City Council, January 8th - Potential Limits on Land Use Appeals

Council meets on Monday for the first time in the new year, and in some proposed changes to Council rules are limits on call-ups and appeals to Council. 

The Committee elected to consider changes to Council call-up authority to potentially eliminate call-ups for some classes of land use decisions, including those where Council has limited discretion under Oregon law to substantively change the lower decision....

The Committee recommends that if the potential for call-up is eliminated, the ability to appeal the decision to Council is eliminated as well.

Under the recommendation, call ups and appeals to Council would be eliminated for; a) Applications involving needed housing; b) Site Plan Review; c) Urban Growth Area Preliminary Declarations, and; d) Wireless Communication Facilities.

Potential changes to appeals and call-ups

On the one hand, over the years cases at the former Blind School, Costco, Fairview, and Meyer Farm, and most recently at Titan Hills, have been appealed to Council, then most of them subsequently to LUBA, and LUBA has said in one way or another that the Council had limits on their ability to "substantively change" a lower decision. Appeals and call-ups have delayed and clogged the system, occasionally even in ways that might meet a "frivolous" designation.

But a blanket rule disallowing appeals or call-ups also eliminates remedy for a situation where a lower decision was in fact made improperly or in error. I guess the solution envisioned here then would be a direct appeal to LUBA.

This proposal could use more discussion and refinement. More limits on appeals to Council and on call-ups may be reasonable, but the total binary of prohibiting them altogether may be too strong.

The item at Council is "information only" and specifically does ask Council for more direction before a formal resolution for changes is sent to Council for adoption.

Reversing the priority order
(2023 Community Report)

Council also looks to adopt a reordering of Strategic Priorities as well as add a couple of new subtasks. It's still disappointing not to see stronger and higher-level language on reducing emissions directly and instead to see merely the lukewarm affirmation to "Support briefings of Council Committee to prioritize actions in Climate Action Plan."

The Bond update has a few new details, one being the intent to start construction on the Pringle Creek path between Mirror Pond and Riverfront park in 2028.

Small bridges scheduled for 2025 rehab work

One group of projects in a separate agenda item, a cluster of small bridge rehabilitation projects, needs to acquire right-of-way, three temporary easements and one permanent bite of property. It is interesting that the language focuses on heavy trucks and load limits, and does not ever invoke seismic strengthening. Maybe this is implied, but these smaller bridges connect to important places like the Hospital, and would be good to know how far the "load" work will go to earthquake readiness.

There are a few appointments worth some brief mention.

The Council appointments to the Advisory Committee for the Regional Scenario Planning project are very sound: Mayor Hoy and Councilors Stapleton and Philips. (See previously some questions about the broader structure of the Advisory Committee, which does not seem positioned for strong action on climate.)

One appointment that may deserve more attention is the return of Cara Kaser to the Historic Landmarks Commission. You may recall she ran into some trouble as a City Councilor on a matter of reusing the old German Baptist Church for affordable housing. Between that and moving out of the Grant neighborhood, she had to resign from Council.

One person's application for the Citizen Advisory Traffic Commission specifically mentions Marganne Allen, and it seems likely that this won't be the last time her shocking death galvanizes further advocacy. Maybe with the Vision Zero project, as well as the upcoming review of Boards and Commissions, Council and the City will assign more responsibility and power to CATC and they will be able to do more.