Item B: Ordinance on Unruly Gatherings

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were needed, additional costs could be added for emergency medical, or public works. Staff believe that including a provision to recover response costs is appropriate given the magnitude of the problem and that it communicates a powerful message to potential offenders that their behavior has a real cost to the community. A fixed flat rate would provide predictability but would lessen the potential deterrent impact of actual response costs. Property owners expressed concern that they could and should not be held responsible for the behavior occurring at their property. Staff and a number of the members of the NLWG believe it important that the ordinance contain a provision for landowner accountability. To address this concern, a very high threshold has been set before property owner liability would apply (four violations at the same address within a 12-month period) and an appeals process has been included that would consider good faith efforts on the part of the property owner to rectify the problem. Property owners expressed concern that the appeal process is too subjective. The ordinance outlines the factors that should be considered in hearing an appeal, but do not require that if the conditions are met the response cost is automatically waived. With council direction, this change could be made. Property owners expressed concern that the tools available to them under Oregon Tenant Law to address the behavior of tenants are solely eviction, and that the eviction process is costly, cumbersome and time consuming. Property owners also have expressed concern that the response costs are indeterminate and that they are held jointly liable with the tenants, who may have little ability to pay. There have been questions about the role the UO has and will continue to play in this issue. The University has been involved, and is committed to helping to reduce the negative impacts of loud and unruly gatherings around the UO. In the recent past, the City and the University have jointly developed and sent out a neighborhood livability letter. This is a letter signed by the UO Dean of Students Paul Shang, UO Public Safety Chief Doug Tripp, along with EPD Chief Pete Kerns and Neighborhood Services Manager Michael Kinnison. The letter is sent to residents where a party with multiple citations has occurred in near campus neighborhoods, and shares information about community values concerning neighborhood livability. Since October 2010, 40 of these letters have been sent. UO records show that subsequent incidents have not occurred at the vast majority of locations to which a letter has been sent. Communications Plan When considering implementation of a social host ordinance, research of other jurisdictions has shown that education is a key component to success. A clear communication strategy will help residents and hosts better understand the ordinance and avoid the consequences of enforcement. The City of Eugene and the UO will work together using mostly non-paid outreach methods, similar to the outreach made to the area as new students arrive in the fall. A team of communication professionals from the City and UO will coordinate communication goals; identify audiences and key messages for those audiences, and the communication methods to use for each audience. Any efforts would be timed to coincide with population increases and residency changes in the area: for instance, as new students and residents move into the campus area, and West and South University areas, in the fall. Communication efforts would be focused before, during and after the S:\CMO\2012 Council Agendas\M120423\S120423B.doc