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Councilors intend to revisit the annexation request from Lane County and PeaceHealth on June 22.
The Springfield City Council heard from multiple attorneys at its Monday, June 1, meeting, about an annexation request intended to facilitate development of a crisis stabilization center and behavioral health hospital.
The behavioral health campus is a joint project of Lane County and PeaceHealth, which purchased adjoining lots on International Way east of Gateway Street, about a mile from PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend.
The hiccup: The land is zoned for light industrial uses, not emergency medical facilities or hospitals.
Lane County would oversee the stabilization center and PeaceHealth plans to build a 96-bed behavioral health hospital. They intend to use a state law that, in part, fast-tracks the siting of such facilities. Passed last year, House Bill 2005 allows stabilization centers to bypass city-required zone changes, special use permits and plan amendments if they’re built alongside behavioral health hospitals.
The center would be a first-of-its-kind in Lane County. Project leaders say it would serve as an emergency room for adults and youth in behavioral health crises and provide access to support services and follow-up care. The behavioral health hospital will offer more adult beds and inpatient psychiatric beds for youth.
Lane County and PeaceHealth filed an application with the city of Springfield to annex the 18-acre unincorporated property into city limits, allowing it access to urban utilities and services. The site is within Springfield’s urban growth boundary.
At issue is whether the City Council should consider the property’s future use when deciding whether to approve the annexation request.
Assistant City Attorney Kristina Kraaz said annexation criteria require consideration of the property’s future use because that use informs impacts on public facilities and services. She said the city doesn’t require a development plan but does require a utility plan. A utility plan would be influenced by potential future development. If the future use is unknown, the city bases the utility plan on zoning.
“This annexation is unique because the applicants have been very clear that they don’t intend to pursue the uses that are allowed in the underlying zoning,” Kraaz said. “They’re intending to pursue a use that’s allowed by state law that may have different impacts on those public facilities and services. So that’s something that the council needs to weigh and consider, is how does that different plan than what’s in the zoning then relate back to those criteria.”
Mike Reeder, an attorney representing PeaceHealth and Lane County, argued the city’s annexation criteria pertains to whether the annexation is consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan, not whether the use is consistent. Reeder said the property can be served with at least the “minimum level of key urban facilities and services,” as called for in the city’s development code.
Michael Gelardi, an attorney for Richardson Sports, said the crisis center is not an allowed use in the campus industrial zone and not consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan. Richardson Sports and other neighboring property managers have sued Lane County and Springfield to block the state law from being used to fast-track the process.
Mayor Sean VanGordon asked Gelardi why Richardson is opposed now if it was not opposed to the rezoning of an inpatient rehabilitation hospital that PeaceHealth is building nearby.
“In that proceeding, they went through a plan amendment and a zone change,” Gelardi said. “They’re trying to avoid all the planning and the scrutiny that goes with that process.
“This is a different kind of facility than was proposed there, which we think has the potential to have greater impacts on the neighborhood,” he said.
When Councilor Jill Cuadros asked about those concerns, Gelardi mentioned, “creating a business climate where people want to come and work, where people are safe to work.”
“Richardson employs hundreds of people,” Gelardi said. “They work oftentimes on shifts where they’re leaving work at night. We want to make sure that they feel comfortable coming and going from work every day.”
The City Council continued a public hearing Monday that began May 18, when 15 people spoke in support of the proposed stabilization center and behavioral health hospital. This week, councilors heard from a mother who lost her son to suicide three years.
“I cannot bring my son back, but I can stand here and tell you that there are other sons and daughters in this room and in this community who are struggling to stay afloat,” Malissa Glass said. “We owe it to them, and we owe it to the memory of those we’ve lost to build a community where help isn’t just a hope but a reality.”
Councilors closed the public hearing but left the written record open. The City Council intends to revisit the annexation June 22.
In other business
- Councilors heard a proposal from city staff to create a citywide business registry. Robin Holman, who works in business licensing, said business owners have asked whether the city has a registry or license requirement because they want documentation to obtain loans and meet insurance requirements. Currently, the city requires licenses for some but not all businesses. This would require all businesses to acquire a license and pay a fee. The registry would also provide for business analysis in Springfield, she said. Councilors Alan Stout and Andrew Buck said they would want to know more about the value for businesses. VanGordon suggested staff gather more feedback from the business community.
- City Council unanimously approved increases to fees charged by city departments, such as fire and life safety, municipal court, police and planning, based on inflation and rising labor costs. City staff also recommended implementing a 3.2% fee for credit card transactions. No one spoke during a public hearing ahead of the council’s vote.
- Councilors voted unanimously to approve changes to the city code that will allow the Eugene Water & Electric Board to move forward with plans to develop a drinking water plant on the Willamette River in Glenwood. The proposed project, which would add a second source of drinking water for the more than 200,000 people served by EWEB, has received public support.
