CC Minutes - 10/08/07 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilor Bettman, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to postpone the adoption until after the work session. Councilor Solomon believed the applicant had gone through a process and had done “his homework.” It appeared to her that the application met the City’s standards. She felt the development would be the highest and best use of those properties. Additionally, the unanimous support of the West University Neighbors (WUN) for the project carried a lot of weight for her. She did not think that that the timeline should change for Mr. Newland just because the council wished to discuss the MUPTE program in the larger context. Councilor Zelenka asked the council to consider having the discussion first. He did not believe that two weeks would make a big difference in Mr. Newland’s timeline. Councilor Poling could not support postponing the item. He underscored that Mr. Newland followed all of the rules the City had set. He said Mr. Newland should not be punished just because the council had changed its collective mind and decided to revisit the MUPTE program. Councilor Clark opposed postponement. He averred that a delay would create a significant burden for Mr. Newland. He reiterated that the applicant had abided by the rules. He added that the opportunity to have something like this project built in the University area alleviated issues the Rental Housing Program dealt with in “a very common sense way.” He said the rental program worked in the City to alleviate rundown student housing and this was an opportunity to build brand new “state-of-the-art” student housing. Councilor Ortiz also could not support postponement. She felt it would be akin to moving the bar for Mr. Newland. She stressed that he had applied for the MUPTE under the current criteria and if the council said the City would begin processing applications for the program differently starting tomorrow and he applied at that time she would feel differently. Councilor Pryor concurred. He averred that the current MUPTE was adequate. He did not think the discussion the council would have should bear on this particular application. Councilor Taylor declared that the MUPTE was never supposed to be automatic; it was a City Council decision. She opined that there would be development whether the City granted a tax break or not. She felt that just because it was going to be a good project did not mean it should receive the tax exemption. Roll call vote; the motion to postpone failed, 5:3; councilors Bettman, Taylor, and Zelenka voting in favor. Councilor Bettman agreed that Mr. Newland was “a nice man” and the project was a good one. She took issue with the notion of subsidizing student housing. She averred that the concentration of students in the area put a burden on the infrastructure. She thought a lot of construction was happening in the campus area and would continue without the exemption. She opposed giving a tax break for student housing as the vacancy rate was low and it was very profitable. She supported granting a MUPTE in certain neighbor- hoods and under certain circumstances. She did not believe it was justifiable to forego tax dollars needed to provide services in this case. Councilor Zelenka complimented Mr. Newland on his proposal and his outreach to councilors and to the neighborhood. He said the notion that Mr. Newland had followed the rules was “not good enough” for him. He projected the exemption to amount to $340,000 over ten years. He underscored that he wished to ensure MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 8, 2007 Page 6 Regular Meeting