City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you so much for the information. Is this our municipal code or is this state law or is it both?

Okay. And would it be fair to say that council decides if the three criteria have been met?

so in the um staff report it says the municipal code has not been met and the proposed this was when it was still 80 foot sign is not necessary to overcome a unique physical circumstance so evidently they feel it is how did the city come to that conclusion

I GUESS WHAT I'M ASKING, IT SAYS THE PROPOSED NEW SIGN IS NOT NECESSARY TO OVERCOME THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND ALLOW REASONABLE USE. Did the city make that statement?

Thank you. So that was just based, that was based on the city council's repeal back in 2007 when they made it 25 feet. Is that what you're saying?

yeah so if we were hypothetically uh as a council approved this request tonight how long does somebody have to contest that decision is there a time period a window can you repeat that what is the do you know what the um time period is to appeal this appeal i don't know that off the top of my head i'd have to look that up okay that'd be good because somebody could appeal it correct So what happens if we if we approved it and then they construct a sign and then somebody appeals it to that?

So could you tell me, is this sign lighted up at night?

Along those lines, if the council were to approve the appeal and then at a future date had a workshop discussion and decided to make the code 50 feet or whatever, would that be grandfathered in that sign? We would not be able to take that offer.

So when I look at the criteria, I think that it's reasonable for the council to come to the decision that it meets all three. Uh, the first criteria, the unique physical properties are the trees. And that just makes sense to me under the second criteria, uh, minimum increase required. Well, they did the flag test and that was the minimum increase required to be seen, uh, the way that they needed to be seen. And, uh, for the third criteria, the proposal is not a substantial deviation from the standards outlined. Well, it's not a substantial deviation from the minimum increase required. And we d

I don't have that much to say, but yeah, I would like to say that I'm in favor of the appeal just because the unique physical circumstances are the tree line. As you can see from exhibit four, all the pictures here, it's very difficult to see the sign from the south exit. And as we heard in the last presentation that trees grow five feet a year or five something a year, I think that we have to take that into consideration as a hardship and I would be in favor of this appeal.

Yes. I'm going to disagree a little. I think the staff was correct in that the criteria was not met. I think we could go around and round in arguing either way. There's a reason back in 2005 or earlier, there was a big push to make signs smaller so they didn't stand out as much. And the communities at that time felt like it beautified their communities more. So it wasn't that they didn't like business or didn't agree with Councilor Riker that it might attract more people. I've driven around a lot, too, and now I notice signs a lot more, too, and there are a lot of communities that don't allow

Yeah. Um, well, thanks Rick for doing all that hard work on everything that you read. Uh, I, you know, I mean, I do think that dust rose is a huge staple in grants pass. Um, I don't think it's, you know, the sole reason that I would vote yes on this, but it definitely is. Um, It's a big reason to me. I think it's a company that's given back. And also Les Schwab is great as well. But I just want to put that out there. But obviously Dutch Bros is homegrown and born and raised here. And they've given a lot back to this community. so you know i think this is something that i think we've all agreed

WOULD YOU TAKE A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT AND I AGREE WITH YOU THAT WE CAN EASILY APPROVE THIS REQUEST TONIGHT. to add to direct staff to put on an upcoming workshop looking into changing the code.

approve the sign code appeal with a second any further discussion Indra yes since it appears that this council is friendly towards an overlay and changing that so it's fair across the board I would be in favor perfect further discussion

Thank you, Ann. That was great. So can you tell me a little bit about why there's so much remaining funds?

And do we only take requests from the people that are designated on this?

Yeah, that just made me think. Um, so the money that is rolled over, does it go into this specific slot? Like if it was allotted for weatherization, the next year it has to be. Or are they fungible? Can they be used and put into other areas that you're funding, like the welcome home or something like that?

I'd just like to go ahead and approve the resolution as presented.

And then just to clarify, because everyone has different sensitivities. So you said whoever the presiding officer will look to you to get guidelines on if someone has crossed the line and you based on your expert legal knowledge would decide whether that line had been crossed.

Okay. So yes. So it's not up to just the single person to decide. Thank you.

So when we're talking about engaging in violent and threatening conduct, that doesn't, uh, speech is not included in that.

But just- People have gotten smart in phrasing things in- Yes.

Right. So even though, so but you will be taking that into consideration. Yes. That it could escalate. Yes.

Yeah I guess I just want to reiterate also I don't think it's enough. I don't think it takes it far enough.

Yes, I just like to say America is the greatest country on earth because we have freedom of speech in the Constitution and that freedom there's a high high bar so Even in a business not even a meeting you could be yelled at cussed at we all have different levels of tolerance for that I don't curse in my house or try not to, but some people do it. So it's not offensive to them, but it's offensive to me. So we have different levels of sensitivity. And so that's why it's a high bar. What bothers me might not bother Councilor Riker. And so there's a people have a right to vent. We make huge decisi

Yeah, our meeting was recessed tonight and it was recessed due to meeting decorum. There was, I just want to vehemently disagree with what Rob said. There is a great deal of difference in the two behaviors and it has to do with that word decorum. It's in our potential motion. And I would like to point out that there were really adorable children who were going to come up and give these 50 cents. It's the Freezy Lemon, 50 cents off of one lemonade. And they were promoting their lemonade day that's going to happen this weekend. Adorable kids. They did it outside because our meeting decorum was d

I would just like to add that decorum and dignity and respect starts with us up here on the dais. And so I would really like to see counselors treat each other with dignity and respect. And that means some counselors not calling other ones horrible people or gross behind their back or calling them an idiot. So I think we need to start up here Yeah, you can smile. We need to start up here with being professional, treating each other with dignity and respect, and saying what we want to say. We have freedom of speech, but not being derogatory towards each other. We can all be professional, and we

Yeah. We hear you loud and clear about what the DA is not doing. We are equally probably discouraged that not more is done. Don't know exactly why, but I want to tell you from the city's standpoint that we have made a request with the state to repeal SB 48, which is the catch and release law. AND THIS GIVES US ALL THE MORE REASON TO ADD A MUNICIPAL COURT. SO THERE ARE DIFFERENT ASPECTS THAT THE CITY IS WORKING ON, AND I'M SORRY THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED TO YOU. I'M SURE YOU'RE NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT, AND THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THIS TO OUR ATTENTION, PERSONALLY AND LIVE. I wanted to talk about s

I think the only thing I was going to add is that they did open the remaining beds, I think, was it today? I think it was this morning I saw. So, and I was actually curious if I can, I don't know who can answer this, but is there a timeline on the Seventh Street camp and what the next step is there?

Yeah, I think we all had from the people who spoke tonight a lot of the same things to talk about. So Mike, I was wondering as they were speaking about the, this terrible incident that happened on their property if, and I don't know if you can answer this, but I was thinking as they were talking, would a municipal court have helped that? Would there have been any recourse for those people to go there? I don't know. That was what I was wondering and that's what I was going to ask.

DIRECTOR RIVERA- Thank you. Thank you for speaking about that. And so and I'm really glad to hear. Thank you for when you said you were writing down the Suzanne's concern. because I know you guys do do do that. So thank you for that as well. And then the last thing that I was going to say before the other people in the public spoke was just thank you again to the fire and police for the second fire in a row that you just protected our town from. It's amazing work that you do and we are so lucky to have you. And so I just wanted to lend my appreciation and thanks for that fire down at Tom Pierc

I'll just go through these really quickly. as you are, Chief, horrified with this Yates incident. And is there anything we as the city or council can do to encourage the DA to press charges or turn that around? Is there anything?

We'll talk to them about the process Thank you, because just let us know if there's anything we can do as a council because It could have been a fatality could have killed a child or an adult and and we don't obviously know We want prevention, not just reaction all the time. Suzanne, so my concern with that is going forward, but also she said two and a half months. So specifically, have we already contacted the homeowner? Where are we in that process? And why did it take so long?

those types of properties so I don't know the ins and outs I apologize but I will look into it tomorrow and we'll we'll figure out seems like if there's an agreeable homeowner and it gets done for free for them they would be all for it and we could have done it much more quickly thank you for for getting on that and letting us know

Kathleen, I just wanted to thank you for that thorough report. That was really good to hear. And I'm very happy that Dell is happy. So that was awesome to hear. Patrick, so I wanted to address that. Yes, as business owners, they do. They come in and vent. And sometimes people just need to vent. And you just need to listen. They just want to know that you're listening to them. So that does happen. And we'll just go from here. But I feel like we're going to be doing better. Thank you.

Yeah, I just have two quick things. Uh, I did a ride along last Wednesday night, uh, cause I originally thought we had a council meeting, so it worked out. Um, and it was great actually. I think we're out there until midnight. Um, and I think we arrested five people in that time span. Um, so we were, we were going all over town. So I just want to give a shout out to, um, the police for that and all the hard work they're doing. And there's a lot going on out there, especially in the summertime and at night. But you know, most of it was, none of it was really around Parker's Place. We did go dow

Yeah, I forgot. Last thing I'll say is we had Cruise the Rogue a couple weekends ago. It was a successful event for year one. We had, I don't know, 350-ish cars, I think, that registered. The long table dinner that we held on Thursday night, we raised some money. And so Monday at our board meeting, we gave $2,500 to the Children's Advocacy Center, and we're also donating another $2,500 to the Grand Spouse Marching Band for helping out. on that long table dinner because I think they had 60 volunteers or something crazy like that. So yeah, great event. Dennis Collins came to town. He put a YouTu