04/29/1992 Meeting (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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e e e Mayor Morrisette called the Springfield City Council to order and stated that a quorum is not needed for a public hearing, and that the first reading of the ordinance will be conducted as soon as the ordinance is drafted. B. Opening of Public Hearing Mayor Miller opened the public hearing. C. Public Testimony Ken Tollenaar, 1522 Russet Drive, representing the Eugene Planning Commission, stated that he served as Chair of the Eugene Planning Commission during the time that the Willakenzie Planning Team met and is a resident of the Willakenzie area. He commended the draft plan for resolving many land use issues that exist in the built portion of the plan area and for providing an excellent framework for future development in the undeveloped portion of the area. He said that he attended most of the Planning Team meetings and felt that the plan represents the wishes of the residents of the Willakenzie area. Mr. Tollenaar said that the Eugene Planning Commission approved nearly all the Planning Team recommendations, including the goals for general land use poli- cy, the general policy calling for maintenance of low-density patterns in existing neighborhoods while also providing higher densities for some undevel- oped areas, most of the commercial allocations, nearly all the subarea poli- cies, most of the transportation elements, and virtually all the public facil- ity and neighborhood design elements. Mr. Tollenaar said that the Eugene Planning Commission recommended revisions in order to achieve greater consistency between the draft plan and the Metro Plan. Key revision categories include residential density and transportation. The commission thought that the draft plan as submitted by the Planning Team did not adequately respond to the need to provide for increased density in the area. He mentioned that in a conversation with John Brown (Planning Team Chair), a discrepancy regarding residential densities in the area was uncov- ered and requested staff to investigate. He said that the commission added approximately 30 acres of land designated for medium-density residential by upgrading land designated as low-density residential and another 10 acres by converting commercial land to medium-density residential. The commission also added a policy statement establishing a minimum density for medium- and high- density residential development. He added that that recommendation would apply citywide and will be presented to the City Council in the future as a code amendment. He added that that recommendation is a response to develop- ment not achieving the plan densities, and, therefore, not achieving goals such as affordable housing, transportation efficiency, economic infrastruc- ture, and energy conservation. He said that minimum densities have been suc- cessfully established in Springfield, Portland, and certain portions of the Willakenzie area, such as the Goodpasture Island Road area. Regarding transportation, Mr. Tollenaar said that the commission disagreed with the functional classification of Satre/Van Duyn and Jeppesen Acres recom- MINUTES--Joint Elected Officials April 29, 1992 Page 3