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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-02-13 - Planning Commission Minutesr Community Development Department j AA-,�A,vA Planning Division Building Safety Division Environmental Health Division 117 NW Lafayette Avenue Bend Oregon 97701-1925 (541)388-6575 FAX (541)385-1764 http://www.co.deschutes.or.us/cdd/ MINUTES DESCHUTES COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION DESCHUTES SERVICES CENTER 1300 NW WALL STREET, BEND, OREGON, 97701 FEBRUARY 13, 2014 — 5:30 P.M. I. CALL TO ORDER Meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. by Chair Chris Brown. Members present were Vice Chair Bill Rainey, Hugh Palcic, Matt Lisignoli, Todd Turner, James Powell and Ed Criss. Staff present were Nick Lelack, Planning Director; Peter Gutowsky, Principal Planner; Matt Martin, Associate Planner; and Sher Buckner, Administrative Secretary. Minutes for January 9 were approved. II. PUBLIC HEARING: TA -13-4 - A Text Amendment to Deschutes County Code Title 19, Chapter 19.20, Suburban Low Density Residential Zone (SR -2.5) to allow the operation, maintenance, and piping of existing irrigation systems as an outright use in the zone — Paul Blikstad, Senior Planner Paul summarized the proposal. Commissioner Powell asked about the procedures for handling this request and why they are different for this zone. Paul said that within F1 and F2 this same provision was listed. You would have to ask the applicant why the UAR-10 Zone was not included in this request. Commissioner Powell asked if there might be conflicts with the Bend UGB. Paul preferred that question be directed to the applicant. Public Testimony Liz Dickson, general legal counsel for COID, and Steve Johnson, General Manager for COID, testified. Steve said that several years ago COID was reaching breakneck pace in the County. In 2007, the District adopted a policy for protection of the public health and safety. Long-term piping is the best fix to preserve the system. COID and Bend executed a memorandum of understanding in 2002 to work on irrigation issues. Liz said that the burden of proof clearly lays out the analysis needed here. Chapter 18 allows piping as an outright use virtually anywhere in the County. Piping is very helpful to irrigation districts — it saves water and this is also a public safety issue. We have had a number of instances in the past 10-15 years where an infant fell into the canal and other individuals drove into the canal, and these things would not have happened if the canal was piped. Piping is very expensive. When this application was designed, we tried to make it as simple as possible. The SR 2-1/2 zone is very small and was not included. The Board is sensitive to the concerns of the individuals who purchased property near the canal, but during the six months of the year it is running, it is a utility service. The agreement between the Parks Dept. and COID has been submitted into the record this evening and there is cooperation between them, on maintenance and public health and safety issues. Trails are provided through this cooperation. Most land that has a canal and potential trail area also has private property owners, and permission must be obtained from them and COID. The question here is whether the ability to allow piping in SR 2-1/2 complies with the Bend Area General Plan. Liz also summarized other areas of the Bend Area General Plan which support the proposal. Deschutes County Code and the Bend Area General Plan both directly support this proposed change. Commissioner Powell asked for an estimate of how much of the current canal system within the areas referenced in the 2.5 -acre area is currently utilized, or planned to be utilized, by Bend Parks and Rec. Steve said there is no official trail in the area we are talking about. There is fencing and maybe casual traffic within the area, but no official trail. There are only plans within the agreement already in place, as far as he knows. The proposed piping will connect to existing piping. Commissioner Lisignoli asked if a complete piping system that would eliminate users having to pay to run pumps. Steve said it is a consideration in isolated areas. There are 450 miles of open canal system that COID is responsible for, so the probability is not high for much of it. Chair Brown asked what the visual impacts would be. Steve said it is a nine -foot steel pipe which would be covered with three feet of earth to protect the pipe, and a three to five-foot grade visible above that including the pipe. Liz said it is possible that the pipe could be laid in deeper, making it less visible. Steve said that every involved property owner was mailed an agreement that would allow COID to excavate. Bruce White testified on behalf of his clients, James and Sheryl Curl. They have concerns about this proposal. They are opposed because of the impacts that would affect the canal which is adjacent to their property. They don't oppose ordinary maintenance of the canal; they oppose the piping. The letter submitted contains eight arguments as well as exhibits. The elephant in the room is that this would generate more money for COID's hydropower project. We know that piping is allowed as an outright use in the County. The impacts are disproportionate here compared to other, more rural areas of the County. The District says this is just an innocuous housekeeping measure, but in 2001 the County had a proposal from Squaw Creek Irrigation District to allow piping under Title 18, none of which occurred in the urban area of Bend; they did not propose piping within the Bend Urban area. It was not inadvertent. The District would have you believe that Title 18 and Title 19 are synonymous — they are not. Title 18 deals with natural resources and agricultural issues; and Title 19 is shared under the Bend Area General Plan which deals with urban issues. The District has tried to blur that dichotomy. The Curls have a pending LUBA appeal regarding the issuance of a Land Use Compatibility Statement in response to the question of whether the piping project would comply with land use regulations. The County said yes. No notice was sent to adjoining property owners. The Curls did not find out until August and appealed directly to LUBA. Oral arguments are set for February 27. Early indications from LUBA are that this use does not fit. In December, COID decided to get more authority by filing for a text amendment and that is why they are here now. The relationship between the two cases 2 has been ignored and sugar coated. There will be adverse impacts on aesthetics, property values will be reduced, and there will not be cooperation regarding trails. There are also other alternatives, but COID wants to connect here because it helps their hydropower project. This revenue comes at the expense of 25 property owners, so there is a shift in benefits which is not fair. The District has also not told you about provisions that value the canals as open space and amenities. A fair reading of those residential policies indicates that these open canals have value in residential areas and the District did not address this. There are other areas in the SR 2-1/2 with canals which are not part of the District's proposal at this point — has anyone notified those property owners? The County has a Measure 56 issue here and needs to notify all of the owners of SR 2-1/2 — we know there will be a reduction in property values. With respect to the safety issue, there have been no instances we know of in the SR 2-1/2 zone. Commissioner Powell asked when this area was platted. Bruce said most of it was platted in the 1990s. Robert Rector, who resides in Canal View subdivision, testified that the subdivision was developed specifically for the amenities of being near the canal. Robert gave a PowerPoint presentation covering the history of the area and the canal next to his property. Seth Silberfen testified that he recently purchased his home adjacent to the canal. They found out right afterward that COID wanted to pipe the canal, which was one of the big reasons they moved into their home, including privacy which would be eliminated if the canal is piped and a trail put in near their home. Gary Jones testified as a resident of Boyd Acres. In the phase of the proposed project, 41 residences will be affected. As Bruce mentioned, a broker visited one of the homes that would be affected by piping. If the canal was piped, he determined the home's value would decrease from $600,000 to $450,000. There would be a collective and devastating loss in property values along the canal. The option presented of excavating to lower the pipe level would be paid for by the homeowners and is not a good option. What do these homeowners end up with? They go from a beautiful view to looking at a wall of dirt. The dirt also will flow from the pipe onto the properties and COID has no intention of monetary reimbursement or property damage. Mark Huber testified as a resident of Canal View. As a retired police officer, he is concerned about the whole idea of urban trails behind all of these homes, instead of a natural canal, from a crime standpoint. There will be more people going across private property. COID is operating off the decision on Swalley which was different issue — the piping there did not cause unreasonable encumbrances on property owners. The incidence of people getting hurt due to the canal being open is very rare. Maybe we should pipe the Deschutes River and the Pacific Ocean — that logic is not great. Tra Tipton said he and his wife have lived next to the canal for 22 years, and on the COID website is a photo of their area. The full extent of these projects includes water uptake, screening, intake areas — you would not want these structures in your yards. Trash and plant material collect at the intake within the barbed wire zone. Within the Phase II project there are many fine homes. We question the building of another Phase II intake structure, and another one for Phase III, at considerable expense. Why not line the canal until it can be piped all the way up to its intake area and build a permanent structure then. There need to be standards for all of the extraneous structures that will be built, and requirements for removal of the trash that will collect with this project if approved. 3 Jeff Perreault testified that the loss in property values goes back to the County in the form of lost taxes. All of these sections have ditch trail next to them right now — covering a pipe will not make a better trail. When they bought their house, they asked someone from COID if the canal would be changed in a significant way and were told "not in their lifetimes." Judy Meyers said she is the daughter of one of the people who built the canal. It was hard work and has historical value we cannot put a value on. She is also a realtor, and property values will be significantly reduced. She has read articles about COID operating at a loss and that it will continue to operate that way for several years with this project. Tim Hignell wanted to bring to light a plot to destroy a historical environment and natural habitat. COID wants to pick the financial pockets of each homeowner with no remuneration, and they are disguising the real intent: profit. He provided photos of the area, and the plants and wildlife it supports. COID is not made up of conservationists but profiteers. When this hydro plant is developed, it has been published that when it is debt free it will produce $1,000,000 a year for COID. They want to build six more of these plants around Bend. Homeowners will bear the cost of loss of wildlife, views and have to maintain a soil berm at their own expense as well as suffer reduced property costs. Greg Vernon built his house in 1981 and only knows of one incident in his area of the canal which involved a transient. He raised two girls and now has seven grandchildren on the property without an issue. He sent a certified letter to COID and they never responded. The method of excavation will be jackhammering, and his foundation will take a big beating on that because they will be working on bedrock. Deschutes County Search & Rescue also conducts training on an area that will be lost. Aleta Warren lives next to the Pilot Butte Canal which is very historic — built by the community, by hand and is still a gravity -fed system. That will all be destroyed no matter what COID does. They told her a nine -foot pipe would be used, but a 12 -foot pipe is what they are now claiming is needed in her area. She asked them if it was for their hydroelectric plant and they said they can do anything they want on their easements. Homeowners own property and pay taxes to the center of the canal. The animals are phenomenal in the area — when she asked COID, the response was "they'll go elsewhere." This is not true — they will die. She asked Steve Johnson what they would do to repay homeowners and he said, "Oh, I would never buy on a canal anywhere in the County because we are going to pipe them all." This is just the start. And the only notification provided was through the Bulletin. They want to feed their hydroelectric plant which has already destroyed a waterfall. This is nondomestic water and we would not benefit. Liz Dickson testified that Bruce White was concerned about the true motivation of the District. COID is a municipal corporation and is non profit. Its purpose is to transmit water through Central Oregon for irrigation purposes. There are no shareholders, no profit. The reason for piping is because piping is helpful to the environment and public safety. That value is so recognized in our society today that there has been help available to the District to help reduce the cost. This allows people to continue to irrigate their lands at a reasonable cost. COID has the lowest per -patron cost overhead anywhere in the Basin, because the District has been planning for decades to keep the cost as low as they can. COID is comprised of a board that represents farmers and keeps costs down. This project is the beneficiary of $5.75 million. Homeowners are going to great lengths to prevent this rd project; the LUBA appeal is not pertinent to the pending decision here. Also, the ability to lower the pipe to be almost at ground level is available to everyone in this room if they give permission to excavate. The irrigation contracts provided to these people ask for permission to excavate and many people have given this permission. Regarding planting and maintaining the berm - COID comes in, lowers the area as best they can, adds landscaping where possible, and the goal is to have the area become naturally sustainable within three years. She sympathizes with the 25 property owners who want to keep things the way they were. COID is a local government with one job — to provide water to their patrons in as inexpensive and efficient a way as they can. In this case, piping has become a good idea. The canal is not a river — it is a utility whose functional purpose is to deliver water. Prices of individual homes may go down but rights -of -ways were in their title reports. Public good outweighs the disadvantage to these owners. Because these canals are about 100 years old, they may be eligible for a historic declaration but none has been proposed. Historic artifacts have also been found and preserved. In order for a trail to be put on any of these parcels, local government has to desire them, COID has to agree it would not affect their operation, and the property owner would have to approve. The concerns about trails are rooted in some sense that the property owners cannot control them. This is not true. Lining also doesn't work and is not as efficient as piping. Vice Chair Rainey asked about the costs for lowering the pipe, and Liz said she would provide a copy of the letter mailed to each homeowner in the affected area saying COID would pay for it. Commissioner Criss asked about studies regarding loss of water. Steve Johnson said COID has measured all 450 miles of canal for seepage at % mile increments and they know exactly how much is lost at each increment. Per mile, it is between 9 and 10 cfs. By the time you get to Redmond, there is hardly any loss at all. Liz said they would submit information into the record. Commissioner Lisignoli asked about the cost for the project, which Steve said is $6.75 million. The $3.2 from DEQ is a loan and must be paid back, from hydroelectric revenue. Commissioner Lisignoli asked if other places could be piped instead and if it would be more cost effective to line another area. Engineering evaluations show that piping is cheaper and eliminates water loss. Lining breaks down and operation and maintenance are ongoing; water freezes in winter and further breaks up the lining. Commissioner Lisignoli asked if the homeowners had been asked to ante up and pay for the lining instead. Steve asked who would replace it 12 years from now. Commissioner Lisignoli suggested that if the value is so significant to the homeowners, perhaps they should be asked about this. Commissioner Powell asked if the piping is Phase II of a hydro project that is already in operation. Steve said it is two projects at the same time — piping to preserve the water which also creates pressure to generate hydro. Commissioner Powell asked whether, when a 5 mW generator was put into the canal, there was an intention to eventually take advantage of piping. Steve said yes. Commissioner Criss asked about the self-sustaining aspects on the covered piping after three years. Steve said that easement holders carry responsibility for noxious weeds and tall grasses. They intentionally plant natural grasses so there is no maintenance cost. COID has to take care of the noxious weeds. Liz said that legally, the responsibility is shared but COID takes it upon itself to remove noxious weeds and high grasses. 5 Commissioner Lisignoli said he has canals through his property and COID does not maintain them other than to keep them open. Commissioner Criss suggested the hearing be continued, both orally and in writing. He would like lists of homeowners who received the contracts and who responded. Motion: Commissioner Criss motioned to keep the hearing open until February 27 or March 13. Seconded by Commissioner Palcic. Discussion: Commissioner Turner asked for time to review testimony and suggested the oral be record be closed and written be left open. Chair Brown felt that having the oral record open may reduce the effect of testimony and perhaps it would be better to leave the written record open for two weeks. Commissioner Palcic wanted to make sure the public has a voice. Commissioner Powell supported keeping oral and written testimony open. He owns a piece of property along a trail where people cross it all the time; his neighbors have attempted to close theirs off and people cross anyway. Canals were not designed to foster hydro plants and this issue needs to be dealt with. During the river study, COID was the most cooperative of all of the districts. Commissioner Lisignoli said that at the user level, piping is a great idea, but the open canals are also an issue. Motion passed (with the March 13 date). III. PANEL DISCUSSION: Rural Residential Domestic Livestock — Robert Ray, S. Deschutes/ N. Klamath Groundwater Protection Steering Committee; Fara Brummer, Oregon State University Extension Service; Ellen Hammond, Oregon Department of Agriculture; Tammy Harty, Deschutes Soil and Water Conservation District Matt presented slides and introduced the panel. Commissioner Turner asked why we are not considering UAR-10, and Matt said it is not one of our exception zones. Nick said that this issue was raised by a Crooked River Ranch homeowner and South County, thus far. Fara Brummer spoke about livestock and range resources. They do education, outreach, working with livestock management, horse health care, etc. Ellen Hammond is a water quality specialist who owns a horse she keeps with a friend in Tumalo. Their function is to prevent water pollution from animal activities, and they provide outreach and refer people for technical assistance to learn about management practices. She also deals with regulation. She often works with County Code Enforcement. The complaints are nuisance, compatibility, dust from dry lots with animals, flies and manure smells, bacteria in groundwater — the only thing she can regulate is water pollution. She sees a lot of horse overcrowding, such as recent case with 10 on half an acre. One horse produces about 50 lbs. of manure a day and it is a lot of work to clean it up. Tammy Hardy has been involved in agriculture during her 20 years here and also keeps horses on small acreage. They cannot control a lot of problems but try and encourage neighbors to be good stewards and work together. Robert Ray has been involved with South County groundwater issues for ten years and has been on the Groundwater Protection Steering Committee for three years. I: Fara and Commissioner Lisignoli discussed good pasture and Fara said the usual guide is one large animal like a horse or cow per acre, or two llamas. If someone doesn't have good pasture, other measures can be taken. Commissioner Turner mentioned that cows and horses are treated the same in the regulations provided, but the two animals do completely different things to the pasture. Fara said that they graze completely differently, and horses can graze down much more than cows. Horses are heavy grazers and heavy on plants. They do need to be managed with rotational grazing. Ellen added that many of the acreages especially in South County are on dry lots where there are animals, food and manure. Robert Ray added that with the high groundwater in South County, the herbicides leaching from manure get into it rapidly. Commissioner Criss asked about the urine problem. Ellen said it is hard to regulate and manage. The Department of Agriculture regulates for water quality, but many issues are nuisance related. Commissioner Powell asked the panel for two issues that bother each of them and what their suggested solutions are. Tammy Harty said for them it's the number of animals per acre and maintaining reasonable pasture. Commissioner Turner asked if she felt that irrigated and non -irrigated land should be designated separately. Ellen said her biggest issue is poorly managed manure. She would like to see people collect it and store it on a regular basis and dispose of it in the proper manner, and if we could get a better system to collect and put all of this manure to beneficial use. Fara said that she would think about parasite control, especially if there are a lot of animals in a crowded area; proper health care; room for the animals to roam; weed control. Robert Ray would like to see a formula for the number of animals per acre; proper manure disposal; perhaps some special consideration for the high groundwater in South Deschutes County. Nick asked about the age of the laws currently on the books and whether the County would be in conflict with existing property laws. Vice Chair Rainey asked if there was a problem that needs solving — do we have a problem with livestock density that we need to deal with? Tammy said they do see a problem in South County, and they are inventorying properties to see what they are dealing with, and they will be working with owners. Vice Chair Rainey and Tammy discussed problems with people not complying. Ellen also said there is an issue in South County, and any time you have properties close together with some owners who have animals, there will be complaints. Fara said that there are complaints or concerns for keeping too many livestock on acreage — most counties do have ordinances relating to animal management. Robert Ray said he had asked some customers at his store, and one said his neighbor has 8 —12 horses on 1-1/4 acres and 30 dogs in kennels. She had to get a permit for the kennels but not the horses. Public Testimony: K.J. Phillips asked how many people are keeping animals on undeveloped lots, which she thinks is pretty rare. She did a survey for South County owners in her area for one block and got a 62% response (absentee owners) — you need to determine if there is a need for this. We need to look at CCNRs to see if this is covered. In Cook County they recently discovered 145 alpacas on a property, which is a hoarding problem and neighborhood compatibility issue. She is also involved with the high groundwater issue. Joyce Faltus spoke about problems related to living near two different counties and issues with open range. She suggested that Deschutes County and Jefferson County should 7 designate the same zoning codes for Crooked River Ranch. She has lived next to 3 usable acres with 14 horses, goats and dogs. Her husband cannot go out in the summertime because of lung damage from radiation. Most acreage in MUA-10 is not ten acres — she has six; some neighbors have five, some have three. George Mitchener said he represented the Crooked River Ranch Board and spoke about compatibility issues and manure disposal. They do have a dump area, but many of the small acreage owners have no way to get it there. The problem is the 10% who don't take care of their animals. There has to be some regulation and some statistics with the number of acres required to take care of animals. We have all of these regulations about dog kennels but none for horses. One horse or cow per acre is reasonable — the difficulty is enforcement. In Jefferson County, they are all very isolated and it's difficult to get a sheriff more than once a week. The small piece of Crooked River that is in Deschutes County has to be looked at — the CCNRs do not take care of the regulation and are very nebulous. Chair Brown mentioned that Jefferson County has some defined regulations, but how is enforcement handled? George said that at least there are rules that they can take to homeowners, but enforcement is tough. If you don't have any rules, however, there's no place to start. Tammy said they get a lot of these calls and there isn't much they can do. They are about promoting stewardship and cooperation. Personally, she thinks that everyone doesn't use good judgment and it causes a lot of problems for others. Deschutes County should enact some sort of ordinance to help with the 10% who don't comply and won't listen to complaints. Commissioner Lisignoli asked if some of the issues with excessive animals are covered by humane societies, and Tammy said usually not because the animals are being fed — it's the manure that is not being handled correctly. Commissioner Palcic spoke about loading problems with acreages and the problem with only having one acre and nowhere to cycle. Also, some owners rotate between pasture and a dry lot since the horses cannot handle grass all day anyway. Part of their outreach is to teach people how to handle the issues in Central Oregon such as soils, weeds, etc. Ellen and Robert said we do need regulations. Fara mentioned property value which is affected by something like 10 horses per acre. Commissioner Criss asked Robert how they came to this recommendation on the Steering Committee. Robert said that members on the committee had problems with manure from neighbors' horses being too close to wells. South County has a lot of one -acre lots so you're going to see more problems there. He and Commissioner Criss agreed that in South Country with the high groundwater, this is an environmental issue. Herbicides from weed -free feed are known to contaminate groundwater. Nick thanked the panel for supporting our staff. Commissioner Powell asked about the problems with lack of good judgment — limiting numbers of animals, rotation of pasture/dry land, proper disposal of manure, control of insects and odors, conscientiousness about runoff and water pollution. Is there anything else? How do we package this so that it makes sense? People have made a choice to have these animals — they are not a necessity. Tammy said they do get more cooperation if there is a "stick," and the intention is to educate and give options so people can be good stewards of the land and care for their animals. E:1 George Mitchener said that one way to control many of the issues is by limiting the number of animals. IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS None. V. PLANNING COMMISSION AND STAFF COMMENTS Commissioner Palcic spoke about major flooding in Sunriver. George Kolb and Mike Berry came down to troubleshoot and he was blown away buy the quick response by the County. He wants this on the record. The recruitment is still underway for the Planning Commission vacancy when Vice Chair Rainey leaves. We are on a very aggressive schedule with the Goal 11 exception. We are still working on the Bend Airport Master Plan. Bend UGB is ramping up. We may not have capacity to take on the Code Enforcement issue of building permits being okayed when complaints are pending. We are working on the budget and work plan. Commissioner Turner suggested replacing "non -resource lands" with "limited resource lands." VI. ADJOURN There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Sher Buckner Administrative Secretary The video record of this meeting can be located at: http://deschutes.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=5 9