05 Public Record Pages 824-1020 - Laserfiche WebLink

PDF Page 41 11. EVALUATION OF ZONE CHANGE REQUEST The Eugene code, EC 9.7330 and 9.8865 requires the Hearing Official to review an application for a zone change.and consider pertinent evidence and testimony as to whether the proposed change is consistent with the criteria required for approval. The applicant's final narrative in support of the zone change is 31'pages and dated June 24, 2013. The zone change standards are addressed beginning at page 14. There is a nine page Staff Report recommending denial. This is the threshold standard for all four related applications. R-1 zoning is requested for the entire property. This requires a finding that all of the property has a Low Density Residential (LDR) Metro Plan designation. If a portion of the property is plan designated something else, then the zone change application must be denied, and the applications for development approval, which are premised on R-1 zoning, must also be denied. The applicant and the staff disagree about what the Metro Plan designation is. 9.886S(1): The proposed change is consistent with applicable provisions of the Metro Plan. The written text of the Metro Plan shall take precedence. over the Metro Plan diagram where apparent conflicts or inconsistencies exist. Consistency with the Metro Plan Diagram and Text are addressed separately below, Metro Plan Diagram consistency. For the reasons discussed below, the Metro Plan Diagram is not parcel-specific at this location; the refinement plan makes it more specific and designates the entire site LDR. The plan designation is LDR. In terms of legal issues, the Metro Plan designation -the rules for deciphering it and the final answer - was the major legal bone of contention between the applicant and the Staff. The Applicant briefed this issue for Staff in October 2012. The Applicant addressed this issue in some detail in its Pre-hearing Exhibit 1 (Memo from Schirmer Satre) and its supporting Exhibit 1-1 (Lttr discussion of the law from Bill Moos), How to determine the Metro Plan designation was the subject of another recent zone change decision. See Hearing Official Decision (Benson) Z 13-2 (May 30, 2013), included in the record as applicant Prehearing Exhibit 1-1.4. In Benson the Metro Plan Diagram was parcel-specific for the property, based on 2004 amendments to the plan text. In this situation, the applicant and the Staff agree that the Metro Plan Diagram is not parcel-specific. Staff Report at 4 para 1, 5 para 6. The Benson decision discusses the nature of the Metro Plan and amendments to it. That discussion is worth supplementing here as background. The Preface to the Metro Plan explains Laurel Ridge Applicant Final Argument - Page 7 90' Laurel Ridge Record (Z 15-5) Page 845