Ordinance No. 20360 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Adiustments After the proposed assessments were prepared, the City engineering staff received numerous petitions requesting that the proposed assessments be adjusted. Three of the petitions concerned the area calculation, and offered proof that the area of the parcel in question had changed since the City compiled its information. The City Engineer proposes modification of the proposed assessment to correctly reflect the current property area. To avoid having to recalculate all the assessments, the City Engineer recommends that the difference be absorbed by the city. The Hearings Officer concurs with this recommendation. The Eugene Code specifies a series of weighting factors and includes a grant of discretion to the City Engineer to determine the most appropriate weighting factor for property other than residential, commercial or industrial by use or zoning. Several petitions or requests were submitted to the City Engineer, requesting a different weighting factor be applied. One petition concerned a difference in use, where the property had been weighted based on the assumption that it was a commercial use. When evidence was supplied that it was actually used primarily as a residence, the City Engineer determined that it was appropriate to recalculate the weighting assigned under the use category for the front footage component of the assessment (but not the area - zoning calculation). This determination appears to be a valid exercise of the City Engineer's authority, and the hearings officer supports the City Engineer's determination that the assessment be recalculated, and that the different costs be absorbed by the City. A number of other petitions were submitted, seeking a change in the applicable weighting factors. The most common request was for property owned by non-profit organizations to be given a lesser weighting than otherwise similar for-profit commercial property. The City Engineer determined that the Code did not allow such a distinction because the Code speaks only of a general zoning category, where there is no distinction between non-profit and for-profit commercial uses. This is a determination by the City Engineer that he lacks the authority under the code to go beyond the actual categories set forth in the code; that is, that his authority extends only to categories of use that do not fit within the categories listed. This reasonable interpretation was, at lest implicitly, confirmed by the Council in this case when it had before it the proposed formation of this local improvement district and the request by the Garden Club to be reclassified because of their non-profit status. The Council's intent on this is also demonstrated by the fact that when they were considering the adopted code language they also had before detailed illustrations of how the proposed code language would apply to the West University Neighborhood PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT Public involvement in this project has been extensive. The project originated with the West University Neighborhood Task Force. The Council has also been extensively involved in both the evaluation of the Task Force Report, and in work sessions considering the Code, and LOCAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT ASSESSMENTS FOR ALLEY IMPROVEMENTS IN THE WEST UNIVERSITY NEIGHBORHOOD Page 4