CC Minutes - 02/13/06 Work Session

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Mr. Kelly agreed with Mr. Pryor’s comments regarding the parking garage. He stressed that Whole Foods was building and paying for its own parking; the City was building a public parking garage. He said the ultimate policy question was whether the City was in a position to build public parking garages and if there was a need for parking in that part of downtown. He said the answer was yes. Mr. Kelly noted that the code required ground floor commercial space in any public parking garage to prevent blank, boring walls on the street side. He asked if the elevations indicated ground floor commercial space. Associate Planner Nan Laurence said parking was planned for the ground floor in addition to a commercial space at each corner. th Mr. Kelly asked why ground floor commercial space was not required along 8 Avenue. Ms. Laurence said th the developer had been asked to orient as much as possible on 8 Avenue the commercial space now shown along High Street. Mr. Kelly expressed concern about the appearance of the south side of the structure th along 8 Avenue and asked for more response from staff. Mr. Papé agreed with comments from Ms. Solomon, Mr. Pryor and Mr. Kelly. He agreed with Ms. Bettman that there should be a recommendation regarding the other quarter-block instead of just waiting to see what happened with it. City Manager Taylor clarified that the property in question would result in a th corner on 8 Avenue and Pearl Street when the City’s property was split to facilitate a trade. He disagreed with Ms. Bettman’s characterization of a subsidy to Whole Foods. He felt the City was actually receiving the subsidy by obtaining a parking structure at less expense. The motion passed, 6:2; Ms. Taylor and Ms. Bettman voting in opposition. Ms. Solomon, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to direct the City Manager to negoti- ate a development agreement and related legal documents with Broadway High As- sociates and Gerding/Edlen Developers for the Whole Foods Development Project, based on the public garage development Option 4, and to bring back final terms for council approval. Ms. Ortiz asked if partnering with Whole Foods would make it less expensive to build a parking structure. City Manager Taylor replied that the structure would probably cost more if built separately and also have a different design concept than the 260 space design recommended in Option 4. Mr. Kelly proposed a friendly amendment to add the following language: The de- velopment agreement shall include a not-to-exceed limit on the payment to devel- oper of $7 million. Ms. Solomon and Ms. Ortiz accepted the amendment. Mr. Kelly expressed concern about and asked for feedback from others on proposed financing that appeared to take all of the revenues from the entire Riverfront Urban Renewal District to pay for the public parking garage. He acknowledged that the anticipated development in the area could move the increment up quickly but was interested in other financing options that could reduce the impact on urban renewal funds. City Manager Taylor said that would be addressed in the agenda item summary for the February 22, 2006, work session. Mr. Papé stated that his son was employed by Gerding/Edlen Developers and asked if there was any conflict of interest. Mr. Klein replied that there was no actual conflict. Mr. Poling reiterated his support for the project. He said while the project was referred to as the “Whole Foods project” it was actually the East Broadway Development. He said that this part of the project would MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 13, 2006 Page 4 Work Session