12/8/1992 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

BOOK 232 established. Mr. Mitchell was within his rights to request a street lighting district. However, Whispering Pines Subdivision is unique in that it lies between two already dedicated roadways. When we went to set it up, we found that the plat had not been recorded yet and that he had not gone far enough along in the process for us to be able to initiate a district. In 1989, he did record the final plat but the development was still very sparsely built out and the project didn't go forward at that time. Now there are some residents who are requesting it. Regardless of whether Mr. Mitchell buys them and puts them in himself, there is still a perpetual energy charge and that almost always is borne either by a property owners' association or a district concept. Whichever way it is done, there is still a monetary obligation to the property owners that are benefiting. It was our opinion that it is not fair to assess one side of the road when the other side also benefits. Attorney Vitunac suggested that staff could take action against the developer to install street lights in the event the County decides not to establish a street lighting district, and Director Keating replied that the County could either establish a street lighting district that would assess the Whispering Pines residents only or allow individual property owners to install individual lights on separate lots. The County also could reduce the total number of lights in the district. Proctor Barber, 385 21st Avenue, expressed the opinion that the neighborhood is in dire need of street lights. It is very dark there, sometimes dogs run loose, and there have been instances of vandalism and break-ins. He could not understand why someone would say they do not need street lights. Further discussion ensued regarding the cost of installing and operating the street lights, and Chairman Eggert indicated that she had a problem with the County returning money to the developer before the Board decided to establish a Municipal Service Benefit Unit (MSBU) to finance the installation of the street lights. Director Keating explained that bonding for the street lights was part of a lot of other improvements for which the developer had placed a bond, and that staff had returned the bond because the County had always established an MSBU in the past. Chairman Eggert related that she thought the County needed to review its policy in this type of situation. Commissioner Bird asked whether the County has the authority to require the developer to install the street lights just for Whispering Pines. 24