Agenda 9.21.16 - Laserfiche WebLink

LUBA Remand: Laurel Ridge Zone Change (Z 15-5) Summary of LUBA's Findings LUBA's Final Opinion and Order was issued on March 11, 2016, and is included in this memo as Attachment B. LUBA disagreed with the Hearings Official's decision, finding that Sheet 9/2/15- 04, a map created by LHVC representative Gunnar Schlieder, is valid evidence because it is based on an enlarged version of the official Metro Plan diagram (which is printed on a 11-inch by 17- inch piece of paper)'. LUBA also discusses "Exhibit L," which is a map that the applicant submitted into the record on September 2, 2016. This was also the map that the Hearings Official found to be "...the most accurate description of the boundary between the LDR and POS plan designations on the property," and was therefore adopted as part of his approval (Hearings Official Decision, page 8). LUBA also explains Exhibit L on page 11 of their Final Order. For reference, staff has included reduced versions2 of Sheet 9/2/15-04 and Exhibit L as attachments to this memo. Specifically, LUBA states that "...remand is necessary for the hearings official to consider Sheet 9/2/15-04 free of the erroneous impression that it is based on an enlargement of the digital Metro Plan diagram. Unless there is some other reason not to consider Sheet 9/2/15-04, for the reasons stated above the hearings official on remand should make an evidentiary choice between Exhibit L and Sheet 9/2/15-04 with respect to the matchup between the surveyed centerline and the black line representing East 30th Avenue" (LUBA Final Order, page 34). A- 14 0~ ,A ,v^ bU84'S P4_N0v`- - LUBA's second primary finding is that additional map reference points3 (also known as "referents) should be used to more accurately overlay the subject property on the enlarged version of the Metro Plan diagram. LUBA states "...the hearings official erred in declining to consider evidence regarding the matchup between the surveyed city limits line and Spring Boulevard and the green finger4" (LUBA Final Order, page 37). In other words, LUBA finds that the city limits line is another valid map referent that should be utilized. LUBA further states that "...I agree with the majority that the hearings official's choice to rely on a overlaid diagram that matches only one referent (the nearby East 30th Avenue centerline) when an overlaid diagram that matches that referent and three additional referents (the East 30th curve, the East 301h/Spring Boulevard intersection, and the green finger) is inadequately explained in the decision on appeal. In particular, the hearings official does not appear to have appreciated that an overlaid diagram based on an enlargement of the official Metro Plan diagram that matches four referents was available" (LUBA Final Order, page 39). t The "unofficial" version is a digital PDF version available on the City's website, which was used to create a number of other maps and diagrams present in the record. 2 The full-size versions of these maps (24 inches by 36 inches in size) are included in the application record and were made available to LUBA. 3 Examples of reference points are street right-of-ways, intersections and surveyed property boundaries. 4 "The green finger is a thin rectangle of land designated POS [Parks and Open Space] depicted on the enlarged Metro Plan diagram, which located north of the intersection of East 301h Avenue and Spring Boulevard, and which is oriented in a north-south direction" (LUBA Final Order, page 25). City of Eugene • 99 W. 10th Ave. Eugene. OR 97401 • 541-682-5481 • 541.682-5572 Fax www.eugene-or.gov/planning HO Agenda - Page 10