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56 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, March 3, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classifieds Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend March 2, 2005 Houses dot the hillside off Wells Fargo Road in Jacksonville. A building code change might allow more hillside construction. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Code spawns disputes By SANNE SPECHT Mail Tribune JACKSONVILLE — Proposed building code changes may lead to more growth on Jacksonville’s hillsides. But architects say the regulations are too strict, and neighbors say they will create hazardous conditions for their million-dollar home. Neighbors Ernest and Pam McCulloh,of 1005 South Third Street, are entangled in a property dispute with the city of Jacksonville and the state Land Use Board of Appeals over a proposed four-house development by neighbors Dan and Rhonda Hawkins downhill from their home. The McCullohs’s attorney, Debbie Minder, says the city’s proposed building slope changes would allow the Hawkinses to move their driveway to the other side of their property, create a steeper access road, develop the other properties — and create a dangerous and untenable situation for her clients. City Administrator Paul Wyntergreen said that the code changes are far-reaching and necessary to clarify the specifics of hillside building. For example, the new language will dictate exactly how to measure the height of a building on a hillside, which currently is open to differing interpretations, he said. Advertisement "One of the key things is clarification. Do you measure from uphill or downhill? Before or after backfilling?" he said. Jacksonville city leaders took public comment regarding the ordinance changes at a council meeting Tuesday. Two local architects, Darren Leconte and Geoff Hiatt, voiced their concerns on the measuring point for the ordinance’s 35-foot building height maximum. Leconte owns a lot in Jacksonville which would be unaffected by the design regulations, he said. However, the height maximum on sloped lots could seriously hinder design options for others who might have "a very rude awakening when they try to design their dream home," Leconte said. Councilman Bill Leep also serves on the planning commission. Leep said he understood that the standards might not suit everyone. But, he said, the commission has "labored long and hard" to try and "eliminate arguable moments." Minder, who was unable to attend Tuesday night’s meeting, spoke at length during the first public hearing on the ordinances in January, saying the proposed changes concerning roads, grades and slope are the planning commission’s attempt to circumvent the appeals process and launch another pre-emptive strike against another remand by LUBA, Minder wrote in a letter to council. The changes are being written to benefit "a specific developer" and are in direct defiance of the city’s code and comprehensive plan, she said. "This is the same war, different battle. You are creating a huge conflict," said Minder. "This is an attempt to gut the hillside residential zone. All through the comprehensive plan, it shows how the hillsides are to be protected." Mike Thornton, of Thornton Engineering, spoke on behalf of the Hawkinses at the January meeting. Thornton said while he agreed with the intent of the changes, he wanted to see further relief on building heights, hillside driveway ordinances and on "project disturbance limitations." "It may handcuff us if we can’t (get them)," said Thornton. Wyntergreen says the code changes clarify language and are designed to remove the city from exposure to lawsuits among feuding property owners. But, he said, they should have no effect on Minder’s clients’ standing. "It’s not an opening of the floodgates for development, he said Tuesday. "No matter what we decide (about the proposed ordinance changes), the rules that were in place during the time of the subdivision application will apply." One-third of the homes in Jacksonville are built on hillsides. And hillsides are where the future growth will be, said Wyntergreen. Land-use attorney Alan Harper represents the Hawkinses. Harper says the city is simply making its ordinances’ original intent clear. "If the city’s intent was always one thing, that’s fine," Harper said earlier. "But if they really meant something different, then they’ve got to go fix that." Ultimately, Harper said, language clarification may make it easier for homeowners and developers to understand what they are up against. Win or lose, building in Jacksonville can be a "long, long process," he said. "To get approval, you have to show you can meet all criteria," he said. Public comment and record were closed on Tuesday. The council made no final decision on the adoption of the ordinance changes. The issues will be discussed again at the April 5 council meeting. In addition to hillside building, the city staff’s proposed ordinance changes would also affect cottage industry zones, special protection zones (semi-public buildings such as museums, schools and amphitheaters) and subdivision application requirements bordering residential zones. A copy of the proposed changes can be obtained at City Hall. Reach reporter Sanne Specht at 776-4497 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Slippers Student Loans afsa teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress Advertisement s