Laserfiche WebLink
Mr. Kelly expressed support for this theme and emphasized the importance of having a range of <br />housing types, income level targets, and increased ownership opportunities in downtown. He <br />liked the emphasis on mixed-use and a diversity of activities and events. Mr. Kelly said it was <br />critical to reach out to the local arts community for input on a new cultural events center in <br />downtown. He said that it was important to focus on activities, not building for the sake of <br />building. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly noted that the bullet regarding retention of residential use did not make it into the priority <br />list of key next steps, included in the report as an errata sheet. He thought it should be made a <br />significant priority and that there was council support for that. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman agreed with Mr. Kelly's comments. She liked the theme. She questioned the <br />concept of a year-round market, noting the lack of support expressed previously for the concept <br />by market vendors. She asked about the origin of the concept. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman noted housing conversion occurring north of downtown, depending on where the City <br />instituted the boundary. She favored 5th Avenue as a boundary, and wanted to ensure <br />redevelopment of the AgricPac site included housing. Ms. Bettman referred to a key next step <br />calling for research into the market potential for a major new cultural venue downtown, and <br />suggested an opportunity existed in the McDonald Theater, which had historic and cultural <br />attributes that would make it an asset to downtown if it could remain open as a venue for events. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman suggested the key next steps calling for the retention of residential uses in <br />neighborhoods abutting downtown and for encouragement of commercial development to <br />concentrate in the downtown core could be misconstrued to suggest housing should be around <br />downtown, not in downtown. Mr. Farmer assured Ms. Bettman that was not the intent of the next <br />step. The committee thought preserving residential neighborhoods adjacent to downtown was a <br />priority, and wanted to encourage housing downtown as well. He said that staff would make that <br />clear in Phase 2 of the project. <br /> <br />Regarding Ms. Bettman's question about a year-round market, Mr. Farmer said the suggestion for <br />further investigation came from vendors associated with the market. The committee did not <br />anticipate a year-round market of the same size, but thought there could be some year-round <br />support in the downtown area that solidified the market in downtown and avoided the market from <br />leaving downtown to relocate to a permanent year-round facility. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman did not think that mid-town was solely a commercial center and that it was important <br />to plan for infill housing in that area through another planning process. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner concurred with the comments of other councilors. Noting his membership on the <br />committee, he said the committee had disagreed on the subject of downtown housing and why <br />one would want to preclude the conversion of housing west of downtown. It was not an easy <br />issue. He agreed with Mr. Farmer the committee wanted housing downtown but also wanted to <br />establish a boundary between the downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. The committee <br />was interested in an intensely developed downtown. <br /> <br /> MINUTE--Eugene City Council February 28, 2001 Page 2 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />