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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1981-0714 REG MINMINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING ASHLAND CITY COUNCIL July 14, 1981 ROLL CALL APPEALS Having led the Pledge of Allegiance, Mayor Medaris called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. in the English Lecture Hall on the above date. Present were Howard, Dale, Acklin and Laws. Peterson was absent and Sims arrived several minutes late. Planner Fregonese clarified the situation relative to the two Appeals being considered by saying that should Council deny both Appeals, the Planning Commission decision is upheld. If Council grants one Appeal they will not be able to grant the other. Fregonese went on to tell of the many hours spent in public hearings, site inspections and a lot of testimony and said the Planning Commission deliberated over the matter and prepared the packet for Council for full information on whic~ to make decision. Fregonese said the proposed placement of units was done ~n an insensitive manner in some instances and that there were too many units in the project which would violate performance standards by overclustering of units. Fregonese said the "open space" ~s essential]i a tradeoff but in this instance is extremely steep and not useable. Fregonese said the decision of the Planning Commission is a good one an~ the conditions workable and added that there are problems with soils and slopes in the project area. Fregonese asked that B. G. Hicks, Engineering Geologist, & J. C. Cloyd, Geologist Report on Hillslope Development be read into the record. B. G. Hicks read the report and made himself available ~or questioning. John Eads, 39 S. Central Avenue, Medford, representing applicant/ appellant Mark Cooper (Lithia Homes of Ashland) was given the floor to present tbe appeal of Planning Commission's decision to allow 28 units and reviewed several grounds for disagreeing with that decision. Tim Bosshard was introduced to answer technical questions relative to plans & layout. Eads requested that all matters and documents be made part of the record as submitted to the Planning Comj~ission. Eads said there needs to be conditions imposed which will assure that neither the City nor the residents in the area would be injured and that the Geologist's report would protect a~ainst soil problems. said that the conditions of Planning Commission would assure the same regardless of the number of units asked for although Hicks' report ~eul not take into consideration information from letter dated April 7, 19~i from Edward Webber, Jackson Count7 Soil Conservation~st concerning this site saying there is no slippage. Eads said he did not think it could be contended that the 45 unit request would present hazards which could not be adequately dealt with. Eads said the 21 acres designate~ as passive/recreation open space should not be excluded in the request for 45 units because it is unbuildable and that the request is based on perimeter of parcel. A minor land partition as applied for by Geoffrey F. Lewis at 415 Granite Street was presented and it was re- quested that letter be made part of the record. Ead~ said that one of the conditions was that no construction could take place on slopes greater than 50% and his client's condition called for no greater than a 40% slope. Eads suggested that the slope percentage be removed and requirement of engineering of foundations be a condition. Bosshard showed elevations of plan showing the clustered areas and said that continued 7/14/81 LITttIA HOMES APPEALS stream area would be left in natural state and that the large open area would be for passive recreation with natural rock outcropping, plant life, trail network for hiking & jogging etc. all of which would be don~ with the least amount of disturbance possible. Bosshard said every consideration in planning has been given impact on adjacent property. Bosshard continued by saying the project is FHA approved and the type of construction would have the least impact on the type of soil involve~ Bosshard said only 8 units would be visible from Granite Street as natural vegetation provides screening. Eads concluded his presentation by saying that the modification of the Planning Commission to 28 units is without basis according to the Ordinance and that the 45 units as applied for should be approved. David V. Gilstrap, representing Friends.& Neighbors of Granite Street gave a short rebuttal to Eads' comments and disagreed with the reasons given for Planning Commission's reduction to 28 units being the slope of the 11 acres and said there were many other factors considered and cited the first five or six conclusory findings as being the real reasons for reduction. Gilstrap called attention to the fact that the site is in "P Overlay" Zone meaning certain hazards exist and cited those hazards as slope and soil. Gilstrap said Eads' offer to have each foundation engineered and said that though under its present con- dition the soil is stable with vegetation etc. but the moment it is disturbed it will start mass wasteing/erosion and general slippage. Besides the density, soil, slope and other foreseeable problems GilstriI added traffic on Granite Street as a concern along with Lithia Park. Also stated by Gilstrap was the need for neighborhood compatibility ag outlined in the Performance Standard Options and noted the 1500 sig- natures collected on petitions from concerned citizens. Gilstrap said the open space area should be accessible by foot and useable by the residents of the P.U.D. Gilstrap covered other important areas and concluded by presenting the petitions signed by 1454 persons to the Mayor and asked that it be made part of the record. Also made part of the record previously in the meeting were Staff Report of Planning Department dated April 8, 1982 Minutes of the April 16, 1981 Planning Commission Special Meeting, Planning Commission's Findings (Exhibit "D"), Applicant's Findings, Minor Land Partition approval for 415 Granite Street, Public Hearing minutes for PA#81-25 admitted as Exhibit "B", Preliminary Engineering Geologic Report of Hillslope Development - Upper Granite Street Area as reported by B. G. Hicks and J. C. Cloyd, letters from Tangren Alex- ander, Nell Benson, (Wildland Fire Prevention Specialist), Helen Wilson, and Marilyn Marthoski. The meeting was taped for the record and will be retained in file. (All documents submitted relative to this matter on Planning Commission and Council level are on file). Tangren Alexander who lives in the area read a letter asking 7/14/81 P. 2 Lithia Homes Appeals continued consideration of the impact relative to traffic, further development of open land towards tow~, above the park etc. and access roads them- selves, traffic noise impact on Shakespeare etc. Kay Atwood representing Bill Patton expressed concern of Festival on voice audibility of the plays with increase of traffic especially in ~he summer evenings. Supportive of lowest density. Dick Wood said that duplex housing would be undesirable in area of single family homes. Jim Greathouse cautioned Council on changing the policy of street pavin by adding others to the district who use the street etc. and said that if such an idea can be brought out of an emotional situation then it could be possible for other property owners to pay for sharing of the paving of feeder streets. Perry Prince, 235 Granite Street, said when you have a steep hillside some people are going to walk up but others will go up on motorcycles and dirt bikes and erosion is sure to result and even walking will caus. the soil to erede. Price added that the potential for fires when people are on vacation should be considered. Wayne Burns asked what guarantee that Mr. Cooper will keep his word is being offered. Another person objected to more traffic on Granite Street which is already being used as a truck route for the City. John Eads criticized Gilstrap for his presentation relative to unfeundec information and went on to say that Mr. Cooper's application meets the City's standards and was part of the Comprehensive Plan and now with reconsideration of the application it appears the goal posts are being moved. Eads went on to say the authors of the Comprehensive Plan were citizens of the City. Eads reiterated his stance on how dense the cluster of units should be and said that the open space which was said to be unbuildable was never cleimed to be buildable but should be left in the total picture as open space as applied for in the plan, Eads said Gilstrap said we shouldn't be able to build on 40% slopes but down the street building has been allowed at 50%. Eads referred to a traffic study done in January of 1980 which establishes the fact that Granite Street can handle increased traffic. Eads said that Council is being asked to down-zone Mr. Cooper's property. The public hearing was closed and turned back to Council for discussion. Russ Dale asked if either Attorney had presented new information and Fregonese said they had not. Mr. Cooper's investment was discussed at length which information is available on tape. Howard asked Planner Fregonese if he still supports the Planning Commission reco~nendation and he said he does. Medaris asked about other slopes in different parts of Ashland and how they differed from those being discussed. 7/14/81 P. 3 LITHIA HOMES APPEALS cont. City Recorder Hick said the Webber report was for clay and not granitic soils. Hicks said there are other slopes comparable and that some are of clay and others sand. Sims asked if the project can develop without water problems and was told by Fregonese that it can. Dale asked Fregonese to what degree has the Planning Commission dealt with the engineering of foundations condition. Fregonese said it is in the conditions but that alone dees not solve the problems. On question by Acklin of Hicks as to what he thinks of plan for retaining walls and Hicks said it would cost a lot of money. Acklin read a letter which came from Neil Benson, Wildland Fire Pre- vention Specialist, which reported hazardous wildfire potential in the interface area in which houses are built right in or adjacent to the forest. Bensen expressed concern that the subdivision is being proposed in the Ashland Creek canyon and directly adjacent to the Cityts watershed. The letter further elaborates on the dangers and recommends a firebreak of at least 30 feet around all structures. Also Benson recommends landscaping around structures be done with "slow burning" native plants. Acklin agreed with the concerns of the writer and suggested further conditions which would require fire retardant roofs and to look in terms of more careful consideration of protection of the watershed. Laws said that it would be adding con- ditions after the fact but felt the fire prevention recommendations should be discussed. On question of the City Attorney,Laws was told that in essence Council could adopt the Planning Commissions Findings and Conditions with the added condition of fire prevention to be taken up at a later meeting after it is prepared by Planner Fregonese. Salter explained the decision before Council saying that the units have been proposed between the 14 asked for by the Friends of Granite Street, 28 approved by the Planning Commission and 45 which the develop er is asking for with inclusion of the passive open space property included. to Staff was directed/prepare findings of fact to include #38 and Laws moved to indicate our preference is for 28 units as approved by Planning Commission for density; Sims seconded and on roll call, Howard, Dale, Acklin and Laws voted YES. Sims opposed and the motion carried. Acklin moved to request staff bring back findings of fact on condition of adequate fire prevention at next meeting; Laws seconded and on roll call, Howard, Sims, Dale, Acklin and Laws voted in favor to carry the motion. Laws moved to postpone action on appeals to July 21, 1981 meeting; Sims seconded and on roll call all YES. Meeting was adjourned to 11:10 P.M. L. Gordon Medaris Mayor 7/14/81 P. 4