LAW OFFICE OF BILL KLOOS PC <br />OREGON LAND USE LAW <br />375 W. 4TH AVENUE, SUITE 204 <br />EUGENE, OR 97401 <br />TEL: 541.343.8596 <br />WEB: WWW.LANDUSEOREGON.COM <br />BILL KLOOS <br />BILLKLOOS @LANDUSEOREGON. COM <br />November 23, 2015 <br />Eugene Hearings Official <br />c/o Eugene Planning Director <br />99 West 10th Ave. <br />Eugene, OR 97401 <br />Re: Chamotee Trails PUD (PDT 15-1/ARA 15-13); Applicant's Final Argument <br />Dear Mr. Helm: <br />This is the applicant's final argument. <br />Reference to "Exhibits" here is to exhibits previously filed by this office. <br />Initially, we summarize the key facts related to the legal issues in this matter. Those facts relate <br />primarily to the updated slope map for the property. <br />Then we address several legal questions: <br />The 19 Lot Rule: What is the correct interpretation of this code standard? We believe the <br />plain language meaning allows development of this site because traffic is dispersed in <br />two directions. <br />Is this project "Needed Housing" in the meaning of the statute, such that it gets the <br />protections of the statute? The applicant, City Attorney, and Planning Commission agree <br />that it is. <br />If so, may the City apply the 19 Lot Rule to deny the project? No, for two <br />reasons. <br />First, there is too much interpretive discretion in the 19 Lot Rule for it to be <br />applied as a standard. As LUBA explained in its recent Group B decision, if the <br />standard can be interpreted to either allow or not allow the use, then it may not be <br />applied under the Needed Housing Statute. It comes off the table. <br />Second, applying the 19 Lot Rule would force the applicant into longer, more <br />expensive series of partitions, to which the 19 Lot Rule does not apply. Forcing <br />the applicant to take a longer, more expensive route to get to the same place <br />would violate the prohibition in the Needed Housing Statute against clear and <br />objective standards that result in unreasonable cost and delay of needed housing. <br />There is no reason apparent in the code, or suggested by staff, for why it would be <br />reasonable to apply the 19 Lot Rule to the quicker, less costly PUD process, but <br />