Eugene weekly., July 02, 2015, Page 9, Image 9

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back equal to the height of the facility in order to ensure public safety. The area where
the Springfield Relief Nursery is located, however, is zoned as community commercial
without that requirement. The location for the proposed cell tower is only 21 feet from
the Relief Nursery’s property line.
The Relief Nursery has two playgrounds and classrooms on the property, and board
member Jennifer Ulum says she thinks the Relief Nursery should be treated as a school.
Sutherland says the Relief Nursery has not yet reached the owner of the property
where the cell tower is to be located, but has talked to Smartlink, which is working on
siting the tower for Verizon.
Sutherland says the city has embraced the Relief Nursery’s efforts to be in Spring-
field and helped the organization at every turn, realizing the value of the help that the
Relief Nursery provides. She says if the City Council approves the tower’s location 21
feet from the property line and two playgrounds, “it would be really at odds with the
investment the city has made.”
She adds that the Relief Nursery is “very grateful” the City Council “has elevated
this to their purview so we can voice our concerns.”
Sutherland says the Relief Nursery is also worried about an access road that would
accompany the tower, which runs next to a path children and parents use to get to the
Relief Nursery as well as to nearby Mt. Vernon Elementary School.
Springfield City Planner Andy Limbird says that the City Council “could require the
tower to be redesigned or relocated but it would need to be for substantive reasons, such
as addressing a specific, valid concern raised at the public hearing.”
Limbird says regarding concerns about not only the tower but about a diesel-fired
backup generator, the tower would be about 60 feet from the outdoor children’s activity
areas along the south boundary of the Relief Nursery site. He says that because of the
setback for residentially zoned properties, “the proposed cell tower could not be placed
any closer than 90 feet from the west property line because it abuts residentially zoned
land.”
He adds that the city’s “development code speaks to requiring a setback for the
tower for ‘safety reasons,’ but doesn’t elaborate on exactly what that means.”
Sutherland says the Relief Nursery is not trying to impede the property owner’s
rights or to cause contention with the city of Springfield, but rather she would like them
to pause and consider the possible implications and the impact of the tower’s location
and look into possible alternative locations on the property.
The Springfield City Council will discuss the proposed tower 5:30 pm Monday, July
6, at Springfield City Hall, 225 Fifth Street. — Camilla Mortensen
• Civic Stadium’s fiery destruction this week is a shocking loss for our community
and this disaster is particularly painful since so much money, time, energy and love
went into saving the beloved grandstand from the bulldozer. We see on social media
that the news of Civic’s destruction went around the world and generated a collective
“Oh, no!” from thousands of people who for generations have watched the games,
played football or baseball on the field or worked in and around the property. Where do
we go from here? A community-wide effort built Civic Stadium in 1938, in times that
were much more economically challenging than today. There were many reasons to
build Civic, there were many reasons to save Civic, and those reasons are still valid
today as we look over the ashes. We can, as a community, rebuild Civic Stadium as a
major regional sports center both for kids and adults with a distinctive new design that
reflects the past — and looks to the future.
• Kudos to The Register-Guard staff photographers and writers this week for
capturing the Civic Stadium scene swiftly and thoroughly, reminding us why daily
newspapers still play an important role in community.
• Here’s a takeaway from the June 26 City Club of Eugene meeting about the future
of collegiate athletics at the UO: Economics professor Bill Harbaugh said, “We can make
athletics work for the university better ... some universities do that.” Retired business
professor Dennis Howard did not disagree. Harbaugh will pull a big oar in such an effort.
He’s the new vice president and president-elect of the UO Senate, but better known as
the muckraker behind UO Matters, the blog that fiercely takes on both the athletic
program and the UO administration. Welcome to Eugene, new UO President Michael
Schill.
TRANSIENT ROOM TAX QUESTIONS
RAISED FOR AIRBNB, VRBO
Short-term rental companies such as Airbnb have enjoyed popularity in the past
few years, but they exist in a “legal gray area” when it comes to paying taxes for
temporary lodging providers in Lane County. EW reported on this nebulous legal area
last summer (“Airbnb Flies Under the Radar,” 6/24/14). Until now, no action has been
taken to clarify proper procedure.
Airbnb and the online vacation rental marketplace VRBO (Vacation Rentals by
Owner) are considered transient lodging intermediaries, or “online travel companies.”
In Oregon, OTCs are required at the state level to collect and pay a 1 percent lodging
tax for all transactions generated. Along the same lines, Lane County’s transient room
tax (TRT) varies from 7 to 9.5 percent, depending on the property’s location.
Kevin Leinbach is a Eugene property owner who has listed part of a residence on
both Airbnb and VRBO. Leinbach has received many inquiries through these ser-
vices, but one in particular caught his attention — he received a notice issued on June
17 by a Eugene finance clerk, stating that individual property owners using VRBO
are responsible for collecting and reporting the transient room tax.
Leinbach says that he knows a few other local VRBO users who got the same
notice on the same day, but that nothing was mentioned about Airbnb — a company
recently valued at $25 billion. VRBO, unlike Airbnb, which is a private company, is
a subsidiary of an already publicly held company with strong stock and a near $3 bil-
lion market cap. A case could be made for passing tax accounting duties upward, and
Leinbach says he is hoping for as much.
The transient room tax for Lane County, Springfield, Florence and Cottage Grove
is managed by the city of Eugene. According to Eugene’s website, “anyone who stays
overnight in a temporary rental unit or space” must pay the tax, and “any owner, per-
son and/or operator” must collect it. An OTC is neither an owner, nor an operator, but
as a corporation, it may qualify as a person. OTCs are already paying the state, and
in March 2014, Portland became the first city in the country to streamline accounting
resources by allowing Airbnb to pay the lodging tax on behalf of hosts.
Despite the dissemination of the policy, neither the Eugene City Council nor the
Lane Board of County Commissioners has listed discussing the room tax or online
travel companies on upcoming agendas
City of Eugene Senior Accountant Doug Lauderbach did not respond to EW’s
questions before deadline. — Adrian Black
• Bravo to Gov. Kate Brown for signing the bill to allow Oregon parents to opt out of
some standardized testing. She’s taking flak for signing, but she’s right. We need to give
Oregon kids more teacher time, not more tests. It will cost money, but our parents paid
for it. Why can’t we?
• Hot weather is particularly hazardous for people who are homeless and word is
going out that donations of sun block, sun hats, bandanas, coolers, ice, water jugs and
electrolyte products are needed. And of course cash donations can be used to purchase
such items. Collection sites are White Bird Clinic at 341 E. 12th Ave., open 8 am to 10 pm
weekdays; Occupy Medical, open from noon to 4 pm Sundays at the Park Blocks; or
contact the Burrito Brigade through Facebook.
• We talk a lot about climate refugees heading our way (they will descend upon us
like zombies in cargo shorts and tank tops), but what about political refugees? Oregon
is gaining a reputation nationally as a solid blue state with Democrats in control of both
state houses and the governorship, a rarity in the U.S. We’ve seen conservatives flock to
Texas, and lefties have been migrating to our state of beavers since the 1960s. Or they
come to visit and never leave. But here’s a twist: We talked to some liberal Dems in
Douglas County recently who are distinctly in the minority, but they don’t seem to mind.
They all know each other and feel a sense of camaraderie, and they like poking and
harassing the conservative establishment. It’s kind of like missionary work.
SL ANT INCLUDES SHORT OPINION PIECES, OBSERVATIONS
AND RUMOR-CHASING NOTES COMPILED BY THE EW STAFF.
HE ARD ANY GOOD RUMORS L ATELY?
CONTAC T TED TAYLOR AT 484-0519, EDITOR@EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
eugeneweekly.com • July 2, 2015
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