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Eugene Planning Commission December 16, 2015 Page 6 The Code says that traffic must be dispersed onto a street, including a street that is unimproved, because a "street" includes unimproved streets. A car turning right onto the street and proceeding about 1000 feet to where the street is unimproved is being dispersed in the meaning of the code. The Hearings Official erroneously gave the 19 Lot Rule a wholly different meaning. He would require two independent ways into and out of site from anywhere. That would be "secondary access," which is a different phrase used elsewhere in the code. The Rule could have been written to say secondary access, but it was not. The Hearings Official summarized the position of the Fire Marshall as opposing the project, for lack of secondary access, even though he stated that "it is not directly relevant with respect to the applicable standard here." Decision at 13 last para. He is correct that it is not relevant to the meaning of the standard. But he is wrong about the final position of the Fire Marshall. The record shows, with a Nov. 4 email from the Fire Marshall, that the development complies with the fire code if the dwellings have sprinklers, regardless of the number of units served by a single access. The applicant committed to sprinklers. Maybe the Hearings Officer missed this. If the Commission agrees with the applicant's reading of the 19 Lot Rule then it need not address Issue 2 below. Issue 2: The 19 Lot Rule under State Law: The Hearings Official erred in finding, at pages 14-15, that the 19 Lot Rule is a clear and objective standard because "disperse" has a plain meaning. The standard is ambiguous because "disperse" is not defined. There are at least two possible interpretations - one that the application would comply with, and one that it would not. The Needed Housing Statute prohibits applying standards that are not clear and objective. Therefore, the 19 Lot Rule may not be applied. The Applicant filed under the Needed Housing Track in the code because state law applies directly to require the City to apply only standards that are clear and objective on their face, and that can only be applied in a clear and objective way. The Hearings Official escaped this law by finding that the 19 Lot Rule is clear and objective when it plainly is not. As a quick introduction, three statutes apply directly here: When the application is for "needed housing" ORS 197.307 applies. It says in part: (4) Except as provided in subsection (6) of this section, a local government may adopt and apply only clear and objective standards, conditions and procedures regulating the development of needed housing on buildable land described in subsection (3) of this section. The standards, conditions and procedures may not have the effect, either in themselves or cumulatively, of discouraging needed housing through unreasonable cost or delay.