Land-use attorney urges city counsel review of Dunes City draft code

At the Feb. 26 hearing, attorney Kim O'Day, speaking for a local resident, called attention to sections of the draft that she said interpret state statutes rather than reproduce statutory language and that defer too much discretion to the city engineer without identifiable criteria. She urged the commission to pause advancement of the draft until legal counsel has reviewed the sections that raise questions about compliance with state law.

"The interpretation that's been put in the code doesn't say exactly what the statute says," O'Day said, adding the draft occasionally "defers compliance to the city engineer without a lick of criteria" and that could make it impossible for an applicant to know what standard applies. Commissioners responded by noting that while parts of the code had been reviewed previously, the commission had not seen a recent total review and agreed it would be prudent to have city counsel or county counsel examine specific sections before the commission issues a recommendation to council.