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Eugene, Oregon 9
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Across from the Hult
Covered Parking
484-4041
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• Consignments by
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11-5:30 Mon. Sat.
485-6634
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28th St Oak
Eugene
The COFFEE CORNER Ltd.
■COMMUNITY
Public Hearing: Condo Conversions1
i- • • A* 1
s I
Edited by Lucia McKelvey
Late last week What’s Happening
learned about an upcoming public
hearing on the important issue of
Condominium Conversion. It will be
held on Monday, February 9 at 6 pm
in the City Council Chambers.
Hoping to inform readers about this
local controversy that especially af
fects the elderly, we asked the Coali
tion on Condominium Conversion for
information. The following is their
position paper, edited for publication,
and represents the Coalition's point
of view.
We hope it will stimulate questions
and generate opinions and testimony
at the hearing on Monday.
The recent holiday season was dis
comforting for several hundred older
Eugene residents . . . most of them
women who live alone in apartments
which could be converted to condo
miniums for sale if the City Council
accepts recommendations which were
forwarded by the Planning Commis
sion just before Christmas. The re
commendations would make it possi
ble for owners to sell apartments and
evict the tenants if they didn’t want or
couldn't afford to buy. Many can af
ford the rent, but can’t afford to buy.
The Planning Commission pro
posals would allow those evictions to
take place routinely, on conversion
and sale of an apartment even if there
were no comparable units available.
Under the present ordinance, older
people, and low-income, or handi
capped renters can't be moved from
their apartments when their units are
converted unless there are “com
parable” units elsewhere. The law was
enacted nearly eight years ago.
Until the City Council takes final
action, older Eugeneans, especially
those in three of Eugene’s “high rise
facilities," are wondering “how much
they count,” and many, unable to buy .
a condominium, are chronically
sleepless. They thought they were
protected against a forced move.
With the protection of law, those
people have settled in, made plans,
arranged their retirement financing,
and looked forward to long-term resi
dency without disruption. According
to Gail Nicholson, a well-known Eu
gene widow who lives in one of the
high rises that owners seek to convert,
“Many of us residents came to these
buildings with husbands ... but are
alone now.”
All of a sudden, some apartment
owners, especially of high-rise facili
ties, see the possibilities of substantial
profits, if only the City Council will
act in their behalf!
Among those apartment owners is
Rob Bennett, who moved this month
from membership on the Planning
Commission, where he led the way
and participated actively on this issue,
to membership on the City Council.
He, and other developers, seem to be
looking for a “first-time” debate on
the topic of whether or not private
landowners should have “the
freedom” to convert apartments to
condominiums without government
restraint and regardless of impact on
older tenants.
That issue was debated, and decid
ed in Eugene eight years ago when the
Council voted to protect older resi
dents from eviction and passed the
“condo conversion” ordinance. The
issue now is whether or not City Hall
will break the promise of security
which was assured older renters
several years ago.
Many public bodies elsewhere have
passed laws, similar to Eugene’s exist
ing ordinance, which protect certain
renters against evictions caused by
condo conversion. Some form of ten
All of a sudden,
some apartment
owners ... see the
possibilities of
substantial profits.
ant protection for residents under
going conversion has been enacted in
to state law by 25 state legislatures,
with at least three of those states offer
ing special protections for aged rent
ers statewide.
The key protection in the present
ordinance provides that “comparable”
housing must be available if a renter
is forced out of a unit that converts
to a condo.
Planning Commission members
could not come together on the issue
of comparability and have left it, with
all of its deep and troubling impli
cations for people in high-rise fa
cilities in particular, for City Coun
cil action.
The half-finished recommendation
from the Planning Commission re
commends that apartment owners be
allowed to convert but, as one Com
mission member said, “the com
parability question is at the heart of
the matter and we haven’t come to
terms with it.”
There are only three high rise, pri
vate, non-subsidized apartment build
ings left in Eugene which have not
converted to condominiums. If all
three were allowed to convert, as
many of us believe they will, there
would be no comparable apartment
units left in the area.
For the several hundred residents of
Patterson Towers, Lane Towers, and
Eugene Manor, it’s hard to imagine
something which is comparable to an
elevator! If they’re forced to move,
they move to very different units. In
the minds of many older, settled Eu
geneans, the “elevator buildings” are
their safety and security, and those are
the buildings which are most likely to
convert if the Council puts profit for
a few above security for many.
The trauma of moving for older
people is well documented by 20
years of conclusive research which in
dicates that involuntary relocation
triggers illness and debilitation. In
creased dependence on others is often
the result. Costly, long-term nursing
care often becomes the only alter
native.
FUTONS & FRAMES
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All three privately held high-rise
apartments could convert to condos
immediately if the Council gives the
owners this option. All three are re
ported to have financial difficulties:
re-possessions, defaults, bankruptcies
and sheriffs auctions characterize
their recent history and present status.
How is the public to perceive the
continued actions of Councilman
Bennett, who has an owner's finan
cial interest in one of those three high
rise buildings?
Although the City Attorney has said
that Mr. Bennett can participate in ac
tion of the Planning Commission
because he doesn’t plan immediate
conversion, the Coalition perceives a
severe conflict of interest, and is
shocked by his continued participa
tion. Our handsome City Hall and the
three high rise buildings at the heart
of the condo conversion discussion
surely can’t be described as chicken
coops, but the vision of a fox at work
is overpowering for those who watch.
Who will the City be helping if it
allows conversion of apartments to
condos?
Is the public to believe that the
Council is comfortable with “cozy"
actions? Does the majority of the
Council think that the present need to
support our business community also
includes specific “personal favor”
votes for three friendly apartment
owners? Do the people of Eugene
think it’s all right for the City to
switch the rules and allow older per
sons to be evicted, or left in perpetual
state of anxiety about their living unit
for those reasons? Most of all: what
about those broken promises?
nn
L
Published Every Thursday
Publishers
Elisabeth Lyman
Lucia McKelvey
Sonja Ungemach
Editor
Lucia McKelvey
Advertising Manager
Elisabeth Lyman
Production Manager
Sonja Ungemach
Office Manager/Production
Sheri Longobardo
Assistant Editor
Deborah McGee
Cover Design
Melanie Pratt
Advertising Representatives
Susan Brokaw
Ken Hof
Martha Wagner
Garde Wells
Randy Yost
Contributing Writers
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Jim Stiak
Michael Sussman
Lois Wadsworth
Martha Wagner
Photographer
David Stein
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335 West 20th Avenue
Eugene, Oregon 97405
(503) 484-0519
Copyright 1987 What’s Happening.
All rights reserved.