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1990-13072-Minutes for Meeting April 18,1990 Recorded 5/10/199090-13072 10 1 0 0 6 5 MINUTES DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISS.IQNERS April 18, 1990 - __j Chair Throop called the meeting to order atl 1© Y, a.m. Board members in attendance were Dick Maudlin, Tom Throop and Lois Bristow Prante. Also present were Paul Blikstad, Planner; Rick Isham, County Legal Counsel; and Dave Hoerning, County Engineer. 1. CONSENT AGENDA Consent agenda items before the Board were: #1, chair signature of contract amendment with Gates McDonald & Company for annual fee schedule; #2, signature of Order 90-055 amending tax refund Order 90-030; #3, appointment of Ronald Delzer to River Bend Estates Special Road District Board of Directors; and #4, signature of City subdivision plat for Tamarack Park East Phase VII. PRANTE: Move approval. MAUDLIN: Second. VOTE: PRANTE: YES THROOP: YES MAUDLIN: YES 2. PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING THE DESCHUTES COUNTRY STORE Paul Blikstad gave the staff report indicating that the Deschutes Country Store had filed two appeals. The first item was the Planning Director's decision regarding a minor alteration to the store involving moving the gas pumps and installing a canopy over the pumps. The item under appeal was the requirement for a left-turn lane into the store which staff had placed in the decision based upon on the 1980 site plan approved for the original store. The second item was an appeal of the hearings officer's decision which denied the sign variance application for an existing BP gas sign. He said no permit had been taken out before installation of the BP sign. He said the County Planning staff recommended that the BP gas sign variance be denied, since there was already a store sign, and the County ordinance did not allow two signs on one property. He said there were logo gas signs on Highway 97 before the turnoff to the Deschutes Country Store. Commissioner Throop asked if there was any history on the signing at the store. Paul Blikstad said there was testimony at the original hearings for both the site plan and the plan amendment and zone change that the clear intent of the wC70FILMED PAGE 1 MINUTES: 4-18-90 MAY. 1.9( 101 - 0066 property owners was not to direct signs toward Highway 97. He said there was a condition in the site plan approval that no signs be directed toward Highway 97. Dave Hoerning testified that he had visited the site. He said the general traffic was coming from the subdivision and was stacking to turn north into town, so what needed to be done was placement of a left turn lane for use when turning onto Highway 97--not a left turn lane for turning into the store. He said there were plenty of traffic gaps for people to make the left turn into the store. The store owner had also agreed to make a one-way traffic system when relocating his pumps, so that the entrance would be the westerly access to the store and the exit would be the easterly access to the store. This would improve the circulation into and out of the store and would move the cars away from the stack of cars waiting to turn left onto Highway 97. Commissioner Throop asked if one of the conditions on the original approval was that a left turn lane be constructed? Paul said there had been no specific condition in the record; it was just noted on the site plan. Commission Throop asked why that condition might have been placed on the site plan. Dave Hoerning speculated that at the time they probably didn't know what the traffic would be into the store and, therefore, put the turn lane in the site plan to play it safe. Commissioner Throop opened the public hearing and asked for testimony from those supporting the appeals. Bob Lovlien, attorney representing Dave Jordan who was the original applicant in the matter, testified regarding the left turn lane issue. He gave the Commissioners a copy of a letter from Dave Hoerning recommending that the left turn lane part of the hearings officer's decision be rescinded because it was not necessary. He said the applicant had agreed that the one- way entrance on the west side with an exist on the east side would be appropriate. He said Dave Jordan was in the process of updating his station to comply with the new federal regulations regarding underground storage tanks. There had also been ice damage to the existing pump island and damage to the canopy from trucks. He said they had a petition signed by almost 700 people, primarily residents of Deschutes River Woods, who did not feel that a left turn lane on Baker Road was necessary or desireable. He said Dave Jordan was the fourth owner of the store and would probably be the first one able to operate it successfully, and the petition showed the support he had in the community. Commissioner Prante said the petition indicated two things: they didn't need a left turn lane on Baker Road, and they wanted a light on Highway 97. She felt that having the two PAGE 2 MINUTES: 4-18-90 1.01 0007 statements on the petition confused the issue considerably. She said there could very well have been people who signed who didn't care about the left turn lane but wanted a light on Highway 97. Bob Lovlien said that in the transcript of the hearing, the president of the homeowners association had indicated that the homeowners association supported not putting a left turn lane into the store. Bob Lovlien testified regarding the second issue which was the BP gas sign. He said that even if the Board of Commissioners wanted to, they could not ignore Deschutes River Woods. Commissioner Throop responded that the Board had worked closely with Deschutes River Woods and the homeowners association and knew their issues, and there had been no attempt on the Board's part to ignore them. Bob Lovlien apologized, and said he had not intended to imply that. He had just wanted to point out the size of Deschutes River Woods, and the importance of the Rural Service Center to that neighborhood. He said there were 2,114 parcels within Deschutes River Woods, and it was estimated that one-half were developed leaving a population of about 3,000 people. The current store owner had been in the grocery business since the age of 12 and had been able to make a profit. However, without the gas franchise, the store wouldn't be able to compete with places like Jackpot Oil. He said the store wasn't creating a traffic problem, it was keeping the local people from having to go back out onto Highway 97 when they needed to get gas or buy some quick groceries. He said that if the County did not allow the BP sign, the store's gas franchise would be in jeopardy. He said that in 1987 and 1988 the gallons pumped were down because of the price war. They pumped 69 gallons of gas a day more on average today than during the same six-month period in 1986. He felt this only reflected the increase in the number of people in the Deschutes River Woods area and was not due to Highway 97 travelers stopping at the store due to the sign. He felt the only feasible way the store could make a profit was through a franchise dealer arrangement. Jim Traughber, the local BP distributor, said that BP had a national policy which did not allow any other business signs to be on the same pole as the BP gas sign. He said they could no longer put VISA or credit card signs on the same pole as the BP sign. If the dealer did it anyway, they would cancel the franchise for that location. He said without a BP sign, they would pull the franchise. He said all of the other major gasoline dealers' rules were the same. Commission Throop asked if BP was concerned about the location of the sign. Mr. Traughber said there was no location PAGE 3 MINUTES: 4-18-90 10 1 " 0068 requirement. He said he and the sign company were the guilty parties for not getting a permit to put up the sign. He thought the sign company was getting the permit, and they thought he was. He said the sign could be moved closer to the store. Commissioner Throop said that an option for Mr. Jordan would be to have the BP sign as the only separate, independent sign at the store, and then affix the country store sign to the building. Commissioner Maudlin asked if the BP sign was placed in the same location as the previous Mobile sign. Mr. Traughber said the old Mobile sign had been closer to the store. Mr. Traughber said the Mobile sign had not been a legal sign either. He said there were advantages to being with a major brand over being with an independent. He said the independent market was drying up, and the only major independent, Truax, had an agreement with a major supplier to buy gasoline unbranded. He said those contracts were no longer available. He said with a franchise, the store would be guaranteed a gas supply. He also felt that the gasoline sales volumes had not increased because of the BP sign, and therefore he did not feel that the sign harmed the service area agreement. He requested that the Board strongly consider the economics of asking Mr. Jordan to have the sign moved. Commissioner Throop asked for testimony from those who were in opposition to overturning the hearings officer's decisions. Duane Clark said he went to the hearings on the original application. He said they testified at the hearing that no one would be able to see the signs from the highway, and there would be no illuminated signs. He said right after the building was built, they trimmed all of the trees. He complained, and they said they were going to put in landscaping which was never done. He wrote a complaint when he saw the BP sign going up. He was not concerned about the turn lane issue and felt that decision should be left up to the road department. Commissioner Throop asked, if there was a requirement in the site plan for a turn lane, why the Deschutes Country Store shouldn't participate in the development of a turn lane? Dave Hoerning said it was currently functioning and was not stacking back to where it blocked the second driveway. Dave Hoerning said that if the traffic should increase to the point where the traffic stacked back far enough to block access to the Deschutes County Store, there would probably be the need for a light at the intersection. Commissioner Throop asked if it would then be the public's responsibility to clear the traffic so there would be access to a private business? Dave Hoerning said no. The light would be put in to eliminate the lengthy delay in getting out onto Highway 97 which would encourage people to take more risks and thereby create an unsafe intersection. PAGE 4 MINUTES: 4-18-90 101 - 0069 Duane Clark did not feel that the one-way exit and entrance signs would be helpful, because he didn't feel anyone would pay attention to them. He said there was also a problem with the sign being illuminated. Commissioner Prante asked Mr. Jordan what percentage of his business came from Deschutes River Woods. Mr. Jordan, owner of the Deschutes County Store, said it was 95-97%. Commissioner Prante asked Mr. Jordan if he needed business off of Highway 97 to succeed. Mr. Jordan said no. Dennis McKenna, 19044 River Woods Drive, Deschutes River Woods, commented on the petition. He said he signed the petition because he saw a sign on Baker Road that said, "traffic light petition in store." He said he felt a number of the signers might have signed for that issue alone and not because of the left turn lane issue. He said a variance was granted to build the store, and the store was to meet the criteria of a rural service center. He said it required that they maintain the rural character of the area and comply with LCDC goals. He said when the owners requested the variance they stressed that the development would be screened from Highway 97 by natural trees and landscaping, and that no attempt would be made to draw traffic off Highway 97. Based upon this testimony, a variance to build a rural service center was approved. The owners of the store did not perform what was required in the contract. The owners were notified by the County that they were not in compliance with the agreement. These warnings were ignored. He felt that the current changes being requested would change the nature of the store to one of high highway use and an eventual continuation of the strip known as "3rd street." He did not feel that the owners had offered any mitigation to the impact of their proposal. He felt that with future growth, a left turn lane might be needed in front of the store. He contested the statement that the homeowners association supported the BP sign. He said Mr. Breeden, the president of the Deschutes River Woods Homeowners Association, had authorized him to speak for the homeowners association. He attended a meeting of the homeowners association the night before where these issues were discussed. No conclusion was reached on the left turn lane issue. They had not known that the original owners of the store had agreed to build that lane. They overwhelmingly supported taking down the sign. He pointed out that there were other BP signs in the county that weren't like this internally illuminated sign, i.e. B & S Tire and Sisters shopping center. He felt the Commissioners should get some written evidence from BP regarding their sign requirements. He said the residents of the area did not need a sign to know that gas was sold there. He felt the increase in gas sales was due to the sign being out by the highway. PAGE 5 MINUTES: 4-18-90 10'1 - 0070 Eileen Woodward, 1545 NW 3rd in Bend, testified about a general concern over development in the County. She said the development in Sunriver was isolated from the highway. She said the Inn of the 7th Mountain had a sign that was different. Mr. Traughber said the sign at the Inn of the 7th Mountain was not an internally illuminated sign and was not on the highway. She felt allowing the variance here would set a precedent for other areas along Highway 97. She did not want to see the oil companies determining where signs would be placed in Deschutes County. Commissioner Throop asked for rebuttal testimony from proponents. Dave Jordan, owner of River Woods Country Store, said the population base for their store was 3,000 people. He said the other three owners hadn't made it, and gasoline sales was a major issue. He said it was a 5,700 sq. ft. convenience store which required a lot of maintenance, and he said he needed the franchise to survive. He said he had no intent to break any of the rules and only found out about them when he went in to get a variance for the pumps. Commissioner Throop asked him why he didn't inquire about zoning or conditions on the property before he bought the store? He said he had never owned a store before but had managed them. He said none of the conditions of zoning came out in the deed search. Jim Traughber said there were three BP signs in the County which were not internally lit: Inn of the 7th Mountain (because of the resort classification), B & S Tire had the exact same sign but without the price pods, and the wooden Sisters BP sign since Sisters had an ordinance restricting metal or plastic signs. He said BP could possibly agree to a different type of sign but would not agree to no sign at all or a combination sign. He said any different type of sign (i.e. wood) would have to be submitted to BP for their approval. Bob Lovlien said anybody purchasing the property would not have gone beyond finding out it was zoned as a rural service center. The conditions of the site plan development would not have been a concern of the purchaser since the station had been in existence for five years before it was purchased. Also in those days, the development agreements were not recorded and made a matter of public record. He said it was the residents of Deschutes River Woods who were creating the traffic in the area not the store. They had no objection to the landscaping requirement in the hearings officer's decision. The illuminated light was paid for by the developer because without the light, traffic couldn't see the corner at night. The light had been there for years and had nothing to PAGE 6 MINUTES: 4-18-90 101 - 00 71 do with the BP sign. Commissioner Maudlin pointed out that the conditions for approval for the original site plan only prohibited the sign on the building from being internally illuminated, and didn't say anything about the illumination of other signs. Jim Traughber said BP had two policies: signs must be either internally or externally illuminated. If the County denied internal illumination, then the sign would have to be illuminated by flood lights. He said the sign in Sisters was externally illuminated with flood lights. He said he would get a letter from BP outlining their sign policy. Commissioner Maudlin felt that having a left turn lane on the way into the store would only draw more traffic off from Highway 97. He didn't feel there was a local need for a left turn lane. Dennis McKenna said the Deschutes Country Store was a convenience store that he stopped at on the way home, so he usually made left turns into the store. He felt that the illumination of signs away from the building was discussed in the conditions also. Commissioner Maudlin said he wanted more time to look these issues over. Duane Clark said the left turn lane was a safety issue at the original hearing. He said there was no discussion at the original hearing about placing any logo signs on the highway. He contacted the Highway Division, and they said the signs were requested by the store owner. They would take down the logo signs if there was a County restriction against such signs. Commissioner Throop suggested that the parties get together and try to reach a consensus, and he offered to participate in that meeting. The public hearing was continued until Wednesday, May 2 at 11:00 a.m. Commissioner Maudlin had to leave for another meeting at that point in the Board meeting. 3. AWARD OF BID TO PURCHASE LIQUID ASPHALT Before the Board was award of bid to Chevron U.S.A for the purchase of liquid asphalt. Chevron was the lowest bidder at $39,191.25. PRANTE: Move the award. PAGE 7 MINUTES: 4-18-90 101 --00 12 THROOP: I'll second it. VOTE: PRANTE: YES THROOP: YES MAUDLIN: Absent 4. ORDER 90-054 CHANGING NAME OF 56TH PLACE TO 55TH PLACE Before the Board was signature of order 90-054 changing the name from 56th Place to 55th Place. PRANTE: Move signature of Order 90-054. TOM: Second the motion. VOTE: PRANTE: YES THROOP: YES MAUDLIN: Absent 5. WEEKLY WARRANT VOUCHERS Before the Board were weekly bills in the amount of $125,770.11. PRANTE: Move weekly warrant voucher signature upon review. THROOP: Second the motion. VOTE: PRANTE: YES THROOP: YES MAUDLIN: Absent 6. SUPPORT LETTER FOR USE OF J-J BOYS RANCH FOR WATER DISPERSING FACILITY Before the Board was signature of a letter to the City of Bend supporting the use of the J-J Boys Ranch as the water dispensing facility. Mike Maier said that it would provide a sustaining revenue for the Boys Ranch, plus since there was someone at the ranch 24-hours a day, it would be convenient for the water haulers. PRANTE: I'll move support letter for the J-J water dispersing facility. THROOP: Second the motion. VOTE: PRANTE: YES THROOP: YES MAUDLIN: Absent 7. FINANCIAL SEGREGATION AGREEMENT PAGE 8 MINUTES: 4-18-90 o 0'073 Before the Board was signature of a Financial Segregation Agreement with the Baumeisters. PRANTE: I would move approval. THROOP: I'll second the motion. VOTE: PRANTE: YES THROOP: YES MAUDLIN: YES The MRCIP meeting was postponed to April 24, 1990 at 3 p.m. DES HUTES COUNTY B OF COMMISSIONERS L is Bris w Prante, Commissioner To Th hoop, Chair udlin, Commissioner BOCC:alb PAGE 9 MINUTES: 4-18-90