Viewpoint:
City undermines critical Westside neighborhood protections
in order to approve lot partition slated for alley four-plex.
Decision puts hundreds of Westside families' homes at risk.
City undermines critical Westside neighborhood protections
in order to approve lot partition slated for alley four-plex.
Decision puts hundreds of Westside families' homes at risk.
by Paul Conte
*** FLASH! -- LUBA rejects JNW appeal. Read the decision.
Listen to the LUBA Appeal hearing testimony. ***
(NOTE: Testimony starts about 3 minutes into the recording and is one hour long.)
* Read the JWN LUBA Appeal brief. (Provides background on the case.)
The LUBA decision is due by September 2, 2008.
Summary:
A Eugene hearings official's decision in late February to allow the lot at 933 W. 13th Ave.
to be split into two lots, one of which is slated for a new fourplex, will have lasting
repercussions on the Westside neighborhood unless the JWN is successful in their
appeal of the decision to the state Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA).
Prior to this decision, most lots in the Westside couldn't be divided to create a lot
accessible only from the alley, and new lots intended for fourplexes would be subject to
scrutiny for compatibility with the neighborhood character. However, encouraged by
Eugene's Planning staff, the hearings official in this decision disregarded evidence of the
developer's fourplex plans, twisted the interpretations of zoning standards to allow
extreme lot configurations, and rendered virtually meaningless a pivotal land use policy
adopted by City Council to prevent erosion of the Westside neighborhood's character.
The precedent resulting from this decision will allow similar -- or even worse --
development to degrade the livability and reduce the property value of hundreds of
Westside families' homes.
What does the decision allow?
The City decision allows most of the typical, rectangular lots that run between a street
and alley to be carved into two lots -- a tiny lot on the street containing the existing house,
and a gerrymandered, "flag-shaped" lot that barely touches the street and functions
essentially as an alley-access-only lot where a new fourplex (or larger) and associated
parking can be built.
What's so different about this decision?
This decision contains several radical interpretations of the code that defy common
sense and that remove important safeguards against destructive development. In a
nutshell:
* Planning staff claimed the legally-binding policy in the Westside Neighborhood Plan
that requires the City to "prevent erosion of the neighborhood's residential character"
means only that you can't convert a residence to commercial use. The City has never
made such a claim before, and the Westside Neighborhood Plan makes abundantly
clear that the policy requires development to be compatible with the neighborhood's
character, including lot configuratios, density, scale of buildings, etc.
This decision eviscerates the policy because it essentially places no limits on the type of
residential development allowed under the policy. According to the Planning staff's
interpretation of the policy, a ten-story apartment high-rise would not erode the
neighborhood's residential character.
* Even though the developers stated in the first application they submitted to the City that
they designed the alley-access-only lot specifically for a fourplex and that they intend to
build a fourplex, the hearings official said that evidence doesn't matter because when the
developers resubmitted their application (after the forst application was denied), they
edited out all their prior statements to that effect. State law, however, requires a land use
decision be based on all relevant evidence.
* Even though the zoning code requires any new lot in an R-2 zone to have twenty-foot
frontage and twenty-foot minimum lot width, Planning staff interpreted the rules to allow
lots to have as little as a one inch (or less) thread of land connecting to a one inch (or
less) strip adjacent to the street and thereby circumvent not only the plain intent of these
requirements, but also the City Council's prohibition against lots accessible only from the
alley.
* Even though the code also requires an alley that is used for primary access to a lot to
be twenty feet wide and paved to twelve feet, the Planning staff claimed the 14-foot-wide,
unpaved, potholed W. 12th Alley is acceptable. What's more, if the City decides the alley
must be paved when the developer submits building plans for approval, all the other
residents whose property abuts the alley will pay almost all the cost. (This could mean
tens of thousands of dollars that each household would have to pay.)
There are more issues at stake, but these are the most egregious decisions the
Planning staff has used to approve this grossly incompatible development. You can read
more details below.
How this decision may impact you. By contorting or ignoring both zoning standards and
adopted land use policies, City Planning staff have established a precedent that will let
almost any of the hundreds or regular, rectanguar, street-to-alley lots on the Westside
(and Jefferson) neighborhoods to be carved into bizarre shapes to similarly create new
alley-access-only lots on which more fourplexes (or larger) can be built. This will create
significant financial incentive for absentee property owners to jam more fourplexes on the
alley, looming over the backyards of adjacent single-family homes. Along with the
accompanying car traffic on alleys and parking lots adjacent to backyards, these types of
developments will seriously degrade the livability and reduce the property value of
families who live close to the fourplex. Cumulatively, these new types of development will
destabilize significant areas of the Westside.
What can be done to prevent the damage this decision will cause? The JWN Executive
Board has appealed the City's decision to the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA). (The
board has engaged a local land use attorney to help prepare and present the appeal.
The appeal brief will be posted on the JWN Web site as soon as it's submitted.) The
board is confident that LUBA will reverse the City's decision on several critical issues.
Many JWN residents have also been working over the past 18 months to get the City
Council to adopt changes to the land use code that will close the loopholes that City staff
have created. If these amendments are adopted, they would prevent the kind of abuse of
the approval process that allowed this application to be approved. Click to learn more
about these code amendments.
How can you help prevent the damage this decision will allow? It's critical that JWN win
the LUBA appeal not only to stop this development and others like it, but also to send a
clear message to Planning staff that they cannot continue to contort land use policies and
zoning code to allow development that will ultimately destroy our neighborhood.
Volunteers have donated over a hundred hours doing legal research and drafting appeal
documents, and generous neighbors have donated approximately $2,500 to cover filing
and attorney’s fees. We need to raise at least $1,500 by May 31st to have the attorney
complete the appeal brief and present it before LUBA. So, please help now by donating
$200, $100, $50, or whatever amount fits your household’s financial situation. Keep in
mind this isn’t just a donation that will make you feel good about helping your
neighborhood – this is a critical contribution to protect you and your neighbors against the
risk of large loss of property value.
To contribute, please make your check payable to “Jefferson Westside Neighbors” and
indicate “For LUBA appeal.” Mail your check to:
Rene Kane, Chair
Jefferson Westside Neighbors
254 W. 14th Ave.
Eugene, OR 97401
Please don’t wait until a triplex, fourplex, or larger development is planned for your block
before you join the effort – by then it’s likely to be too late. There will never be a more
cost-effective opportunity to block this type of ruinous development.
More details.
A developer has resubmitted their application to partition the lot at 933 W. 13th Ave into
two lots. A small lot in the front will have the current rental house, while a separate lot in
the rear is intended for a four-plex with access only from W. 12th Alley.
The proposed partition has no substantive changes from the partition that was applied
for in 2006 and denied after the JWN appealed the Planning Director's decision.
The developer has simply edited out their former statement that the intent of the partition
is to build a four-plex, thus hoping to avoid legitimate evaluation of whether an alley-
access-only four-plex complies with the neighborhood refinement plan, street and alley
access requirements, and other applicable land use criteria.
Click this link to read details of the 2006 application, including the appeal information and
decision in favor of the JWN.
The neighborhood association has previously voted to oppose this lot partition and the
Executive Board continues that effort. On November 1, 2007, the JWN Executive Board
filed testimony in opposition to the lot partition. Click here to read the opposition
testimony.
As expected, the Planning Division staff approved the re-submitted application, once
again requiring a costly and time-consuming appeal to be filed in order to prevent the
partition. Click here to read the Planning Director decision.
On December 5, 2007, the JWN Executive Board voted unanimously to appeal the
Planning Director's decision. Click here to read the appeal statement.
The appeal hearing was held Wednesday, January 23. Click here to read additional
testimony submitted by JWN.
The decision was issued February 26. Click here to read the appeal decision.
On March 2, 2008, the JWN Executive Board held an emergency meeting and voted to
appeal the decision to the State Land Use Board of Appeals.
==============
Check back to this Web page for continuing developments.
Contact the JWN Chair if you have questions.
*** FLASH! -- LUBA rejects JNW appeal. Read the decision.
Listen to the LUBA Appeal hearing testimony. ***
(NOTE: Testimony starts about 3 minutes into the recording and is one hour long.)
* Read the JWN LUBA Appeal brief. (Provides background on the case.)
The LUBA decision is due by September 2, 2008.
Summary:
A Eugene hearings official's decision in late February to allow the lot at 933 W. 13th Ave.
to be split into two lots, one of which is slated for a new fourplex, will have lasting
repercussions on the Westside neighborhood unless the JWN is successful in their
appeal of the decision to the state Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA).
Prior to this decision, most lots in the Westside couldn't be divided to create a lot
accessible only from the alley, and new lots intended for fourplexes would be subject to
scrutiny for compatibility with the neighborhood character. However, encouraged by
Eugene's Planning staff, the hearings official in this decision disregarded evidence of the
developer's fourplex plans, twisted the interpretations of zoning standards to allow
extreme lot configurations, and rendered virtually meaningless a pivotal land use policy
adopted by City Council to prevent erosion of the Westside neighborhood's character.
The precedent resulting from this decision will allow similar -- or even worse --
development to degrade the livability and reduce the property value of hundreds of
Westside families' homes.
What does the decision allow?
The City decision allows most of the typical, rectangular lots that run between a street
and alley to be carved into two lots -- a tiny lot on the street containing the existing house,
and a gerrymandered, "flag-shaped" lot that barely touches the street and functions
essentially as an alley-access-only lot where a new fourplex (or larger) and associated
parking can be built.
What's so different about this decision?
This decision contains several radical interpretations of the code that defy common
sense and that remove important safeguards against destructive development. In a
nutshell:
* Planning staff claimed the legally-binding policy in the Westside Neighborhood Plan
that requires the City to "prevent erosion of the neighborhood's residential character"
means only that you can't convert a residence to commercial use. The City has never
made such a claim before, and the Westside Neighborhood Plan makes abundantly
clear that the policy requires development to be compatible with the neighborhood's
character, including lot configuratios, density, scale of buildings, etc.
This decision eviscerates the policy because it essentially places no limits on the type of
residential development allowed under the policy. According to the Planning staff's
interpretation of the policy, a ten-story apartment high-rise would not erode the
neighborhood's residential character.
* Even though the developers stated in the first application they submitted to the City that
they designed the alley-access-only lot specifically for a fourplex and that they intend to
build a fourplex, the hearings official said that evidence doesn't matter because when the
developers resubmitted their application (after the forst application was denied), they
edited out all their prior statements to that effect. State law, however, requires a land use
decision be based on all relevant evidence.
* Even though the zoning code requires any new lot in an R-2 zone to have twenty-foot
frontage and twenty-foot minimum lot width, Planning staff interpreted the rules to allow
lots to have as little as a one inch (or less) thread of land connecting to a one inch (or
less) strip adjacent to the street and thereby circumvent not only the plain intent of these
requirements, but also the City Council's prohibition against lots accessible only from the
alley.
* Even though the code also requires an alley that is used for primary access to a lot to
be twenty feet wide and paved to twelve feet, the Planning staff claimed the 14-foot-wide,
unpaved, potholed W. 12th Alley is acceptable. What's more, if the City decides the alley
must be paved when the developer submits building plans for approval, all the other
residents whose property abuts the alley will pay almost all the cost. (This could mean
tens of thousands of dollars that each household would have to pay.)
There are more issues at stake, but these are the most egregious decisions the
Planning staff has used to approve this grossly incompatible development. You can read
more details below.
How this decision may impact you. By contorting or ignoring both zoning standards and
adopted land use policies, City Planning staff have established a precedent that will let
almost any of the hundreds or regular, rectanguar, street-to-alley lots on the Westside
(and Jefferson) neighborhoods to be carved into bizarre shapes to similarly create new
alley-access-only lots on which more fourplexes (or larger) can be built. This will create
significant financial incentive for absentee property owners to jam more fourplexes on the
alley, looming over the backyards of adjacent single-family homes. Along with the
accompanying car traffic on alleys and parking lots adjacent to backyards, these types of
developments will seriously degrade the livability and reduce the property value of
families who live close to the fourplex. Cumulatively, these new types of development will
destabilize significant areas of the Westside.
What can be done to prevent the damage this decision will cause? The JWN Executive
Board has appealed the City's decision to the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA). (The
board has engaged a local land use attorney to help prepare and present the appeal.
The appeal brief will be posted on the JWN Web site as soon as it's submitted.) The
board is confident that LUBA will reverse the City's decision on several critical issues.
Many JWN residents have also been working over the past 18 months to get the City
Council to adopt changes to the land use code that will close the loopholes that City staff
have created. If these amendments are adopted, they would prevent the kind of abuse of
the approval process that allowed this application to be approved. Click to learn more
about these code amendments.
How can you help prevent the damage this decision will allow? It's critical that JWN win
the LUBA appeal not only to stop this development and others like it, but also to send a
clear message to Planning staff that they cannot continue to contort land use policies and
zoning code to allow development that will ultimately destroy our neighborhood.
Volunteers have donated over a hundred hours doing legal research and drafting appeal
documents, and generous neighbors have donated approximately $2,500 to cover filing
and attorney’s fees. We need to raise at least $1,500 by May 31st to have the attorney
complete the appeal brief and present it before LUBA. So, please help now by donating
$200, $100, $50, or whatever amount fits your household’s financial situation. Keep in
mind this isn’t just a donation that will make you feel good about helping your
neighborhood – this is a critical contribution to protect you and your neighbors against the
risk of large loss of property value.
To contribute, please make your check payable to “Jefferson Westside Neighbors” and
indicate “For LUBA appeal.” Mail your check to:
Rene Kane, Chair
Jefferson Westside Neighbors
254 W. 14th Ave.
Eugene, OR 97401
Please don’t wait until a triplex, fourplex, or larger development is planned for your block
before you join the effort – by then it’s likely to be too late. There will never be a more
cost-effective opportunity to block this type of ruinous development.
More details.
A developer has resubmitted their application to partition the lot at 933 W. 13th Ave into
two lots. A small lot in the front will have the current rental house, while a separate lot in
the rear is intended for a four-plex with access only from W. 12th Alley.
The proposed partition has no substantive changes from the partition that was applied
for in 2006 and denied after the JWN appealed the Planning Director's decision.
The developer has simply edited out their former statement that the intent of the partition
is to build a four-plex, thus hoping to avoid legitimate evaluation of whether an alley-
access-only four-plex complies with the neighborhood refinement plan, street and alley
access requirements, and other applicable land use criteria.
Click this link to read details of the 2006 application, including the appeal information and
decision in favor of the JWN.
The neighborhood association has previously voted to oppose this lot partition and the
Executive Board continues that effort. On November 1, 2007, the JWN Executive Board
filed testimony in opposition to the lot partition. Click here to read the opposition
testimony.
As expected, the Planning Division staff approved the re-submitted application, once
again requiring a costly and time-consuming appeal to be filed in order to prevent the
partition. Click here to read the Planning Director decision.
On December 5, 2007, the JWN Executive Board voted unanimously to appeal the
Planning Director's decision. Click here to read the appeal statement.
The appeal hearing was held Wednesday, January 23. Click here to read additional
testimony submitted by JWN.
The decision was issued February 26. Click here to read the appeal decision.
On March 2, 2008, the JWN Executive Board held an emergency meeting and voted to
appeal the decision to the State Land Use Board of Appeals.
==============
Check back to this Web page for continuing developments.
Contact the JWN Chair if you have questions.
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Jefferson Westside Neighbors
