CC Minutes - 02/27/08 Work Session

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M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room – City Hall 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon February 27, 2008 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Andrea Ortiz, Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor, George Poling, Mike Clark, Jennifer Solomon, Alan Zelenka. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Bonny Bettman. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the work session of the Eugene City Council to order. A. WORK SESSION: Outdoor Smoking Areas City Manager pro tem Angel Jones introduced Land Use Supervisor for the Planning and Development Department (PDD) Mike McKerrow and indicated he would summarize the issue and answer any questions that arose. Mr. McKerrow stated that the work session served to provide an opportunity to revisit standards for outdoor smoking areas. He said the current standard required a roofed area that was 75 percent open and that the area only abutted one wall. He noted that in addition, fences or other enclosures were treated as solid walls if they were within 10 feet of the roof. He related that staff had heard from many business owners that the standards presented a challenge as fences were used for security purposes so that furniture and equipment would not be stolen and also that some enclosures did not meet the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) standards for separation. He explained that staff had also received feedback from neighbors of bars who were impacted by smoke and noise, noting that some impacts could travel 50 to 100 feet. He provided enlarged photos on the wall showing several outdoor smoking areas. Mayor Piercy related that Ms. Taylor had accompanied her in a Mayor’s One-on-One meeting the previous day and had received feedback from people living near The Old Pad who were impacted by the outdoor smoking area. She said neighbors also complained about the noise it generated. Ms. Taylor remarked that she had heard complaints about The Old Pad “for years.” She said neighbors found it difficult to be in their yards or even to leave their windows open in the summertime. It seemed intolerable to her and she felt the ordinance should be changed. Mr. Pryor said he was not looking to change the substance of the ordinance, but he was interested in fine- tuning it so that it operated more effectively. He wanted to work on the security aspect and the limitation to minors. He asked how sufficient security could be provided to a smoking deck without impeding what the council had been trying to achieve in the larger sense, i.e. air flow. He surmised that this could be MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 27, 2008 Page 1 Work Session