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June 28, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels February 20, 2004 Bemis project appealed to LUBA The three-person Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals will decide the fate of downtown Ashland's Bemis Project after an appeal was filed by the Ed and Tanya Bemis Wednesday in Salem. The city rejected the couple's plans to construct an 81,000 square-foot condominium and retail building behind the Ashland Springs Hotel. LUBA was created in 1979 and has exclusive jurisdiction to review all governmental land use decisions, whether legislative or quasi-judicial. The LUBA Board of Appeals is made up of its chairman Ted Bassham and board members Anne Corcoran Briggs and Michael Holstun. All three are Oregon Bar Association members as required by law. The Bemis' recently hired attorney Greg Hathaway, of Portland, to handle the appeal. Hathaway said now that the appeal has been filed, the clock is ticking for the city. "Ashland now has 21days from the date of the appeal filing (Feb. 18) to file the record," he explained. "Then, assuming there are no record objections, we would have 21days to file our opening brief. Then the city would have 21days to respond. Then LUBA would hear the oral arguments within a couple of weeks." Hathaway said the appeal is based on the decision made by the Ashland City Council, a 3-2 vote to reject the Bemis Property. Council members Cate Hartzell, Kate Jackson and John Morrison voted against the project while Don Laws and Alex Amarotico voted in favor. Council member Chris Hearn abstained, as the law firm for which he works represents the Ashland Springs Hotel, which owns the property. The council sited an ordinance that was passed four days after the Bemis project as submitted to the planning commission. Opponents of the project claimed that the plans were rushed to beat the new ordinance. "The issues are pretty focused in this case," Hathaway said, "because if you look at the decision made by the city council, the only basis is their reinterpretation of that one provision on the limitation on size. "As a result of that, the question is did they have the authority to reinterpret a provision that they had already interpreted at the time that the application was first filed. We think the city did not have that authority and, as a result, they were required to approve it and to confirm the planning commission's decision." Should LUBA rule in favor of the project, the city would still be able to file another appeal. "The city would then have 21days to file to the Court of Appeals," Hathaway said. "And then that appeal actually happens pretty quickly as instead of 21-21-21 it is 14 days after that." Hathaway said the Bemises conducted their business within city guidelines and so he feels they have a strong position. "At the time the Bemis' filed their application, they complied with everything," he said. "And then, after the fact and after this ordinance was adopted, they (the city council) reinterpreted the provision to say, 'I am sorry, you don't comply.' "And we think we have a sufficiently strong argument to say to LUBA that that was legally inappropriate for the city to do that." The appeal will take place in Salem and is open to the public. No public input will be accepted during the appeal hearing. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams