2008-08-19

HIDDEN SPRINGS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION MINUTES MEETING OF AUGUST 19, 2008 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. Quorum for this meeting was five. There were 13 members at the beginning of the meeting, with a final total of 20. MINUTES OF THE JULY 15, 2008 MEETING. There being no additions or corrections, President Fox declared the minutes approved as submitted. TREASURER’S REPORT. Current balance is $779.44. POLICE REPORT. There was no police officer present at the meeting. ANNOUNCEMENTS. n/a. OLD BUSINESS. 1) Bicycle Blvd. The transportation plan was supposed to be before the Planning Commission at their July 16th meeting and was scheduled to be before Council sometime in August, however there is no word if it will be finished in time. 2) Palomino Loop Trail. Three fences have been identified that are crossing the public trail area. President Fox discussed her efforts to involve public school students in trail cleanup and maintenance. 3) Stafford Hamlet. The Hamlet had a meeting just last night, West Linn’s elected representative to Metro, Carlotta Collette spoke and informed everyone that the current infrastructure costs for a new home in West Linn are approximately $70,000 according to information supplied to her by West Linn staff. Approximately $40,000 of these costs are paid by the developer and the rest is paid by existing taxpayers. Thus WL residents can expect more fees in the future to maintain existing infrastructure, as their tax dollars are used to pay for new infrastructure the developers are not required to pay for on newly annexed lands. 4) Proposed Commission For Citizen Involvement (CCI). Discussion and any proposed action on this was tabled by the Council after Councilperson Eberly moved that the CCI be composed of other members in addition to Planning Commission members. Councilperson Eberly’s motion was not voted on and will have to be addressed when the issue is brought back before the Council. 5) South Fork Water Board Resolution. President Fox stated that she had presented the HSNA resolution to the council but had received no comments or acknowledgment from the Council. A discussion ensued regarding the fact that the council ignored the NA resolution regarding it’s request for a referendum to require a public vote to change West Linn equity ownership of Southfork Water Board. Former City Finance Director Andy Parks advised the members that the City is under no obligation to respond to the Neighborhood Association’s advisory recommendations. It was pointed out to Mr. Parks, who was apparently attending as a paid consultant representing the City, that mutual respect and civility require that the Council at least recognize receipt of the of the HSNA recommendation. NEW BUSINESS. 1) Neighborhood Association “Meet The Candidates” Picnic/Potluck. President Fox explained that the city refused to waive the fee for the potluck. Thus, we would have to pass a motion authorizing the expenditure of $96.00 for the use of the Adult Community Center. This would be HSNA’s contribution towards the event. The potluck will be held on Friday evening September 12th at 6:30 PM. Other NAs will be contributing food and will be helping with set up and clean up. All candidates for city office will be invited, but there will be no speeches. People are encouraged to bring something. Charles Lytle made the following motion, which was seconded by Dan Blankenheim: “Resolved that the HSNA pay the $96.00 fee for use of the West Linn Adult Community Center for the Meet The Candidates forum to be held Friday evening, September 12, 2008.” The motion passed 6 – 0 – 0. GUEST SPEAKERS 1) Steve Daiber. Mr. Daiber lives in the Suncrest area close to the Rosemont/Carriage Way water tower. He first presented a brief history of the water tower, including siting and design selection. He then explained that as part of the original process, there was to be no commercial use of the tower. This was re-affirmed during the Thorn administration. Mr. Daiber explained that the current council changed this without asking for any citizen input and without making any public notice. Thus, there are now several commercial antennas on top of the tank, and the city may now do this without any public notice or citizen involvement. 2) Kirsten Van Loo, Van Loo 2 Associates, representing ICON Development. Ms. Van Loo presented an overview of the proposed Planned Unit Development at 19650 Suncrest Drive. Ms. Van Loo stated that the West Linn fire marshall was present at the Preap meeting when in fact a copy of the Pre-application Conference meeting dated July 17, 2008 states that Applicants: Mark Handris, Kirsten Van Loo, Eric Evans; Staff: Tom Soppe (Planning Department); Khoi Le (Engineering Division); Neighborhood: Lynn Fox (Hidden Springs NA) were present at the meeting. The “West Linn Fire Marshall” was not listed as a participant at that meeting. Ms. Van Loo stated the proposal is to go before the planning commission in September, 2008 and that her presentation was part of the formal process required for Planned Unit Developments and that all property owners within 500 feet of the proposed development would receive notice of the Planning Commission meeting. Ms. Van Loo also stated that the property has a drainage way and significant setbacks, so only about 1/3 of the parcel can be used for housing. Thus, some of the proposed six houses will be on lots less than the zoned 10,000 sq ft lots required by the West Linn CDC for this site. A number of trees will have to be removed to accommodate the developer’s desire to move a water recovery area in order to increase the size of the lots and meet the developer’s preferences for access. Ms. Van Loo suggested that the proposed swale functions as a sponge similar to the Storm Water Disconnect system currently in use in Portland, Or. A number of citizens present own property that backs up to the proposed development and had questions about lot lines, flag lots, the proposed handling of storm water, access for fire vehicles, slope of the land in areas proposed for houses, and the tipping capacity of the water supply system. Ms Van Loo was unable to answer HSNA resident Bob Thomas’s questions regarding the impact of this development on the Rosemont zone. Ms. Van Loo advised the membership that the fire truck access she defined as a hammerhead was not a normal hammerhead and would require that the fire department and emergency vehicles back out during a fire or other emergency before backing out on to Suncrest. Mr. Thomas expressed concerns regarding the danger created by garbage trucks and fire trucks that may have difficulty accessing the properties and that residents might be required to drag their garbage and yard debris several hundred feet to the entry area of the Planned Unit Development which might lead to visual blight, line of sight safety issues, create a hardship for the elderly or disabled residents and be inconsistent with the manner in which garbage service is provided to the surrounding neighborhood. Bob Thomas also asked if the proposed swale was above ground and if it required any pipes and maintenance. Ms. Van Loo advised him that the proposed swale would require some piping of storm water. Ms. Van Loo did not present answers to questions regarding who would be financially responsible for maintaining the swale and the pipes. Ms. Van Loo stated that there was a 25% slope on some of property but did not discuss their location or the significance of Type I and Type II land on the property. Ms Van Loo discussed the break in slope and 200 foot setback requirement and stated that they were nearly the same. Ms. Van Loo stated that, “The developer pays 100% of the infrastructure costs plus SDCs (System Development Charges).” Ms. Van Loo stated that a slope study to evaluate landslides was not required at this time. She further stated that a structural setback will be part of the open space tract. Ms. Van Loo stated that the owner will not dedicate the open space land to the city at this time. Several attendees referred to the preannexation meeting of August 30, 2007 and a Marylhurst Neighborhood Association meeting where Mr. Sparks apparent co-owner of the property at the time, advised the members they would dedicate the open space to the City. Ms. Van Loo stated that she was not employed on this proposed development at that time and would obtain information from the previous consultant and make that information available. Ms. Van Loo was advised that prior to annexation, the owners, Messrs. Sparks and Handris, agreed to work with city attorney Gordon Howard to craft an agreement prior to annexation that would assure dedication of the open space to the City and was asked to review those records so that she has a complete understanding of the owner’s commitments. Ms. Van Loo advised those attending that they needed to produce the records of those meetings. A resident attending this meeting requested that it be placed in the record that: “there are concerns regarding promises made by the property owner prior to annexation to dedicate the open space to the city and a verbal agreement wherein the owners agreed to dedicate the open space to the city following annexation and city attorney Gordon Howard would provide the necessary documents to assure such dedication following annexation.” After a lengthy discussion, the following motion was made by Mike Gokey and seconded by Bob Thomas: “Resolved that the HSNA opposes the development at 19650 Suncrest Drive.” In the discussion on the motion, member Charles Lytle stated that neither the planning commission nor city council would take cognizance of such a motion without clear reasons, such as failure to meet specific requirements of the community development code or storm water master plan. This would entail a detailed study of the development plans, which the NA has not done. Others present with experience in testifying before the commission and council agreed that there was little either would or could do without hard facts. After a lengthy discussion, the motion was withdrawn. NEXT MEETING DATE IS SEPTEMBER 16, 2008. ADJOURNMENT. There being no other business to come before the membership, the meeting was adjourned at 9:40 PM by President Lynn C. Fox. Recorded by HSNA Secretary Charles Lytle and transcribed by HSNA President Lynn Fox.