Eugene Planning Commission <br />May 7, 2018 <br />Page 3 <br />"[I]t appears that the applicant argues that since development of the subject <br />property cannot be approved under the city's clear and objective track, the city <br />does not have a process under ORS 197.307(4) as it applies to this applicant. <br />Based on that premise, the applicant argues it is somehow entitled to ask for and <br />receive a review under a subset of the General track criteria - i.e., only the clear <br />and objective approval criteria' within the General track." [Emphasis original] <br />The Applicant's position is that some PUD site plan must be approvable under the Needed <br />Housing standards of EC 9.8325, otherwise the statute prohibits the City from applying non- <br />clear and objective standards under any review track. March 5 Hearing Lttr at 4 item 3; April 6 <br />Final Argument at 2-3. The Applicant has never asserted that this site plan must be approvable <br />under the Needed Housing standards in EC 9.8325. <br />The HO may be saying that opponent's attorney Mr. Malone is correct that having the bare <br />"right to proceed" to apply and get local review under a set of standards in the Needed <br />Housing track that would prohibit approval of aM PUD site plan is all that the statute <br />requires. HO at 11 para 4. If so, then the HO is suggesting that the rights created by the statute <br />are illusory a nullity. That is nonsense. <br />The HO also concludes that even if the Applicant is reading the statute correctly, and it does <br />have an absolute right to get some kind of development approval under clear and objective <br />standards, its application should have been filed under the Needed Housing standards of EC <br />9.8325. HO at 12 para 3. Now, exactly how would that work? We showed, with a site plan <br />graphic, that no development is possible under Needed Housing standards of EC 9.8325, due to <br />the 20% slopes on the site. See graphic attached to March 3, 2017, in Appendix A. Is the HO <br />saying that if the applicant had applied under EC 9.8325 she would have excused compliance <br />with the 20% grading limitation standard? Is that the position of the Planning Commission, <br />too? Not likely. If the application had been filed under the EC 9.8325 standards, the Staff <br />Report would have recommended denial, because of the 20% slope grading limitation. The HO <br />would have followed through with a denial. <br />Because no development could be approved under the Needed Housing standards of EC 9.8325, <br />the Applicant was entitled to apply under the General Track standards of EC 9.8320 and ask the <br />City to only apply clear and objective standards. That is the only approach that could result in <br />an approval of the required PUD under clear and objective standards. Here the HO ignored the <br />Court of Appeals' directive to the City in Recovery House VI v. City of Eugene, 150 Or App <br />382, 946 P2d 342 (1998). In Recovery House VI the Court told Eugene that even though an <br />application is filed under a particular set of standards, the applicant is still entitled to a <br />determination from the Hearing Official as to whether those standards may be applied in the <br />first place. That is what the Applicant did here. The Applicant filed under the General Track <br />standards but told the City that state law prohibits the City from applying some of those <br />standards. <br />