage approach: the amount collected depend on the subdivision's configuration. He said he sensed support on the council for direct access costs so staff should prepare ordinance changes that might be considered and brought before the future council. In the meantime, he suggested, developers and other stakeholders should be included in the discussion. Mayor Torrey asked Mr. Lyle to work with Ms. Nathanson and Mr. Tollenaar to develop suggestions to bring before the new council. Addressing a question from Mr. Laue, Mr. Klein reiterated that the Supreme Court has opined that it was a question of equity and local governments are in the best position to assess equity. Mr. Lyle asked staff to schedule another council work session. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 23, 1998 Page 8 11:30 a.m.