2006-08-19

HIDDEN SPRINGS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION MINUTES MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 19, 2006 CALL TO ORDER. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM at the West Linn Adult Community Center by President, Lynn C. Fox. Other officers in attendance: Harvey Schultz, Vice President; Donna Baker, Treasurer; Charles Lytle, Secretary. QUORUM DATA. Eligible members in good standing as of the previous meeting: 44. At 10%, the quorum for this meeting was 5. Only members in good standing can vote. The number of eligible members in good standing in attendance at the start of the meeting was 7. Therefore, the meeting stands as an official meeting of the Neighborhood Association. The maximum number of eligible members in attendance was 21. MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 15, 2006 MEETING. The secretary asked for clarification of the abbreviation of the Lake Oswego transportation study citizen advisory board. The president answered that is was LOPAC. This was placed into the minutes. Motion To Approve The Minutes As Corrected: Harvey Schultz Second To The Motion: Donna Baker Vote On The Motion: 6 Aye, 0 Nay, 1 Abstention ? Motion Carried TREASURER’S REPORT. Treasurer Donna Baker reported an assumed current account balance of $1,280.61. POLICE REPORT. Officer Bunch reported that there were no home or car break-ins during the month of August. Complaints logged were the usual nuisances such as noisy parties, barking dogs, etc. OLD BUSINESS. 1) President Lynn Fox briefly outlined the following upcoming meetings. Interested members should watch the City website, WestLinnAlert, and the W.L. Update for specific days, times, and meeting places: public outreach meeting for the proposed LDS church on East Rosemont; three election forums (Clackamas County Commissioner, W.L. mayoral race, and W.L. council race) jointly sponsored by the Hidden Springs N.A., Tanner Basin N.A. and the League of West Linn Neighborhoods, and a hamlet vs. village Stafford Triangle meeting on 10/24. 2) The HSNA is looking for volunteers for an open space/dog park task force. Also, the League of West Linn Neighborhoods has a sustainability task force starting up and interested members are encouraged to apply. 3) The park bench purchased w/ HSNA funds is now sitting in the downstairs lobby area of City Hall. In two weeks, a group of Eagle Scouts will start the process of clearing a bench site and viewing corridor along the Palomino Loop Trail. NEW BUSINESS. President Lynn Fox passed out copies of the draft Neighborhood Plan and gave a description of the problems in the process, such as the use of up to thirty invalid surveys (anonymous submissions, surveys submitted by persons not living within the Neighborhood Association boundaries, etc.), the insertion of issues not raised by the Leadership Team (NPLT) or by resident surveys, issues omitted that WERE raised by the NPLT and citizens, etc. Additional perspective was added by NPLT members Harvey Schultz, Charles Lytle, and Donna Baker. The consensus was that the consultant was warping the Plan into something that was not the intent of neighborhood residents or the NPLT. Ex-mayor David Dodds summarized the draft Plan as being only an aspirational document more akin to a vision statement than anything, and that it cannot carry any force in the City’s future planning process. In order to make the Plan viable, it needs to contain language that can be adopted into the City Code. And then City Council would have to vote to adopt the Plan into the code. The NPLT was in agreement that Planning Director Brian Brown and Mayor King have both said on the record that the neighborhood plans were never intended to be placed into City Code. HSNA Minutes September 19, 2006 Meeting Page 2 After further discussion, the membership seemed to be in agreement that the draft Neighborhood Plan process had been thwarted from the beginning by the current council’s decision to not allow all four of the plans to be anything other than a set of wish lists and that this process had been aided and abetted by the consultant, who understood that the ultimate decision maker was the body that was paying the bill, not the NPLTs or the residents. Deborah Ramsey made the following motion: “The Hidden Springs Neighborhood Association rejects the Neighborhood Plan as developed and proposed by the consultant, Cogan Owens Cogan.” Second To The Motion: Ingrid Mueller Vote On The Motion: 20 Yea, 0 Nay, 1 Abstention ? Motion Carried However, there was a general consensus that the HSNA NPLT should continue on its own and draft a plan that would carry weight when adopted by council. Charles Roberts made the following motion: “The Hidden Springs Neighborhood Association Neighborhood Plan Leadership Team will continue working to complete the Plan in such a way that each action item will be expressed in language that can be adopted into the West Linn Community Development Code and then present the approved Plan to City Council for adoption.” Second To The Motion: Martin Brother Vote On The Motion: 20 Yea, 0 Nay, 1 Abstention ? Motion Carried GUEST SPEAKERS: Philip Genteman, Centurion Homes and Bruce Goldson, Compass Engineering. Mr. Genteman first gave a PowerPoint presentation on the history of Centurion Homes. Briefly, the company is located in West Linn and has been building single family houses since the mid-1980’s, including about 400 within West Linn proper. The presentation then covered an overview of the proposed development at 1165 Rosemont (located at the NW corner of Rosemont-Santa Anita/Salamo Road intersection). The land has been historically known as the Adams property. As initially conceived, the development was to be strictly R-10 (minimum lot size of 10,000 sq. ft.) and was called Option #1. However, in consideration of adding a wide grass buffer strip along Rosemont rather than just a narrow sidewalk or path, a PUD (Planned Unit Development) status has been proposed. In a PUD, the same number of houses are allowed, even though they can’t all be put on 10,000 sq. ft. lots because of the additional land used up by the buffer. The PUD, which Mr. Genteman called Option #2, has 9 lots of about 6,100 sq. ft. Mr. Genteman said that there was a shortage of this size of new home in West Linn and that there is a substantial market of “empty nesters” who want to downsize but who do not want to move into attached houses or condos. For the 6,100 sq. ft. lots, the houses will have 2,900 sq. ft. footprints, with a maximum of 5,800 sq. ft. for both stories. New home setbacks will be 5 ft., with a 20 ft. setback from existing houses. In response to questions, Mr. Goldson explained that there was the vale that runs diagonally across the lower portion of the property became an ephemeral stream due to surface water runoff after Hidden Springs #2 was developed. This runoff is now contained in a buried pipe. He also stated that the City is considering placing a traffic light at the intersection. Concerns were raised about increased traffic and commuters cutting through the adjacent subdivision in order to avoid the backed up traffic. Members whose homes back up to the proposed development expressed concerns over the fate of the large number of trees in the upper (western) portion of the tract. Mr. Goldson stated that they were meeting with the City arborist and would not remove the trees directly adjacent to existing home lot lines. HSNA Minutes September 19, 2006 Meeting Page 3 NEXT MEETING DATE TO BE OCTOBER 17, 2006 Motion To Meet In October : Harvey Schultz Second To The Motion: Martin Brother Vote On The Motion: 14 Yea, 0 Nay, 0 Abstention ? Motion Carried ADJOURNMENT. There being no other business to come before the membership, the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 PM by President Lynn C. Fox. DRAFT MINUTES SUBMITTED BY CHARLES LYTLE, HSNA SECRETARY.