Opponents to a proposed planned unit development at the south end of Sunset Lane say that the city’s infrastructure is incapable of supporting the 23 additional units it would bring to the area.
They also say that the development is not in keeping with the character of their neighborhood and have filed an appeal with the Land Use Board of Appeals over the planning commission’s preliminary review of the development plan.
The city council finished hearing testimony on the proposal during its regular meeting on Sept. 26. Linn County Affordable Housing is proposing the PUD to provide 10 duplex units of affordable housing for low-income senior and disable persons. It also will include the sale of 13 single-family homes.
The opposition to the project comes mainly from neighboring property owners who have formed a group called the Neighbors for Sensible Development, hiring Salem land-use attorney Wallace Lien’s firm.
The sewer sub basin in the area has a capacity of 495,000 gallons per day, Public Works Director Mike Adams told city council. The current flow for the 250 residents on the line is 115,000 gallons per day. Public Works projects an additional 9,200 gallons per day to be added to the system.
Residents of the area complain that sewage sometimes comes up out of the pipes in back yards and into houses. During rain events, manholes on the line overflow as a result of inflow and infiltration.
Capacity is not the issue, according to attorney Leslie Anderson of Lien’s law office. The issue is the capability of the sewer line. “Common sense is going to tell you it’s not going to fit. It doesn’t matter at the end has got the capacity. It’s not a capacity, it’s a capability question. The lines aren’t capable of handling this at this point.”
The proposal is neither timely nor orderly, which are criteria in the PUD process, Anderson told the council. “The city’s not ready for this. The street’s sure not ready. The sewer’s not ready.… Everything seems to be hurry. Why?”
Sunset Lane is not meeting the current minimum standards now, Anderson said. There is not enough width to provide 10-foot travel lanes and parking.
“This is something that can be resolved,” Anderson said. “It just hasn’t been resolved yet.”
“This one not even the planning commission could ignore,” Doug Graham of Sunset Lane said. The planning commission conditioned in its recommendation to council that LCAH would widen Sunset Lane. That widening would take away two and a half feet of beauty strip along the street. “This in itself creates a safety problem for small children to play on the sidewalk.”
It also does not address the problem of the narrow street because Sunset is still narrow north of Nandina, Graham said.
The development is proposed right in the middle of single-family style lots, Anderson said. LCAH is proposing a density higher than the normal low-density residential zoning, but offering the city no tradeoffs, which is part of the concept for a PUD.
The character of the PUD “definitely does not present itself in the prevailing character,” Anderson said. The single-family homes in the PUD are closer but they still have detached carports in a neighborhood that has enclosed garages.
The wetlands present a natural hazard, Anderson said. Stream bank erosion on Stonebrook Creek and potential flooding problems are issues. The proposal is to develop to a 25-year storm event. The minimum should be to a 100-year storm event. This issue affects everyone in the neighborhood and downstream. The development will add to the runoff in the area.
LCAH is proposing to retain high flows on its property in oversize pipes, releasing water slowly.
The drainage design meets the requirements of the city’s master storm drainage plan, Adams said.
“The city’s potential for liability, I don’t know if it’s been considered,” Anderson said of the wetlands. A child could play in that area right now and come back in January or February to three feet of water. “You could have a child drown.”
Anderson also told the city council that LCAH needed to apply for variances for the length of the street in the PUD. City code allows roads to extend to a dead end 600 feet or less from the last intersection. The proposal includes a street that runs 740 feet with no intersections.
“It’s an incomplete application and can’t even be considered at this time,” Anderson said.
Leon Laptook of the Community Development Law Center testified on behalf of LCAH that the longer street is permissible in the PUD process without a variance, but Anderson said that with the PUD not approved, it would need a variance.
“We’re asking you to deny this application until it’s complete and properly processed,” Anderson said.
Opponents also attacked the assertion that there is a need for this type of housing in Sweet Home, citing Tell and Sell classifieds that show a number of vacant low-income rentals.
“Our group doesn’t oppose affordable housing for seniors, affordable housing for the disabled nor affordable housing for low-income,” Graham said. His group opposes the zone change on a piece of ground that does not meet the criteria.
Graham testified that the hammer head at the south end of the development is too small. He said it is not addressed in Oregon Uniform Fire Codes but it is in an International Fire Code he was shown by a fire marshal with the Lebanon Fire District.
The International Fire Code is not adopted for use in Oregon, Fire Chief Dean Gray told The New Era. Where the Uniform Fire Codes are silent, he must rely on local standards, which were supposed to be developed with input from the fire chief.
“This proposal is in the city’s buildable lands inventory,” Laptook said. “It has been zoned and planned and, indeed, the area surrounding the property is already built out. The applicants are merely using the opportunities provided them in your municipal code to use the PUD in developing this property.”
Empathetic to neighbors regarding their flooding problems, Laptook said, the PUD criteria require the developer to build adequate drainage for the development and not create problems outside the development.
With regard to sewers, engineers calculated show capacity remaining in the sewer system following completion of the development, Laptook said. There are numerous sources of inflow and infiltration in the sewer lines that cause problems. Many of those are at the connections with other private users of the system.
The overflow results from extreme storm events and is a result of inflow and infiltration, Laptook said. Brookside development meets or exceeds all local, state and federal requirements so as not to exacerbate an existing problem.
A draft Housing Needs Analysis prepared by the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department indicates that over the planning period there is a need for at least 43 rental units with rents under $429, an additional 59 units with rents between $430 and $664 per month and 131 homeowner units under $90,000, Laptook said. “The Brookside proposal addresses precisely this need for affordable housing.”
“Your city staff has indicated that all needed services can be provided to the site,” Laptook said. “In fact, in the case of water service, the proposal will improve pressure to neighboring properties, and the applicant’s widening of Sunset Lane will improve and address existing issues with local transportation facilities.”