Agendas and Minutes

City Council (View All)

Council Business Meeting

Agenda
Tuesday, December 18, 2018

 MINUTES FOR THE REGULAR MEETING ASHLAND CITY COUNCIL
Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Council Chambers 1175 E. Main Street
 
Note: Items on the Agenda not considered due to time constraints are automatically continued to the next regularly scheduled Council meeting [AMC 2.04.030.E.]

I.      CALL TO ORDER Mayor Stromberg called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
  
II.      PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
III.     ROLL CALL

Councilor Slattery, Bachman, Seffinger, Rosenthal and Jensen were present. Councilor Morris arrived at
7:06 PM.
 
IV. MAYOR’S ANNOUNCEMENTS

Current Commission/Committee vacancies. Mayor Stromberg thanked Morris and Bachman for their service.

V. CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT

City Administrator Kelly Madding gave a brief update on these items:  Extreme Weather Center  Weed Abatement Ordinance  TNC Ordinance

VI. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
  1. Study Session of December 3, 2018
  2. Business Meeting of December 4, 2018
 
Rosenthal/Seffinger moved to approve the minutes. Discussion: None. All Ayes.  Motion passed unanimously.

VII. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS & AWARDS

1. A Resolution declaring the canvass of the vote of the election held in and for the City of Ashland, Oregon on November 6, 2018 and Mayoral proclamation.
Mayor Stromberg read the proclamation (see attached).

VIII. MINUTES OF BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, AND COMMITTEES
Airport Conservation Forest Lands Historic Housing and Human Srvs. Parks & Recreation Planning Public Arts Transportation Tree Wildfire Mitigation

IX. PUBLIC FORUM Business from the audience not included on the agenda. (Total time allowed for Public Forum is 15 minutes. The Mayor will set time limits to enable all people wishing to speak to complete their testimony.) [15 minutes maximum]

Dennis Miller-Ashland -Spoke wishing all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Huelz Gutcheon-HWY 99-Spoke regarding what a crisis is.

Dr. Denise Krause – Ashland-Ms. Krause spoke regarding pig/chicken farm and slaughter house.  She read a letter into the record (see attached).

Dr. Carol Voisin -Ashland – Spoke in concern regarding the farm. She requested the City to submit a letter of concern to Jackson County. She read a letter into the record (see attached).

Donna Stewart – Ashland-Spoke in agreement with comments above regarding the farm.

Matt Marr-Ashland – Spoke regarding procedural issues in the Land Use Agenda Item. He went over the issues. Mr. Marr submitted a letter into the record (see attached).

Slattery requested that Staff to look into the pig farm issue.  Ms. Madding spoke that she spoke to County Planning and gave a brief update. She explained that slaughtering would not be onsite.  Permits would have to be completed before anything can take place. She spoke regarding the concerns with TID.  She spoke that she will look at the letter and if the Council wants to send a letter the most they can say they concur with TID but other than that they have a right to farm their land.

Cynthia Moscaritolo asked to speak under Public Forum regarding 188 Garfield Public Hearing.

Councilor Slattery moved to suspend the Council Rules. City Attorney David Lohman explained that if you allow a person to speak on this topic may be subjecting an appeal by the applicants.  Slattery withdrew the motion.

X. CONSENT AGENDA
  1. Approval of Liquor License Request for Hiro Sushi, Inc.
  2. Acceptance of FY 2017/18 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report and Component Unit Financial Report
Slattery pulled this item.  Administrative Services Director Mark Welch gave a Staff report.

3. Confirmation of Mayoral Appointment of Tom McBartlett as Electric Utility Director.

Jensen pulled this item. He spoke in support of Mr. McBartlett. Ms. Madding gave a brief Staff report and thanked Mr. McBartlett for his work. Mr. McBartlett thanked Council. 


Rosenthal/Morris moved to approve the consent agenda. Discussion: None. All Ayes.  Motion passed unanimously.

Rosenthal/Slattery moved to rearrange the Agenda and move item XIII and X1V prior to item XI.  Discussion: None. All Ayes.  Motion passed unanimously

XI. NEW AND MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS

1. Request to Submit FEMA Fire Prevention & Safety Grant Fire Chief gave a Staff report. 

Jensen/Morris moved to approve the grant funding applications from Ashland Fire & Rescue to FEMA for the Fire Prevention and Safety Grant programs. Discussion:  None. Roll Call Vote:  Bachman, Morris, Jensen, Slattery, Seffinger and Rosenthal: YES. All Ayes. Motion passed unanimously.

XII. ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS AND CONTRACTS

1. Downtown Parking Management and Enforcement – Contract Approval Madding gave a Staff report. 

Slattery/Bachman moved to approve a Goods and Services Contract with Diamond Parking Services with typographical errors corrected by Staff.  Discussion: Slattery thanked Staff. Ms. Madding thanked Administrative Assistant Adam Hanks for his work on this.  Roll Call Vote: Rosenthal, Seffinger, Slattery, Jensen, Morris and Bachman: YES.  Motion passed unanimously.


2. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 3163 Related to Vehicles for Hire, Amending Ashland Municipal Code 6.28.170.

Ms. Madding gave a brief staff report.

Bachman/Morris moved to approve Second Reading of Ordinance No. 3163 for enactment. Discussion: Bachman spoke that this is the right thing to do for the Taxi drivers moving forward. Morris agreed. Roll Call Vote:  Bachman, Morris, Jensen, Slattery, Seffinger and Rosenthal: YES. Motion passed unanimously. 

3. Adoption of 880 Park Street Appeal Findings Senior Planner Derek Severson gave a Staff report.
Exparte for findings. No councilor announced exparte.

Morris/Slattery moved to adopt the findings for the appeal PA-APPEAL-2018-00004 as presented. Discussion: Morris and Slattery spoke in support of the motion. Roll Call Vote:  Rosenthal, Bachman, Jensen, Seffinger, Slattery and Morris: YES. All Ayes. Motion passed unanimously.

4. Approval of Findings Document and Second Reading of Infill Strategy Ordinance and Map Amendments.
 

Maria Harris gave a brief staff report.

Rosenthal/Jensen moved to approve the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law dated December 18, 2018 to accompany the infill strategy Ordinance and map amendments. Discussion:  Rosenthal thanked Staff. Jensen spoke in appreciation of the diligent work. Roll Call Vote: Slattery, Bachman, Morris, Seffinger, Rosenthal and Jensen: YES.  All Ayes.  Motion passed unanimously.

Bachman/Morris moved to approve second reading of an Ordinance titled, an Ordinance Amending the Ashland Land Use Ordinance to Include a new Chapter 18.3.14 Transit Triangle Overlay. Discussion: Bachman spoke to the importance of getting this underway. Morris spoke in agreement with Bachman. Roll Call Vote:  Rosenthal, Seffinger, Jensen, Slattery, Morris and Bachman:  YES.  All Ayes.  Motion passed unanimously.

Bachman/Jensen moved to approve second reading of an Ordinance titled, an Ordinance Amending Chapter 18.2.1, 18.2.2, 18.2.3, 18.2.5, 18.3.12, 18.3.13, 18.4.3 and 18.6.1 of the Ashland Land Use Ordinance to Implement an Infill Strategy in the Transit Triangle and Miscellaneous Edits for Clarity and Consistency. Discussion:  Bachman spoke that this is an exciting project and best for the Community.  Jensen agreed with Bachman.  Roll Call Vote: Morris, Bachman, Seffinger, Jensen, Rosenthal and Slattery: YES. All Ayes. Motion passed unanimously.

Bachman/Jensen moved to approve second reading of an Ordinance titled, an Ordinance Amending the City of Ashland Zoning Map to Add a Transit Triangle Overlay. Discussion: Bachman spoke in support of the Ordinance.  Roll Call Vote:  Bachman, Jensen, Morris, Slattery, Seffinger and Rosenthal:  YES.  All Ayes.  Motion passed unanimously.
5. Second Reading of Ordinance Amending AMC 4.12.030 with respect to certificates of Lien Search fees to be set by Resolution.

City Recorder Melissa Huhtala gave a brief Staff report.

Rosenthal/Slattery moved to approve the second reading of an Ordinance Amending section
4.12.030 of the Ashland Municipal Code with respect to certificates of lien search fees to be set by Resolution. Discussion: Rosenthal thanked the City Recorder for this update. Slattery agreed.  Roll Call Vote: Morris, Slattery, Jensen, Bachman, Rosenthal and Seffinger: YES.  All Ayes.  Motion passed unanimously. 

XIII. PUBLIC HEARINGS (Persons wishing to speak are to submit a “speaker request form” prior to the commencement of the public hearing. Public hearings shall conclude at 9:00 p.m. and be continued to a future date to be set by the Council, unless the Council, by a two-thirds vote of those present, extends the hearing(s) until up to 10:30 p.m. at which time the Council shall set a date for continuance and shall proceed with the balance of the agenda.)

1. An Appeal of Planning Action – 188 Garfield Street

Mayor Stromberg read a script into the record (see attached). City Recorder Melissa Huhtala read the 12 appeal points into the record (see attached).

The Mayor asked if there were any Councilors that had any exparte issues with this item. Morris spoke that he drove by the property and read a statement into the record (see attached). 

Staff Report
Community Development Director Bill Molnar and Senior Planner Derek Severson went over a PowerPoint (see attached). Staff went over the 12 grounds of appeal. City Attorney David Lohman explained the redaction of the written testimony. Council discussed the appeal process. 
  

Applicants Presentation
Chris Hearn and Amy Gunter Presented a PowerPoint (see attached).
Items discussed were:
 Council Review of Planning Commission Decision
 Substantial Evidence
 Needed Housing
 Conditions of approval
 Conservation Housing Density Bonus
 The 12 Grounds of appeal

Morris/Slattery moved to extend the Public Hearing until 10:30 PM. Discussion: None. All Ayes. Motion passed unanimously.

Appellant
Devin Huseby and Michael Hitske presented a PowerPoint presentation (see attached).
Items discussed were:
 Parking
 Outdoor Recreation Space
 Statements & deliberation from the Planning Commission.

Mr. Huseby spoke to not go through with the process. He spoke that the process was flawed and if approved will go to LUBA. 

Public Input
Dr. Jesse Longhurst-Ashland -Spoke in support of the appeal.  He spoke that the Planning Commission had procedural errors and went over the errors. He spoke regarding insufficient off street parking and walking routes. He also spoke in concern of pedestrian danger.
Sue LeRoy – Ashland – Spoke in support of the appeal and stated her reasons why.  She gave statistics of cost and suggested to go back to the developer.
Michael Gutman-Ashland – Spoke in support of the appeal and gave his reasons why.
Gregory Zentner – Ashland –Spoke in agreement with the appellants. He spoke regarding bike parking and the difficulty to hang a bike hook on the wall. He spoke in disagreement with redactions of written comments during the process. 

Rebuttal
Mr. Hearn spoke rebutted that the threat to pay a lot of money in attorney fees is not true. He spoke that bike hangers are used all over the State and Country and are easy to use. He spoke that Staff has analyzed this all at length. He spoke in support of the Planning Department and Commission.

Mayor Stromberg Closed the Public Hearing at 9:27 PM.

Legal/Counsel/Staff Discussion
Mr. Severson spoke regarding non-conforming development. 

Council and Staff discussed the reasoning for the 50 ft. distance for the driveway.
 

Mr. Lohman explained to Council the rules for the decision making.

Council and Staff discussed the parking. 

Ms. Madding discussed a possible extension to the applicant.

Jensen/Morris moved to approved the Planning Commission decision on appeal item #1. Discussion: None. All Ayes.  Motion passed unanimously.

Morris/Jensen moved to support the Planning Commission recommendation on appeal item #2. Discussion: None. All Ayes. Motion passed unanimously.

Morris/Bachman moved to support the Planning Commission recommendation on appeal item #3. Discussion: None. Councilor Slattery, Morris and Jensen: YES.  Councilor Seffinger, Slattery and Rosenthal: NO. Mayor Stromberg: YES.  Motion Passed 4-3.

Morris/Bachman moved to support the Planning Commission recommendation on appeal item #4.  Discussion:  None.  Councilor Slattery, Morris, Jensen, Seffinger and Rosenthal: YES.  Councilor Seffinger NO. Motion passed 5-1.

Jensen/Morris moved to support the Planning Commission recommendation on appeal item #5. Discussion: Council agreed to direct staff to address in the Findings the capacity is adequate in the record and the master plan is about future growth and not individual project. All Ayes. Motion passed unanimously.

Rosenthal/Jensen moved to support the Planning Commission recommendation on appeal item #6. Discussion: None. All Ayes. Motion passed unanimously.

Jensen/Morris moved to support the Planning Commission recommendation on appeal item #7.
Discussion:  None. Councilor Slattery, Morris, Jensen, Seffinger and Rosenthal: YES.  Councilor Seffinger NO. Motion passed 5-1.

Jensen/Morris moved to support the Planning Commission recommendation on appeal item #8. Discussion: Council agreed to add in the Findings “based on evidence in the record it is a nonconforming and not subject to a variance or exception”. All Ayes. Councilor Slattery, Morris, Jensen, Seffinger, Rosenthal and Seffinger: YES.  All Ayes.  Motion passed unanimously.

Rosenthal/Jensen moved to support the Planning Commission recommendation on appeal item #9. Discussion: None.  Councilor Slattery, Morris, Jensen, Seffinger, Rosenthal and Bachman: YES. All Ayes.  Motion passed unanimously.

Morris/Bachman moved to support the Planning Commission recommendation on appeal item #10. Discussion: None.  Councilor Slattery, Morris, Jensen, Seffinger, Rosenthal and Bachman: YES. All Ayes.  Motion passed unanimously.

Bachman/Morris moved to support the Planning Commission recommendation on appeal item #11. Discussion: Slattery questioned the process of the appellant. Council and staff discussed the process. Councilor Bachman, Morris and Jensen: YES.  Councilor Slattery, Rosenthal and Seffinger: NO.  Mayor Stromberg: YES.  Motion passes 4-3.

Jensen/Morris moved to support the Planning Commission recommendation on appeal item #12. Discussion: Slattery questioned the 7-day notice rule. Mr. Severson spoke that it was remedied with additional time.  Mr. Lohman agreed with Severson and spoke that it was a procedural error which did not prejudice the appellant. Councilor Slattery, Morris, Bachman, Rosenthal and Jensen: YES.  Councilor Seffinger: NO.  Motion passed 5-1.

Rosenthal/Slattery moved to direct staff to prepare findings reflective of the Council decision tonight. Discussion: None. Roll Call Vote:  Slattery, Morris, Bachman, Jensen and Rosenthal: YES.  Seffinger: NO.  Motion passes 5-1.

XIV. UNFINISHED BUSINESS

XV. OTHER BUSINESS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS/REPORTS FROM COUNCIL LIAISONS
Council thanked Councilor Morris and Councilor Bachman for their service.

XVI. ADJOURNMENT OF BUSINESS MEETING

The Business Meeting was adjourned at 10:30 PM

Respectfully submitted by:

_________________________________
City Recorder Melissa Huhtala

Attest:


______________________________
Mayor Stromberg
 

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the City Administrator's office at (541) 488-6002 (TTY phone number 1-800­735-2900).  Notification 72 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to the meeting (28 CFR 35.102-35.104 ADA Title I).

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