CC Minutes - 01/16/08 Work Session and Meeting of URA

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M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Work Session and Meeting of the Eugene Urban Renewal Agency McNutt Room – City Hall 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon January 16, 2008 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Andrea Ortiz, Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor, Bonny Bettman, George Poling, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka, Jennifer Solomon. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. A. WORK SESSION: House Bill 3337 City Manager pro tem Angel Jones introduced Planning Director Lisa Gardner to provide an overview of the item. Ms. Gardner stated that the Planning Commission had recommended conducting a Comprehensive Lands Assessment of all land types as part of the Planning Division's work program. She said the purpose was to expand the City's tools and baseline data as it moved forward with integrated land use projects. She said the council had approved the work program as proposed, with the understanding the issue could be revisited at the current work session. She noted that the agenda packet contained several relevant items, including a scope of work from ECONorthwest and a memorandum from City Attorney Emily Jerome responding to questions raised regarding House Bill (HB) 3337. Mayor Piercy solicited council questions and comments. Ms. Bettman commented that she was not concerned about the bill, which was short and explicit, and she was not concerned with the results of the inventory. She did not think the staff motion was responsive because the bill only required division of the urban growth boundary (UGB) and completion of a buildable lands inventory, which was residential. She disagreed with the staff recommendation to inventory the existing capacity within the UGB and said in her opinion that meant the jurisdictional UGB had to be established first or the inventory would be based on the existing UGB, which was not jurisdictional. She saw two steps: establish the separate jurisdictional UGB and then move forward with the buildable lands inventory within that UGB. She disagreed with the expiration dates for commercial and industrial lands inventories. Ms. Ortiz observed that the City might be reluctant to take action because of the way the legislation was enacted, but it recognized the need to comply with the law. She said the City could comply at the minimal level required by the bill or use the opportunity to work with other jurisdictions. Mayor Piercy referred to a letter recommending that the council avoid a minimal approach and embrace the opportunity for a comprehensive look at all land inventories in order to develop data to inform good planning for the community. She agreed with that recommendation. MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 16, 2008 Page 1 Work Session