9.4 MCRR 4.400 Width: Driveway, Private Road and Access Way Widths Shall Conform to the Dimensions Laid out in the Design and Construction Manual

Freeland Appeal This is a follow up to the Staff notes and additionally the proposed development requests. When submitting this RRV we assumed that the transportation department would have findings of conditions of approval and none where found. We are requesting the same variances as in our original submittal however have now proposed road widening of the ROW and have specified the required 10’ of gravel. Exhibits of a design plan have been drafted by an engineer and are attached as part of this request. Additionally, a covenant has been attached as an exhibit of the Hentges additionally not being in favor of road widening along their west property line that would be impacted by the SEC-WR

. 9.4 MCRR 4.400 Width: Driveway, Private road and Access way widths shall conform to the dimensions laid out in the Design and Construction Manual. Staff: The applicant submitted a scaled site plan (Exhibit A.5.1). The proposed driveway/access for the single family residence onto SE Victory Rd is 25 feet. This driveway meets the County standard (3.6-7.5m/12 feet to 25 feet). The second access, which will serve as a firetruck turnaround area, is 46 feet wide at the property line. Standard is not met for second access point.

. Applicant: With the 5 foot dedication the access is now 20’ at the property line, this width is required for the proper radius and slopes for this emergency vehicle hammer head. This access is for the sole purpose of the emergency vehicle access. This access meets county width standards.

9.7 MCRR 6.000 Improvement Requirements *Applicant: A dedication is planned and applicant accepts the responsibility of dedicating 5ft to the right of way. See Exhibits for dedication. 9.8 B. Frontage Improvement Requirements: In addition to easement and right- of-way dedication requirements, a prorate share may include half- street improvements along all of the site’s County Road frontage(s). Right of Way improvements shall satisfy the standards of the County Design and Construction Manual based upon the functional classification of the road(s). The commitment to improve the affected streets or other facilities to the required standards shall be conditions of approval of Design Review or any other development permit related to the proposal. Half-street improvements can include all of the following: Staff: The site’s access, SE Victory Rd, is not a County-maintained road, but a public Local Access Road under the County’s jurisdiction. Improvements to SE Victory Rd would be necessary to meet minimum requirements for Rural Local roads in Multnomah County Design and Construction Manual (MCDCM) Table 2.2.5. See also MCRR 11.000 below.

APPLICANT: The area we are asking for a variance and exception to the standard falls west of the second home access. This section is approximately 150-200ft long and has sufficient road width on the east side and a large area of fire apparatus turn around on the west side of this area. This area begins west of the second home on this road, making the access accommodating only 2 homes beyond the start of the SEC-WR and making the standard 15ft for this section of the local access road. Bringing this section of road to the 15ft standard or the 20ft standard would result in an excess of 400sqft of disturbance and resulting in a significant environmental impact. This area has been approved for safety and accessibility at the current width by the local fire official. A. road surface widening is being proposed in all areas of existing travel except within the SEC-WR zone as suggested in section 10.5 .” Furthermore, if the overlays were the main reason for not making any improvements, the applicant could have sought to improve the parts of SE Victory Rd which were not covered by the SEC-wr overlay.” This overly is not the main reason, however it is a significant financial burden and poses no safety risk with access, line of sight or grade of the current road.

C. Required Submissions by Subject Parties. Subject parties shall submit to the County Engineer the following: engineered plans, traffic studies, traffic analysis, reports, surveys or similar documents as requested or required by the County Engineer under this Subsection 6.100 or as may additionally be required under Section 18. Staff: The applicant has submitted all materials required for a variance to County standards. This is addressed in MCRR Section 16.000 below. APPLICANT: NO CURRENT COUNTY ENGINEER employed with transportation planning. No one to contact

MCRR 11.000 Local Access Roads MCRR 11.100 Improvement Requirements: APPLICANT: B. applicant agrees to make dedication of the 5ft required for the right of way to meet the width requirement. C. The Stumps within the right of way were trees, and the ROW was safely accessible before the trees were taken down due to safety concerns of falling/ rotten trees. These stumps are proposed to be stump ground for removal, thus not creating an environmental impact or a safety concern. D. The proposed width is that of county standard as stated 20’ wide driving surface with 10” of gravel. We are asking for a variance on the section of the SEC-WR width standards. We propose to comply with the 8-10” of gravel standard within the SEC-WR zone , and request a variance on the width within that small section. Criterion met in all other areas of ROW with exception to the SEC-WR width.

9.12 MCRR 18.250 Access/Encroachment Permit: Staff: When the proposed development is approved, the applicant is required to obtain an Access/Encroachment permit(s) for the access points to the right-of-way and any other improvements conducted within the public right-of-way pursuant to MCRR 18.250. Applicant: we will comply with this condition.

MCRR 16.200 General Variance Criteria: In order to be granted a variance, the applicant must demonstrate that: A. Special circumstances or conditions apply to the property or intended use that do not apply to other property in the same area. The circumstances or conditions may relate to the size, shape, natural features and topography of the property or the location or size of physical improvements on the site or the nature of the use compared to surrounding uses; Applicant: Due to site conditions and the configuration of the subject property and adjacent properties, the proposed dwelling is likely to be the last residence accessed by this section of SE Victory Road. This portion of SE Victory from SE 317th Avenue is 1,050 feet long and functions more as a private access drive than it does as a public road because of the limited number of homes currently served by this road (three existing residences) and the remoteness of this road as well as the fact that it is a dead end and has no through far. The road right-of-way also traverses both SEC-wr and SEC-h overlay areas and while the grade of this road, east to west is gradual, grades to the south of the road on the property and adjacent property to the east increase significantly from 12% up to 17%. Most of the other properties accessed by this road do not contain these same constraints of the significant slope that would be impacted for development. For these reasons the proposal complies with this criteria. The first two property’s and homes would not be required to develop a road through this SEC-WR zone with these high slope percentages to access their home site. This is why the subject property is unique. Secondary Access for Fire/Emergency Vehicle Turn-Around response: the special circumstances that apply to this project in relation to the secondary access and fire truck turn around is due to the fact that this development is proposed at the end of a rural dead end road and a fire apparatus turn around is required to be the responsibility of the applicant and their development. We are proposing this secondary access to be in an area where the clearances and accessibility is best utilized. No other location on the entire length of Victory Road is better for this access and turn around than where it is being proposed. Radiuses required in county code for this hammerhead turn around require the width at the property line to be 20ft for the safety of the fire apparatus’s turning radiuses.

10.4 Staff The environmental overlays are not considered sufficient grounds for seeking a variance from making improvements within the ROW. MCC 39.5510(A) Uses; SEC Permit Required specifically states “All uses allowed in the base zone are allowed in the SEC when found to satisfy the applicable approval criteria given in such zone and, except as provided in MCC 39.5515, subject to approval of an SEC permit pursuant to this Subpart.” Furthermore, if the overlays were the main reason for not making any improvements, the applicant could have sought to improve the parts of SE Victory Rd which were not covered by the SEC-wr overlay. The SEC-h overlay has been approved as proposed and does not seem to be an impediment. Consequently, the County does not consider the applicant has demonstrated sufficient circumstances that would prevent improvements, in whole, or in part, of SE Victory Rd to meet County standards. With respect to the applicant’s request for a variance from improving the road width and surface to County standards, criterion not met. With respect to the applicant’s request for a variance from MCRR 4.200 for a second access to accommodate a firetruck turnaround area, this criterion has been met.

Applicant: as stated above, it would be acceptable to propose to widen the road in all other area except the SEC-WR and that is what we have developed a concept plan with an engineer to do. No our reason for the variance is not just that of minor slope or an environmental overlay. We have made a point in all of our development to not create an impact in the SEC-WR zone and hope to have this variance request granted to preserve the environmental resource impact. Additionally the assumption of the slope along the ROW within the SEC-wr ranging from 0 to 9.4% is inaccurate and is speaking of the grate falling east to west and has been found by our survey company that this area actually has slopes ranging from 12-17% falling from the south edge of gravel to the northern palmer property line. This is the direction we would end up widening the road and this significant slope would cause a detrimentally significant impact to the SEC-WR with no reasonable necessity for it. the slope of the gravel road is minor but the slope of the ROW to the palmer property within the SEC-WR is that of notable slope. This slope would not only cause a significant environmental impact with no reasonable necessity for safety or traffic, it would result in a significant financial hardship to the develop ability and enjoyment of our property. A financial hardship is found in MCC code to qualify us an extraordinary hardship. Again we have avoided this zone in all our development as to avoid this environmental impact and financial hardship and have planned on doing a RRV from the time that we purchased the property in 2017. This slope is not of the applicants making and is unique to the accessibility and develop ability of our property and Mr. Charley’s property’s ONLY. B. The variance is necessary for the preservation and enjoyment of a substantial property right of the applicant and extraordinary hardship would result from strict compliance with the standards; Applicant: The requested variance to the road width standards to allow use of SE Victory Road without completing extensive widening within the SEC-WR will also allow the applicant to construct the proposed dwelling. Because of the length of this road (1,050 feet), strict adherence of County rules will be financially burdensome to the applicant and will likely prevent them from developing their Single family dwelling. To be held in strict compliance would require road engineering, another SEC permit as well as significant amount of fill and gravel to be brought in. The applicant has gone out of their way in the planning of this development to plan the least amount of cut and fill for this project. The development is planned to be significantly conservative in the placement of the development and the proposed improvements to the property and right of way. Avoiding and negating all risk of impacting the SEC-WR. Requiring the applicant to complete these improvements constitute an extraordinary financial hardship. The entire project on the site is budgeted at $300k, the proposed road improvements not including the SEC-WR are approximately $45k and adding the engineering and permit fees and building a significant widening to the SEC-WR zone would cost an additional $38k. this would make the road project almost a third ($83K) of the total improvements planned on this property. These are significant numbers to a single family dwelling that is being proposed by the owners of this property, not a developer. This is a significant hardship that is not necessary. This area has traffic currently serving only one home. The Freeland property would be the second home past the SEC-WR and is accepting the burden of widening the substantial length of this local access road to the county standard, building a whole new fire truck turn around and dedicating part of their property to this safety improvement of Victory RD, this road has not been maintained by the current residents or property owners.

Secondary Access for Fire/Emergency Vehicle Turn-Around response: to be held in strict compliance of the one access standard would prevent the development of an approved fire apparatus turn around the applicant will not be able to move forward with the project at all, this variance is essential to the enjoyment and development of the property as well as being important for the safety of the emergency services. Denying this secondary access variance and the accompanied dimensional standard variances would cause a financial hardship and may make the property unbuildable as well as the emergency vehicle accessibility unsafe for the public. The dimensional standards include the width of the emergency vehicle access to be the 20ft wide at the property line to allow for the required radius for turning of the emergency apparatus. This emergency hammerhead turnaround is a very vital requirement to this property and the proposed development. Denial of the listed variances would constitute extreme hardship for the property owner. Additionally, if these variances are not approved the property owner will be forced to take a significant financial loss and give up on their dream home and their hope of ever living on Victory Road. Not to mention the significant time and finances that have already been poured into this project. The applicant requests approval of these variances as submitted.

Staff: This approval criteria looks at the applicant’s property rights in relation to the proposed request. The applicant’s property is two Lots of Records and is allowed to have a dwelling on each lot. The substantial property right is the ability to build a dwelling. In order to build a dwelling, the applicant must be able to meet various requirements from Multnomah County, Gresham Fire, and DEQ. These requirements are required of all parties seeking to build in Multnomah County. The applicant seeks the maximum deviation from these requirements by their proposal. Of the two variances sought, the only variance that is absolutely necessary is for the second access point onto the property so that a fire truck turnaround may be provided. If the variances for driveway width and roadway improvements are not granted, the property owner would still maintain the ability to meet the requirements and build the proposed dwelling. It is not a substantial property right that currently exists for the property to utilize the roadway in its current condition or to have a wider access point than allowed for all other residential properties in the County without a variance.

Applicant: Oregon fire code and local authority

503.2.2 Authority

The fire code official shall have the authority to modify the dimensions specified in Section 503.2.1. Gresham fire only requires a 12ft wide driving surface. Prior to purchasing this property we spoke about variances to the county standard of 20ft for this SEC-WR zone and we were told by JESSICA Barry that it would be up to our local fire district to grant approval of a variation of the road width standard. We were also told that if the fire department approved it then likely we would have our variance approved. We are following the direction of the Transportation department. Additionally we have had our transportation planner change four different times.

We are not seeking the Maximum deviation, this is a partial deviation from the standard and would be dependent on the of approval of the local fire official authority to grant these variances which they have found no safety concern and have approved these dimensions of the SEC-WR. Additionally the local fire district have accessed this portion of victory road on a few occasions due to the Palmers and Hentges attempting to get us cited for lawfully burning slash piles under our forest practice permit.

The local fire apparatuses have served this portion of the road, and traveled it safely. Ultimately approving this road width for their purposes and the safety of the public. This road width is already approved by the local fire district. Many large logging vehicles and heavy machinery has been brought to and from the Freeland property and accessed through this section of SEC-WR road at the current road width. In the dozens of trips done by loggers there was no concern or incidences of pore safety standards in any section of the road.

These variances are, to allow a secondary access for the fire apparatus turn around and the dimensional standard of this access to allow for the required radius curvatures for the safety and accessibility of this turn around.

The variance of the road width standard within the SEC-WR has been approved for its safety by the fire district and no concerns where noted in our review. Additionally this variance will negate the environmental impact and the extraordinary financial hardship of the applicant.

C. The authorization of the variance will not be materially detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to other property in the vicinity, or adversely affect the appropriate development of adjoining properties; Applicant: Approval of this request will allow the applicant to construct their dream home on property they purchased for this purpose in 2017. As noted above, this section of SE Victory Road has adequately served three existing single-family residences who have used this road for a number of years. The applicant’s proposal to construct a new single- family at the end of this road (1,050 feet from SE 317th Avenue) will marginally increase traffic along this road section and is not expected to impact the use of this road enjoyed by these property owners or adversely affect development of these properties. The applicant is not opposed to widening to the 20ft standard in all areas except the SEC-WR and adding gravel to the 10’ standard,including enhancing the existing pull-out as necessary. Secondary Access for Fire/Emergency Vehicle Turn-Around response: A secondary access has been proposed for the sole purpose of designating a specific area for the fire truck/emergency vehicle turn around. This variance will not be materially detrimental to the public welfare. In the contrary, approval of the requested variance and construction of this facility will actually increase the safety and usage of victory road for all residents and potential emergency resources.

D. The circumstances of any hardship are not of the applicant's making. Applicant: The applicant proposes completing improvements to the existing SE Victory Road segment to include grading, road width widening and adding gravel to meet the depth of 8-10” along the entire length of the ROW as well as the existing pull-out as needed by county standards. As shown on the figure below, this portion of SE Victory Road is encumbered by the County’s SEC-h and SEC-WR overlays for approximately one-half of its length. County requirements to widen this road would cause unnecessary impacts within these overlays and to the resources intended to be protected by these overlays. In addition as noted above, the grade of the terrain to the south of the road is relatively steep on the subject property (12-17% running north to south) and adjoining property to the east. Because of these conditions, the circumstances necessitating this variance are not of the applicant’s making, they are natural features of the land. Circumstances preventing the road widening in this area are not of the applicant’s making, and the necessity for a secondary fire/emergency turn around are not of the applicants making. Staff has said that these overlays encumber all of the surrounding property’s however lacks the understanding that the two homes on the east of the ROW would not be effected by these overlays in the development standards of this road. They would only be required to develop from 317th to their access, thus naturally avoiding these overlays.

This is one demonstration of special circumstances that apply to our property and not that of surrounding property’s. Additionally, those property’s would not have a slope that would need to be built up and filled in to maintain a 15’- 20ft width. These are natural features and have no possibility to be of the applicants making. There has never been a safety concern on this roadway, no citations have ever been documented or an accident being on record of occurring. The neighbors complaints go beyond the actual proposal being put forth in their statements and is quite evident in the Hentges comments that their issues go beyond us asking for a RRV to the road width standards and actually don’t want us granted access through Victory at all. This is also made evident by the multiple calls to county entities as stated in my testimony submitted in response to the Hentges comments and the other testimony’s submitted. The Hentges and Palmers have ensued in a vendetta to get us cited on multiple occasions in excess of 10 calls to the land use planning 3 times, ODF once , 911 for fire on two occasions, and the police department 4times. Not one citation or warning has been issued by any entity and the land use planning has dismissed all complaints because they were found to be not true. Additionally we are proposing to widen the road to the county standard (20’ and 10” gravel deep) up to and past the Hentges driveway as to ensure safety and traffic flow for our neighbors and their traffic at our expense. We are only requesting a variance of road width on a small section of road that is encumbered by the SEC-WR zone as to preserve it, avoid an extraordinary financial burden. No safety issues have been brought to light by any and all public entities that have visited our property due to the calls by our neighbors that have submitted comments in opposition. Staff: The existing condition of the roadway is nonconforming to present day standards. The need to widen the roadway is due to the applicant’s request to construct a single family dwelling on their property. The proposed dwelling has been found to create a transportation impact. The County’s SEC-h overlay zone has no impact on the proposed development as a SEC-h permit has been granted, as discussed above. The SEC-wr permit would also likely be granted provided the applicant make said application and meet the approval criteria. At a minimum, 400 sq. ft. of road widening could have occurred within the SEC-wr overlay without triggering said permit (MCC 39.5515 Exemptions). The maximum deviation with a variance that the County considers is acceptable in this situation is a 20 foot wide roadway, with 10 inch deep gravel for the roadbed. This width is required both by the County and the Oregon Fire Code. The applicant was informed of these standards and requirements during the Transportation Planning Review stage (Exhibit B.10) and subsequent meetings. Applicant: we were also told that with a variance procedure some of these requirements would be likely be granted a variance with approval from our fire district. This variance has been our plan and goal from the date of purchase of this property because we were assured that this would be a way to avoid the SEC-WR zone. We have demonstrated that we do not wish to impact the SEC-WR ZONE

Staff: The County recognizes that the applicant feels the required improvements are a financial burden. These standards were in place when the applicant purchased the property in 2017 and actually since 2011 for the SEC overlays. With respect to the variances being sought, the Design and Construction Manual standards and the previous iteration of the MCRR have not changed since 1999 and 2004 respectively, which is also before their purchase. If there is a hardship in completing roadway improvements, the applicant chose to purchase the property with these requirements. Based upon the facts, the hardship is of the applicant’s choice by choosing to purchase this property with a substandard roadway. Applicant: Regardless of when these standards where put in place it is still our right to seek a reasonable variance from these standards and have planned this route with our applications and how we would be able to develop the property. This financial burden is additionally not that of “feeling” but of reality to the significant cost of developing this road and property. The road is almost that of one third of the development of the home, this is incredibly unproportioned to the planned investment of the single family home. The cost of widening the SEC-WR is significantly unproportioned to the total development. We seek to continue to protect this environmental overlay of development as we have preserved it in all of our planning and development. The financial burden is still an extraordinary hardship regardless of when the property was purchased. We were assured by Joanna and Jessica that this request would be approved with going through the proper procedures and getting fire approval of the road width, we have done everything in our power to do just that. this request to widen the road to the standard of 20ft along the ROW with exception to the SEC-WR is reasonable, it poses no risk or detriment to the surrounding property’s and would relieve us of the environmental impacts and financial burden. There would be no benefit to widening the SEC-wr when the rest of the road is being brought to standard and the local fire authority has deemed it safe and accessible. There would be only two homes being served beyond the SEC-Wr and the other property owner (Russell) sees no issue with this request and is in favor of its approval Staff: SE Victory Road is an under-developed roadway that does not have a turnaround for fire truck access. The applicant will not be able to construct the dwelling in compliance with the Oregon Fire Code if a second access point is not granted for the property as a turnaround cannot be accommodated within the public right-of-way. The applicant has demonstrated a hardship for this variance request. As proposed, the applicant’s road rules variance does not currently meet the County’s standards. If the applicant were to provide sufficient improvements to SE Victory Road to meet the County’s standards, and provided a turnaround that complies with the approved layout of the OFC/Gresham Fire approved, a variance for the second access may be granted given the need to accommodate a firetruck turnaround area is a hardship not of the applicant’s making. 10.8 MCRR 16.250 Local Access Roads Variance Standards: The County Engineer will consider a variance from the improvement standards for a Local Access Road in the Design and Construction Manual if the topography or other features of the site make compliance with the improvement standards infeasible. Any variance issued under this Section must meet the criteria of section 16.200 of these rules as well as the minimum requirements of the local police, fire and emergency service providers, any applicable Building Code Requirements, any applicable Land Use Code requirements and meet any other applicable environmental requirements.

Requested road proposal meets all grading standard and width/ dimensional standards with exception to the SEC-WR width.

Proposed variances:

1. Secondary access for the fire truck turn around 2. Width standards only within the SEC-WR

Proposed Conditions:

1. Prior to Building Plan Review sign-off, the applicant shall acquire a driveway permit for the site's proposed new access. the applicant is required to obtain an Access/Encroachment permit(s) for the access points to the right-of-way and any other improvements conducted within the public right-of-way 2. Prior to Building Plan Review sign-off, dedicate five feet of right of way along the site’s SE Victory Road frontage to Multnomah County for road purposes. [MCRR 5.300 & 6.100]