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participate in the council's discussion of the plan update until such time as he receives a legal opinion recommending that he do otherwise. He said he e would appeciate any feedback on this matter from other councilors. Mr. Rutan said Mr. Bennett's input on the Urban Renewal Plan update issues was very important. He said he was comfortable with the way Mr. Bennett was handling the potential conflict of interest. He said the most important thing is that Mr. Bennett has informed other councilors of the potential conflict. Ms. Ehrman said that at this point, it is somewhat of a personal decision regarding how much Mr. Bennett should participate in the discussion of the plan update. She said she and other councilors were interested in hearing his views on the Urban Renewal Plan issues. C. Expansion of the Urban Renewal District Mr. Byrne gave the staff report for the proposed expansion of the Urban Renewal District. He said that in February 1986, the council established the Downtown Commission as the study committee for an Urban Renewal Plan update. In that resolution, the council called for a study of a possible expansion of the Urban Renewal District. This study began in early 1986. Mr. Byrne said that under Oregon Law, an Urban Renewal District can be expanded no more than 20 percent beyond its original area. Therefore, the expansion area could be no more than about four blocks. He said the proposed expansion area is about a quarter-block less than the maximum allowable size. Mr. Byrne said staff and the Downtown Commission evaluated the property e surrounding the Urban Renewal District. Six options were considered: 1) expansion into an area on the west side of the existing district, on both the north and south sides of agency-owned property; 2) expansion of the district on the south side of 11th and on the southern portion of Willamette Street; 3) expansion into the area between 8th and 11th, High and Pearl; 4) expansion into the 5th Avenue area, between Willamette and Pearl; 5) expansion into the area northwest of the Urban Renewal District; and 6) no expansion. Mr. Byrne said several criteria were used when evaluating whether a property or area should be included in the Urban Renewal District: 1) whether the area's improvement-to-land (IlL) ratio was at an acceptable level; 2) whether the area would improve access downtown; 3) whether the area would provide potential housing sites; 4) whether the area would strengthen linkages among other downtown assets; 5) whether the area would take advantage of nearby public investment (especially under-utilized public investment); 6) whether the area was adjacent to publicly owned development sites; 7) whether inclusion of the area in the district would create the potential for future public projects; and 8) whether the area's zoning was appropriate for the downtown regional center. Mr. Byrne said the recommendations made by the Downtown and Planning commissions combine two of the six expansion options. He said the recommended expansion area concentrates in the area northwest of the Urban Renewa 1 District, and also makes a connection close to the 5th Avenue area with some e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 24, 1987 Page 3