Planning Commission

• • • o o  AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY October 13, 2020 To: Eugene Planning Commission From: Dan Halverson, Senior Planner, Eugene Planning Division Subject: Time Extension for Laurel Ridge PUD (City File #PDT 18-3) ACTION REQUESTED The Planning Commission is asked to deliberate and take action on a request to extend the timeline previously set by the Planning Commission for processing the applicant’s revised tentative PUD application under Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 197.522. For ease of reference, the applicant’s letter requesting the time extension is included as Attachment A. BRIEFING STATEMENT Background The applicant originally submitted the subject tentative PUD application in July of 2018, for property located in the south hills of Eugene, just north of 30th Avenue and east of Spring Boulevard. The application, known as Laurel Ridge PUD, initially proposed the creation of a new 122-lot single-family residential subdivision with public streets, open space, and associated infrastructure. In November of 2019, following the initial public hearing process, the Eugene Hearings Official issued a decision denying the application finding that the application was inconsistent with the City’s land use code in several respects. Two separate appeals to the Planning Commission followed, one by the Laurel Hill Valley Citizens (LHVC) neighborhood association, and the other by the applicant. As part of their appeal, the applicant invoked their right to proceed under ORS 197.522, a state statute that allows the applicant to amend the application and propose conditions of approval that would bring the application into compliance with the City’s land use regulations. This statute also gives the City the authority to extend the time for final action on an application beyond the limitations mandated under ORS 227.178 (the “120-day rule”) and to set a new time limitation for final action on the amendments and/or conditions of approval proposed by the applicant. The Planning Commission held a public meeting on December 30, 2019 to deliberate on several procedural issues related to the appeals, and specifically to adopt a process for consideration of amendments and/or conditions of approval proposed by the applicant pursuant to ORS 197.522. At a subsequent meeting on January 6, 2020 the Planning Commission continued deliberations and issued a Final Order addressing procedural issues related to the appeals of the Hearings Official’s decision on the tentative PUD application and the applicant’s invocation of ORS 197.522 (see Attachment B). In summary, the Planning Commission’s Final Order concludes that the applicant properly invoked its right to proceed under ORS 197.522, and sets a new timeline for submittal of materials and review of Page 1 of 12 the amended application. The Final Order directed the applicant to submit any proposed amendments and/or conditions of approval that would make the application consistent with the City’s comprehensive plan and land use regulations on or before 5:00pm on June 30, 2020. The Final Order further directed the City to issue a final local decision on the amended application on or before December 30, 2020. The Final Order remanded the amended application back to the Hearings Official for a new public hearing process and decision based on the revised application. Both appeals of the Hearings Official’s decision on the original application were put on hold, with the clarification that the parties would have the right to appeal the Hearings Official’s decision on the amended application (including any new appeal issues that might be raised) to the Planning Commission. Timeline Extension Request Staff and the applicant are asking the Planning Commission to amend Planning Commission’s January 6, 2020 Final Order to extend the timeline for a final local decision on the applicant’s amended application. Due to unforeseen circumstances, including the on-going Coronavirus pandemic and recent wildfires, progress on submittal of the applicant’s revised application materials has slowed. As addressed in the applicant’s letter (Attachment A) the pandemic interfered with and slowed the normal course of operations of contracts with biologists, geologists, and the many specialist needed to submit reports on the application. While the applicant notes in their time extension request that they believe all the materials have been submitted as of mid-September, staff anticipates possible additional revisions and information to be submitted based on further communication with the applicant since then. The Planning Commission’s previous Final Order gave the applicant 6 months (until June 30, 2020) to revise and resubmit their application materials with amendments and/or conditions of approval necessary to bring the application into compliance with the City’s comprehensive plan and land use regulations. The Final Order then gave the City an additional 6 months (to December 30, 2020) to review and process the revised application, including a new hearing before the Hearings Official and any appeals of the Hearings Official’s decision on the amended application. The applicant submitted revised plans and some of the necessary supporting materials by the initial June 30th deadline, but significant portions of the application and revised submittal came in after that date or have yet to be finalized and received by the City. Over the last several months, communication between staff and the applicant has continued about the additional materials the applicant intends to submit. Working toward that goal and recognizing the practical difficulties and circumstances outside of the applicant’s control which have contributed to the delay, staff consulted with the applicant’s representatives about a possible time extension and recently received the attached extension request from the applicant. Consistent with ORS 197.522(3)(b), the City has the authority and flexibility to decide whether to further extend the timeline for processing and final action on the amended application. Staff is supportive of this time extension request, recognizing the extenuating circumstances, and that it would not be feasible to fully process the application with additional hearings and final action in keeping with the timeline previously set by Planning Commission. Based on the circumstances, staff recommends an amendment to the previous Final Order (see Attachment C) that would extend the time for processing and final action, until June 30, 2021. Page 2 of 12 PLANNING COMMISSION’S REVIEW ROLE The Planning Commission’s role in this matter is limited to the requested timeline extension; no changes are proposed to the previous Final Order beyond those recommended in the amendment included as Attachment C. As a reminder, this is a quasi-judicial matter so no public testimony will be taken at this time, nor should the commission discuss the substance or merits of the application, appeals or possible revisions at this stage in the process. Opportunities for full public participation on the revised application will be provided in accordance with Planning Commission’s previous direction, including an evidentiary public hearing and initial decision on remand before the Eugene Hearings Official, followed by another public hearing and final action by the Planning Commission if the Hearings Official’s decision is appealed. STAFF RECOMMENDATION For all the reasons outlined above, staff recommends that the Planning Commission adopt the proposed amendment to the Commission’s January 6, 2020 Final Order, thereby extending the timeline as reflected in Attachment C. ATTACHMENTS A. Applicant’s Time Extension Request (letter dated September 15, 2020) B. January 6, 2020 Final Order of the Eugene Planning Commission on Procedural Issues Related to the Hearings Official’s Decision on the Laurel Ridge Tentative PUD Application (City File: PDT 18-3). C. Proposed Amendment to the Commission’s January 6, 2020 Final Order FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please contact Dan Halverson, Senior Planner, Eugene Planning Division, by phone at: 541-682-5410, or by e-mail at DHalverson@eugene-or.gov Page 3 of 12 September 15, 2020 City of Eugene Planning and Development Department Planning Division 99 West 10th Avenue Eugene, OR 97401 Attn: Dan Halverson, Senior Planner Re: LaurelRidge Residential Subdivision Planned Unit Development – Tentative Plan (PDT 18-3) Amended Application Dear Dan, Thank you for your assistance with our application. We appreciate your through review of our June 30 submittal and the helpful comments and observations you have provided. We believe as of last week we have submitted all materials that have been requested. We look forward to working with you and your colleagues through the rest of the process. As for the process, the year 2020 has certainly been one not to be soon forgotten. First the virus and now the wildfires. With the virus-related state-wide closure of public facilities, businesses and all sorts of venues in March we all began working remotely (and learned all about Zoom and other virtual meeting tools). Naturally, no matter how hard everyone tried, communication, and thus productivity, suffered. With this in mind, the applicant is in support of requesting an extension of the timeline contained in the Planning Commission’s decision regarding the LaurelRidge PUD. We support whatever specific extension staff recommends and the Planning Commission approves. Again, thank you for your assistance with the project. We greatly appreciate it. Sincerely, Richard M. Satre Richard M. Satre, AICP, ASLA, CSI President The Satre Group Page 4 of 12 Page 5 of 12 Page 6 of 12 Page 7 of 12 Page 8 of 12 Page 9 of 12 Page 10 of 12  ______________________________________________________________________________ On January 6, 2020, the Planning Commission adopted a “Final Order of the Eugene Planning Commission on Procedural Issues Related to the Hearings Official’s Decision on the Laurel Ridge Tentative PUD Application (City File: PDT 18-3).” The Final Order addressed a number of procedural issues related to the applicant’s invocation of ORS 197.522, a state statute that allows the applicant to amend an application and/or propose conditions of approval that would bring the application into compliance with the City’s land use regulations. ORS 197.522 also gives the City the authority to extend the time for final action on an application beyond the limitations mandated under ORS 227.178 (the “120-day rule”) and to set a new time limitation for final action on the amendments and/or conditions of approval proposed by the applicant. In its January 6, 2020 Final Order, the Planning Commission adopted the following time frame for review of the applicant’s amended tentative PUD application. The applicant was required to prepare and submit to the City any proposed amendments and/or any proposed conditions of approval that would make the tentative PUD application consistent with the City’s comprehensive plan and land use regulations on or before 5:00 p.m. on June 30, 2020. The Final Order further required the City to issue a final local decision on the amended application on or before December 30, 2020. The Planning Commission determined that the time frame adopted in the Final Order is comparable to the typical time frame for a new application and, given the amendments likely to be proposed by the applicant, would give the applicant and interested parties a reasonable opportunity to review and comment on the proposed amendments, and would give the City a reasonable amount of time to process the application. Following issuance of the January 6, 2020 Final Order, Oregon residents experienced a number of unforeseen circumstances, including the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and the recent wildfires, all of which have created the following barriers to compliance with the timeline in the January 6, 2020 Final Order: it was difficult for the applicant to hire certain professionals to do field investigations and write reports because schedules and availability were impacted by the pandemic and the wildfires; and virtual meetings and the challenges associated with working from home created difficulties for the architects, engineers, and other professionals associated with the project, the result of which was that the drafting of plans and specifications took longer than initially anticipated. Although the applicant did submit an amended application on June 30, 2020, due to the pandemic and the wildfires, review of the application and submission of necessary supporting information Page 11 of 12 has taken more time than anticipated by the January 6, 2020 Final Order. On September 15, 2020 the applicant submitted a letter to the City requesting an extension of the time line included in the Commission’s January 6, 2020 Final Order to allow for adequate time to process the amended tentative PUD application. After consideration of the applicable law and staff’s recommendation, the Planning Commission makes the following findings and amends the Commission’s January 6, 2020 Final Order as follows: ORS 197.522(3) provides that if an application is inconsistent with the City’s comprehensive plan or land use regulations, before making a final decision on the application, the City must allow the applicant to offer an amendment or propose conditions of approval that would make the application consistent with the City’s comprehensive plan and land use regulations. The applicant has asserted its right to propose such amendments and/or conditions. ORS 197.522(3)(b) relieves the City from compliance with ORS 227.178 (the “120-day rule”) and allows the City to set a new timeframe for a final local decision on the amended application. ORS 197.522 does not provide any guidance regarding the time within which a local government must make a final local decision on an application amended pursuant to ORS 197.522. The Eugene Code does not regulate time lines or procedures associated with ORS 197.522. The Planning Commission finds that due to unexpected and unforeseen circumstances, including the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and the wildfires that occurred in the state of Oregon in the months of September and October, the timeline adopted in the Commission’s January 6, 2020 Final Order should be extended. Therefore, the deadline in the Commission’s January 6, 2020 Final Order for a final local decision on the applicant’s amended tentative PUD application is hereby amended to require that the City issue a final local decision on the amended application on or before June 30, 2021. This Final Order, including the foregoing findings and conclusions, is adopted on this 13th day of October 2020, as an amendment to the January 6, 2020 Final Order of the Eugene Planning Commission on Procedural Issues related to the Hearing Official’s Decision on the Laurel Ridge Tentative PUD Application (PDT 18-03). This decision is a final local decision appealable to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals pursuant to ORS 197.825-197.845. This Final Order shall be attached to the Planning Commission’s Final Order dated January 6, 2020. ______________________________ Chair, Eugene Planning Commission Attachment A: Final Order of the Eugene Planning Commission on Procedural Issues Related to the Hearings Official’s Decision on the Laurel Ridge Tentative PUD Application (City File: PDT 18-3) Page 12 of 12