CC Minutes - 04/19/06 Work Session

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Ms. Taylor asked if staff was trying to push owners to sell their property. Mr. Sullivan assured her that staff was not attempting to influence owners. Ms. Taylor, referring to the strategy related to working with medical providers, asked if it was too late to have a medical facility downtown. Mr. Sullivan said the issue was addressed and much work was done but there was currently no hospital site identified downtown. Planning Director Susan Muir clarified that the strategy referred to a physicians’ group that had contacted the council several years ago about locating in downtown but the project had subsequently located outside of the downtown core. She said the strategy was still viable and staff would be willing to work with medical or other offices interested in the downtown area. th Ms. Taylor asked if the concept of a pedestrian overpass at 8 Avenue and Mill Street had been abandoned. Mr. Sullivan said a design for a grade level crossing was part of the street improvement package for the courthouse area. City Manager Taylor said the concept was not ruled out, although the current focus was on a grade level crossing. Ms. Bettman stated she hoped to have the opportunity to vote against a motion to direct staff to continue work on development opportunities and implementation of the Downtown Plan as she thought the plan had morphed from a vision to a plan. She thought the plan was too broad and was being used to justify projects. She said the council approved the plan conceptually, but now she no longer supported it as it lacked benchmarks, such as specific targets for housing units, commercial and retail. She was opposed to subsidizing retail because it put existing retail at a disadvantage. She said the plan was a concept but not a real blueprint for action; a real plan had a financial aspect that constrained actions to a budget. She said the strategies in the plan were not prioritized, not constrained, and not specific. Ms. Solomon commended the Downtown Plan and was pleased to see the fruits of its implementation in the staff presentation. She asked if the State motor pool site was going to be sold and whether it could be land banked for affordable housing. Mr. Sullivan said that there had been some interest in surplusing the site, but it would be offered first to State agencies, then to local jurisdictions, and finally to the open market. He said there were many potential uses for the site, but it was immediately adjacent to the railroad tracks. th Ms. Solomon expressed dismay that a grade level crossing was being planned for the 8 Avenue and Mill Street intersection, as she thought an overpass was critical. She said that Lane County Commissioner Faye Stewart was also interested in efforts to support the Farmers Market and there might be an opportunity to partner with the County. Mayor Piercy stated her interest in and support for the Farmers Market. She asked how staff interpreted the Downtown Plan in terms of whether it was a plan with specific implementation or applied in a broader sense. Ms. Laurence said that staff tried to ensure that their work was related specifically to the policies in the plan; the implementation strategies and project examples illustrated the plan but the policies were its heart. She said because downtown was so high profile and there were financial implications involved, most of what staff was doing in downtown came before the council for specific direction on specific activities. She said the plan went through a full range of public hearings at the Planning Commission and City Council levels and was approved by the council as an aspirational document. She said there was language in the plan that specifically stated that conditions and circumstances would change and the plan was not meant to be so rigid it could not be reinterpreted as necessary. She said it was the intent of the plan to be flexible while remaining true to the vision. She said the plan technically had the status MINUTES—Eugene City Council April 19 Page 4