CC Minutes - 12/11/06 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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are doing” in bringing street annexations to the Lane County Local Government Boundary Commission. He felt whether the street annexations were reasonable and logical or not, they were “exacerbating” tensions in the River Road/Santa Clara area. He asserted that many people “would rather fight and die” than have property annexed to the City. He opined that it was not a healthy environment in which to govern. He expressed appreciation for Councilor Papé’s involvement in the area. He felt Councilor Papé had been “disrespected” by many people because of his efforts. He hoped Councilor-elect Mike Clark would carry on the interest in trying to “get something done.” He also expressed appreciation for Councilor Ortiz’s “deep involvement” in the issues of the area. He commented that the two Eugene councilors had an extra job in representing County constituents. Mr. Handy alleged that Commissioner Bobby Green abandoned his constituents in River Road. He hoped the City could look at an annexation strategy rather than an annexation plan. He wanted to halt street annexations for the present and to work on a “package” that could be accepted and voted upon by all residents. He said in looking at the land use code, he felt stormwater conveyance, the trees, density, and the skinny streets of River Road should be taken into consideration. He asked that those issues be prioritized for a special River Road planning district. Additionally, Mr. Handy thanked Councilor Kelly for his leadership and vision in the River Road/Santa Clara issues. Jozef Siekiel-Zdzienicki , 1025 Taylor Street, stated that 16 months of meetings had been instigated by Planning Division staff with a grant from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) for $78,000 for consultant work. He said there were countless neighborhood meetings and meetings with consultants, the result of which was the Chambers Special Area Zone. He said a neighborhood standard for infill and density had been set and the Planning staff initiated work on similar standards for the entire city. He asked the council not to undo a ruling that only existed for a year. Mayor Piercy closed the Public Forum and invited comments and questions from councilors. Councilor Ortiz thanked everyone for coming. She asked the City Manager to ask neighborhood leaders to join the work session on the River Road area on January 22, 2007. Councilor Papé thanked everyone for attending the last official meeting in which he and Councilor Kelly would participate. He commented that it would be tough to leave, but it would be good to get “new blood” in the organization. He thanked Mr. Handy and Mr. Brown for their comments. In closing, he encouraged Councilor-elect Clark to pay attention to the River Road residents as some felt marginalized for years. He hoped that residents felt less marginalized after the work that had transpired in the eight years since he was elected. Councilor Kelly thanked those who spoke and especially Mr. Brown and Mr. Handy for the kind words. He noted that there had been a comment about the old federal building “just sitting there.” He related that the City continued to be told by the federal government and the General Services Administration (GSA) that, with the exception of the courtrooms, they still intended to fully use all of the space. He hoped that the City would look at utilizing the building should it ever become available. Regarding master planning for the EWEB riverfront property, Councilor Kelly explained that the subject emerged from the Downtown Plan. He said that before all or part of the EWEB site downtown gets reused, there should be a master plan completed for the whole site, though the Downtown Plan was silent over who should complete such a plan. He believed that this would be part of the discussion going forward as to who could best do that. MINUTES—Eugene City Council December 11, 2006 Page 4 Regular Meeting