CC Minutes - 12/07/98 Work Session

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Mr. Kullby said that if the council adopted recommended Option 1, to approve the vacations with the recommended assessments and to direct staff to implement a traffic improvement plan in the nearby area of the vacations, the vacations would be approved, assessments collected, and staff would return to the council with a supplemental budget request to fund the plan. Mr. Kullby said that staff would follow the procedures for implementing traffic improvement plans contained in Eugene Code Chapter 5; the Transportation Division staff would prepare findings for an administrative order implementing the plan. The procedures for that process include public notification and an opportunity to appeal to the Hearings Official. The City Council could review the Hearings Official decision of the appeal at any councilor's request. Responding to a question from Ms. Swanson Gribskov, Mr. Kullby confirmed that other industrial property owners in the area object to the traffic improvement plan. Ms. Swanson Gribskov asked how those property owners were impacted by the plan. Mr. Kullby said that the plan called for local truck traffic to be discouraged but not blocked from using Taylor Street south of West 3rd Place alley. Consequently, truck traffic traveling down Taylor Street from the industrially zoned rd area (north of West 3 Place) to the residentially zoned area (south of West 3rd Place) would be required to go through an extra turning movement to go around the median street tree planting island. There would also be a curb extension/traffic choker at that location, which would require careful navigation between the median and the choker. Ms. Swanson Gribskov asked if truck traffic would still be able to maneuver through the area. Mr. Kullby said yes, and noted that plans prepared by Branch Engineering which showed how a semi-truck could maneuver through the median and choker. Local truck traffic had the right to use the residential streets for movement. If, during the traffic improvement process, improvements actually blocked traffic, the locations of the median and choker would have to be altered to accommodate truck movement. Mr. Klein clarified that the council was not being asked to approve the traffic improvement plan but the vacation of the alley and street. The plan would be processed administratively and there would be opportunities for both comments and appeals. Ms. Swanson Gribskov said she supported the staff recommendation and expressed appreciation to the applicant for sincerely seeking a workable solution. Ms. Taylor said that while the council was not approving the traffic improvement plan she believed the residents' acceptance of the vacation was dependent on the plan. She said that someone would be unhappy no matter what happened. Mr. Tollenaar asked Mr. Klein to comment on the legal issues raised in Ms. Davies' letter. Mr. Klein said that with one exception, staff would recommend no changes to the ordinance based on Ms. Davies' letter. The issues being raised in the letter addressed the value of the special benefit to the property owner; however, Ms. Davies and her client had no standing to raise that question. If the property owner being assessed for the special benefit was willing to pay the assessment, no other individual was able to object. Mr. Klein recommended that the ordinance the council considered on December 9 include an expressed rather than implied finding that the council had determined the assessment was the just and equitable amount of the special benefit. Responding to a question from Mr. Tollenaar regarding Ms. Davies' assertion that a vacated property automatically reverts to the adjacent property owner, Mr. Klein said that there were times when a right-of-way was dedicated to the City and it was ownership of fee title, or ownership down to the center of the earth. Generally when a right-of-way was dedicated the City received the right to use the property for right-of-way purposes. If oil was discovered a mile down, the oil MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 7, 1998 Page 9 5:30 p.m.