Item 2: Ordinances on Minor Code Amendments (MiCAP Remand)

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1 The new off-street parking standard imposed by Ordinance 20418 in the two 2university districts requires an increasing number of parking spaces for multiple family 3dwelling units, depending on how many bedrooms a multiple family dwelling unit has. The 4EC does not define the term “bedroom.” Webster's Third New Int'l Dictionary, 196 (1981) 5defines a bedroom as “a room furnished with a bed and intended primarily for sleeping.” 6According to petitioner the same hypothetical apartment unit that is depicted on the drawing 7that appears between pages 13 and 14 of its petition for review could be found to have 8anywhere from one to four bedrooms depending on whether the applicant expressed an intent 9to use the rooms shown as a bedroom, den, exercise room or office. Petitioner contends that 10the bedroom-based off-street parking standard is not “clear and objective,” and for that 11reason violates ORS 197.307(6). 12 We seriously question whether the amendment to EC Table 9.6410 to make the 13required off-street parking space for multiple family dwellings in the two university districts 14depend on the number of bedrooms constitutes an “approval standard,” within the meaning 15of ORS 197.307(6). To begin with, EC Table 9.6410 is probably more accurately described 16as a performance standard than a standard that determines whether an application for a 17multiple family dwelling can be approved. As the city explains in its brief, an applicant for 18needed housing that is subject to EC Table 9.6410 presumably will indicate on its application 19how many bedrooms are included in a request for approval of a multiple family apartment 20building. The city would rarely, if ever, have reason to question the applicant’s 21representation regarding how many bedrooms a proposal will have. The required off-street 22parking would be computed accordingly, and the application would be approved and the 23apartment would be built and occupied. If it later turns out that exercise rooms, dens and 24offices are being rented as bedrooms, the city might face the prospect of an enforcement 25action. But that possibility is no different that the possibility that the apartment building 26might run afoul of any number of performance standards after it is initially approved. Page 17