03/12/1990 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e General council consensus was that the council work plan should be more detailed, with decision dates highlighted and, whenever possible, a more compressed time line. Julie Aspinwall-Lamberts, Planning and Development Department, provided an overview of the downtown public space and access issues. She said that the Downtown Commission highlighted two major considerations behind the recommendations made for this process, including the need to draw from already existing groups and policies when making plans and the need to take a long-term view of what is planned for an entire cohesive downtown plan. Jan Bohman, Planning and Development Department, briefly summarized the time line which will be used to implement this process. She said that staff recommends that the council approve this process and noted that upon Planning Commission and council approval, the final task force report will come before the council at a joint City Council/Downtown Commission public hearing. Following that hearing, it is anticipated that the council and commission would appoint a "Downtown Design Team", a citizens' advisory group to focus on and oversee a participatory design process, in which any interested citizen could participate, a design competition, which would likely be targeted more at design professionals, or some combination of the two. e Ms. Bohman stated that the goal of the forum/competition phase of the process is to come up with one favored design for the downtown central core which has received much public review and comment and has a good deal of support. The Downtown Commission and the Planning Commission would then review the recommended design, hold a joint public hearing, and make a final recommendation to the City Council. The council would take action as the Urban Renewal Agency, and would then decide whether to refer the issue to the voters. Mr. Rutan reiterated his concerns with respect to the length of this process, and urged the council to make a decision on the direction of downtown development based on past design studies and Retail Task Force's recommendations. He noted that the Miles Study, in particular, could provide a very valuable deCision-making resource. Mr. Boles agreed with Mr. Rutan on the need to condense this process. He said that the Eugene Celebration would provide the perfect opportunity for council to receive public input and suggested that scale models of alternative development designs be present at the Eugene Celebration for citizens to view. Mr. Miller also agreed that in order to have construction by next year, design decisions need to be made this year. Responding to a question from Mr. Green, Ms. Bohman indicated that a national design competition would cost approximately $125,000. She thought a regional competition could be done for somewhat less. She said she had received an estimate that the five-day intensive Chavette process would cost approximately $30,000. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council Dinner/Work Session March 12, 1990 Page 5