Legal questions delay discussion of LID
From our weekly issue dated November 14, 2007
Discussion of a Local Improvement District (LID), slated for a regular Cave Junction City Council meeting was pulled from the agenda Tuesday night, Nov. 13, due to a legal challenge mounted by the Versteeg Family Trust LLC. The LID's intented purpose is to facilitate development along Redwood Hwy.north of Cave Junction.
The trust, which owns nearly 25 acres in the LID, is represented in the action by the legal firm of Hornecker, Cowling, Hassen, and Heysell, LLP of Medford.
According to a letter received by City Recorder Jim Polk dated Nov. 6, 2007 the law firm stated that “Given the serious legal shortcomings of the proposed Local Improvement District, we strongly suggest forwarding these materials to the city attorney and obtaining an opinion before proceeding.”
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The letter goes on to list perceived deficiencies in the LID proposal:
First, the letter states that an LID can only be used to fund improvements “undertaken by a local government.” The project in question has been undertaken by the Oregon Dept. of Transportation and has been financed in part by developers. The city has had no part in the planning and therefore, according to the law firm, the statutory obligations have not been met.
Next it is claimed that the city has consistently failed to follow proper procedures required to establish an LID. Specifically the city engineer is required by law to complete a survey and file a written report, which to date has not been completed. The letter also claims that notification requirements were not met in that city ordinances require that notification must be posted in two publications, one week apart.
“The city," the letter states, "has continually ignored such notice requirements.”
The letter also claims that the city has failed to properly designate the boundaries of the LID, a necessary first step in the process.
The engineer’s report, submitted by Marquess & Associates Inc., also was called into question in the letter, which states that the report contains no independent evaluation as to actual economic benefits to the properties in question. The report, which has has yet to be approved by the council, is stated to only reflect the views of the LID proponents.
It is claimed that the land owned by Versteeg Family Trust, being a tree lot, does not economically benefit from the improvements on Redwood Hwy. The letter states that surrounding properties would benefit only if they “are bulldozed and turned into a housing development and a gas station.”
Statements made by ODOT seem to bear out this opinion. Several comments, attributed to ODOT and included in the letter, say that the beneficiaries of the LID are the “community (the city of Cave Junction) developers, and ODOT.”
The final argument put forth is that the Josephine County Board of Commissioners has jurisdiction over the area in question and cannot delegate responsibility to another agency as it has tried to do. The commission told the I.V. News two weeks ago that since the properties in question are within the Urban Growth Boundary for Cave Junction, the city should have the authority and the commissioners voted to do just that. However the legal opinion states that the city cannot assess a property outside the city limits.
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Polk stated that the council will review the material and explore their options.
Steve Zabriskie, owner of Z Coffee, stated that the letter allows him “to breathe a small sigh of relief.” His business is facing an assessment for LID highway improvements that could exceed $50,000. He also noted that all these questions had been raised with the city council prior to any legal action but that the council chose to ignore the suggestions for legal opinions on the matter.
During the public comment period of Tuesday night's meeting, the council was questioned by Andrea Thomas, restauranteur, concerning the questions raised in the letter. Thomas stated she felt the city rushed into a decision before looking into all the concerns brought by citizens.
"The legal arguments (raised in the letter) have all been brought to the council's attention by private citizens," Thomas said. "Why weren't they looked at before the city had to address it in a lawsuit?"
Mayor Tony Paulson replied, "We aren't lawyers." He went on to assert that the city has done what is required by Oregon Revised Statues.
