Mount David rezoning goes forward.

Byline: Karen McCowan The Register-Guard

COTTAGE GROVE - In a move that displeased more than two dozen opponents of a developer's plan to build the largest subdivision in city history, the City Council unanimously passed the first reading of an ordinance Monday night to rezone 75 acres on the slopes of Mount David.

The action amounts to only tentative approval of the ordinance, which will be placed on the agenda of the council's next meeting for further discussion and likely adoption.

Councilors noted that the city's planning staff found that rezoning the land from forest to single-family residential complies with Cottage Grove's comprehensive plan.

"If we don't do it, the developer will force it through, leaving the city taxpayers paying the litigation expenses, " Mayor Gary Williams said.

"To vote no would be just postponing the inevitable," Councilor Mike Fleck said.

Developer Todd Alberts is seeking the rezoning as part of plans to build a 250-unit subdivision on 90 acres, including the hill northeast of downtown and the 15-acre site of the old Cottage Grove Hospital. Seventy-five acres had been designated for forest use by Lane County before the city annexed the parcel earlier this year.

Alberts still must win approval for his proposed Sunrise Ridge development - though it's not certain whether the City Council will even have a say in that.

On Sept. 13, Alberts' attorney Bill Kloos filed a "writ of mandamus" petition in Lane County Circuit Court asking a judge to declare the development approved, without the usual City Council hearing, because Cottage Grove officials failed to take action on his application within the 120-day time limit established by Oregon land use law.

City officials blamed a miscalculation of the deadline and a longer-than-usual process because of heavy citizen interest in the project.

Kloos said Monday that a court hearing has yet be scheduled in response to the petition. City Manager Richard Meyers expressed hope that the parties can reach a settlement that meets the city's and the developer's goals.

The Cottage Grove Planning Commission approved the development with 29 conditions ranging from creation of a storm water retention corridor to tree preservation to erosion controls and protection for American Indian artifacts found on the site.

Monday's agenda did not include a public hearing on the rezoning, though councilors were presented with written comments from more than two dozen individuals and organizations opposing Alberts' proposed development. Several also spoke about the matter during a regular audience comment period before the meeting.

Neighborhood resident James Ness called Alberts' writ petition "an implicit threat to play the Measure 37 blackmail card," a reference to an Oregon law requiring local governments to pay damages to property owners in certain cases where development of their property is limited by land use decisions or to waive those restrictions.

Ness went on to suggest that councilors ask the city attorney if opponents

of the project have provided enough evidence for the city to seek its own writ of mandamus rescinding the annexation of Alberts' property into the city.

City Attorney Gary Ackley said he didn't think the City Council was in a position to file a writ reversing the Lane County Local Government Boundary Commission and the annexation.

He added that the city could invite legal sanctions if it failed to follow its own comprehensive plan.

Opponents have maintained that the project is not in compliance with the city's zoning ordinance standards because it would change the character of the neighborhood.

City Councilor Lynn Miller said the zoning and the development were separate issues.

"All we are talking about is changing the underlying zoning," she said. "If we don't do that, we're going to get sued. Then we can deal with the rest of it, which is what everybody is worried about."