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Business owner calls paving order unfair By MELISSA MARTIN Mail Tribune A trucking company owner must pave three acres and build a storm drain system if he wants to sell off a portion of the property, the Medford Planning Commission has ruled. Steve Plunk of Plunk Transportation said he will appeal again to City Council members, asking them to consider the question of fairness when applying city laws to family-owned businesses. "The code does address fairness," Plunk said. Plunk wants to sell part of his property to offset rising fuel costs in his Table Rock Road area business that supports a $1 million payroll. Some 28 drivers are dispatched from Medford to transport wood products and building supplies from Seattle to San Diego. Plunk cites high court precedent Trucking company owner Steve Plunk is calling on a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, Dolan v. City of Tigard, to make his point with the City Council. The country's highest court ruled in favor of a Tigard plumbing store owner who didn't want to give up her land for a city greenway. Medford took note, adding an ordinance limiting "exactions," defined as taking land for public use or requiring the applicant to provide public improvements, said Mike Lanier of the Richard Stevens Company. City planners must show that an application can pass two tests. First, the improvement must be proportionate to the impact. Second, there must be a connection between the development and the requirement. "The city of Medford is bound by the holdings in the Dolan case handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court," said Ron Doyle, city attorney. But planning commissioners last week said the Dolan tests don't apply to Plunk's application. "The city feels and the Planning Commission feels this was not an exaction for public use," said Jim Maize, senior planner for the city of Medford. Plunk's attorney, Alan Harper, disagreed and said Dolan applies to Plunk's case because it deals with a jurisdiction taking something from a property owner. "Mr. Plunk has an existing, nonconforming use and the city wants him to pay for paving of nearly three acres of ground to serve a public need - dust control - and build a storm drain system, which also serves a public need," Harper said. What the planning commission requires of Plunk would cost about $200,000, more than the value of the acreage he wants to sell, Plunk said. When Plunk applied to subdivide his property, the city required he pave three acres to satisfy state air quality rules designed to limit dust from unpaved parking lots. The city also required he build a storm drain system to control runoff water. Plunk appealed to the City Council, which remanded the case to the Planning Commission. Last week, planning commissioners upheld their earlier decision, adding the option of Plunk posting a bond and doing the work when the property sells, said Jim Maize, Medford senior planner. Plunk Trucking neighbor Jerry Crippen last week sent the Planning Commission a photo showing standing water on his property. He wrote the water problem has increased since Plunk and his convoy of 18-wheelers moved next door. "Storm drains must be included with a truck washing designated area," Crippen wrote. Plunk said there's no way to know whether standing water on the neighbor's property is coming from his trucking business. Plunk objects to the city requiring a costly, private storm drain system when there is no city system nearby to tie into. He said he's willing to abide by a 1998 agreement with Jackson County to pave 7,000 square feet, at a cost of about $50,000, and had planned to sell part of the family property to pay for it. But in 1998, Plunk and neighbors hooked up to Medford water and annexed into the city limits. When he applied for the land partition last year, the Planning Commission increased the paving requirement to three acres and mandated the storm drain. A land-use planner hired by Plunk said the city requirements are unreasonable. "There's no public impact from this division," said Mike Lanier of the Richard Stevens Company. "It's just rearranging property lines. It would add two more parcels to the tax base and benefit the city," Lanier said. "But as it is now, he's sitting there with five acres that he can't do anything with." Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4497, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.