Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Works topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City attorney presents petition to enable special assessments for Oakland View Estate roads
Summary
City attorney John presented a draft petition that would let the city proceed with special assessments to finish streets in Oakland View Estate; commissioners agreed to seek signatures from current lot owners and to add a developer signature line to the draft.
John, the city attorney, presented a draft petition that mirrors statutory requirements for starting a special‑assessment process to finish streets in Oakland View Estate. "What you've been provided is a draft of a petition," he said, and he explained the petition "sets out everything that a petition is supposed to" even if the developer's signature is missing.
John told the board the statute allows the city to begin the improvement process with a petition but does not require a petition from outside parties before the city adopts a resolution. He said the resolution that follows a petition would include financing details — for example, whether interest will be charged on the cost of improvements — which the petition itself does not contain.
Commissioners and residents discussed who should be asked to sign. Some expressed that owners of improved lots (houses already occupied) should have an opportunity to sign because they live with unfinished streets daily; others noted unsold parcels owned by the successor developer would be the ones subject to recorded liens. John recommended having property owners gather signatures directly. "I would hope that they would be willing to take this on if it's the consensus," he said.
Board members also discussed technical wording — whether to reference "undeveloped" versus "unimproved" lots — and whether the petition should seek to apportion costs among all lots in the subdivision. John said the draft petition does not ask to split the cost among every parcel and that homeowners may be unlikely to petition to tax themselves. He agreed to add a developer signature line and to clarify the scope of lots the petition would cover.
Outcome and next steps: Commissioners directed staff to let residents attempt to gather signatures and instructed the city attorney to add a signature line and clarify which lots would be included. No formal vote was taken at the workshop; the item remains at the discussion and direction stage.
