CC Minutes - 02/25/08 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Regular Meeting Council Chamber—City Hall February 25, 2008 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: George Poling, Betty Taylor, Jennifer Solomon, Andrea Ortiz, Chris Pryor, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Bonny Bettman. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the regular meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. 1. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Piercy reviewed the rules of the Public Forum. th Ellen Wojahn , 2136 McMillan Street, represented Central Lutheran Church, which was located at 19 and th Potter near the proposed apartment development at 19 and Alder Street, which was proposed to be seven stories in height. She said the church council had many concerns about the development, which were delineated in a letter she provided to the council. The concerns expressed by the church council were essentially concerns of neighborhood compatibility. She spoke of the value of neighborhood refinement plans and the lack of a plan for the neighborhood in question. In the absence of such a plan, Ms. Wojahn suggested the City carefully consider the impacts of the proposed development and mitigate them as necessary, perhaps to the points of reducing the size and mass of the structure. She said the City relied on infill to maintain compact urban growth, and infill worked best when residents were able to work with the City and developers on the goals that worked best for all. Mia Nelson , 40160 East First Street, Lowell, asked the council to send a representative to the next Lane Council of Governments (LCOG) Board of Directors meeting to object to its adoption of population estimates. She provided some background on the item to support her contention that LCOG had prepared forecasts that worked to the advantage of the small cities and that had the potential to affect infrastructure planning in Lane County. She said the City had an agreement that no action would be taken by LCOG unless the City approved it. Doug DuPriest , 777 High Street, Suite 200, representing Ms. Nelson as Shade Tree, a residential land developer located in Lowell, reiterated the concerns expressed by Ms. Nelson. He provided an overview of the methodology used by LCOG and concluded its new work was not consistent or coordinated. He said LCOG lacked the legal authority to prepare such forecasts and Lane County had rescinded its authority to do so. Despite that, LCOG was asking its board to adopt a revised forecast. While LCOG’s forecast carried no legal weight, his client was concerned that it would carry political weight. Mr. DuPriest recommended the council send a representative to the LCOG meeting to indicate its opposition to the forecasts. MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 25, 2008 Page 1 Regular Meeting