Concordia LUBA Case, CNA Land Use Committee Chief Petitioner – LUBA Case 2009-105

By Ken Forcier

Too-tall houses are springing up in Concordia, courtesy of a Lake Oswego developer, Andre Koshuba, who has recently targeted our area for “skinny house” development. We asked him to speak in front of the CNA land use committee before he began his first project at a house on NE 32nd Ave. He showed up with a picture of the house he would build but without plans to review as requested. At the time, we took him at his word that the house would not exceed the Title 33 code height limit of 22.5 feet. Upon completion and at my prompting, the Bureau of Development Services measured and found the home to exceed the height limit. BDS personnel conducted three failed height measurements before suggesting that a raised planter be built in front of the house. Jeff Eldridge, a senior inspector, blessed the measurement from the top of that planter and issued the home its final permit. This summary judgment by BDS circumvented the code requirement that the builder ask the neighbors for an “adjustment” to allow for the excess height.

The CNA board voted to pursue a remedy against this “approved” code violation. We challenged BDS’s decision to not require an “adjustment” by appealing the decision to LUBA (Land Use Board of Appeals at state level). The purpose of the challenge is to reign in questionable decisions by staff at the Bureau of Development Services such that they once again abide by code guidelines which protect the public from development that exceeds Title 33 standards. This was done to prevent a precedent for continued breaches and further excess. The case is pending and will go before LUBA early next year.

Despite the pending LUBA case, Andre purchased another lot at 6036 NE 30th Ave., two blocks away, and has begun to construct the same too-tall structure, again with BDS’ approval. It will likely be completed and sold before the LUBA case is heard. The Bureau once again refuses to acknowledge that they have permitted construction of a building that is taller than code permits. Pending the outcome of the LUBA case they feel that they can rubber stamp another of these homes despite the fact that the plans show a house that is 24.5 feet tall when measured from the level of the first floor. Perhaps, if need be, they will again build a two foot tall planter in front and measure from that?

This series of events leads the CNA to consider another LUBA case challenging the second home. These cases require thousands of dollars from our neighborhood budget and probably as much as ten thousand dollars from the city coffers. This is on the heels of BDS having just laid off much of their staff due to budget cuts. We should expect better management and oversight of our city bureaus. Rather than applying the protections of the code as intended, Randy Leonard’s Bureau of Development Services is squandering tax dollars, potentially leading to lost jobs and promoting sub-standard development in neighborhoods throughout the city. For more detailed information, see LUBA Appeal 2009-105.