City Council 07/13/2015 Meeting Recap

The West Linn City Council met in a special meeting July 13 with just one item on the agenda.

Mayor Russ Axelrod, who was out of town, attended the meeting via telephone.

After calling the meeting to order, the council held a public hearing regarding a removal from the historic district.

The applicant requested the property at 1344 14th Street be removed from the Historic District overlay zone.

The procedure for removal from the historic district zone requires the Historic Review Board (HRB) to make a recommendation to the City Council regarding whether the property should be removed from the zone; then, the City Council makes the final decision. This procedure is different from the design review application requests because on those requests the HRB makes the final decision, which can then be appealed to the City Council.

At its June 9 hearing, the HRB recommended the council deny the request to remove the property from the Historic District overlay zone.

After some discussion over Axelrod’s prior communications with the applicant and emails sent regarding the subject, Councilor Jenni Tan and Council President Thomas Frank voted to recuse Axelrod from deliberating on the agenda bill.

After a staff presentation, a representative of the applicant gave rebuttal. After questions from the council to the staff, the council moved to making a vote.

“I appreciate both arguments presented by both parties,” Tan said.

Councilor Brenda Perry moved to approve the removal from the historic district and Tan seconded it. Frank voted against it.

The motion tentatively approved the application and directed staff to prepare a final decision and order. The meeting was continued to Monday, July 20. If anyone wishes to appeal the decision, it must be appealed to LUBA (Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals).

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The city council’s next regular meeting is Monday, July 20, at 6:30 p.m.