CC Minutes - 01/24/05 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Schoening recommended that the council pursue Option 1, and direct the City Manager to prepare a resolution to initiate a local improvement district (LID). Mr. Schoening briefly described the context-sensitive design process, which would account for such things as the rural feel of the neighborhood and the values of residents. He referred the council to Attachment A in the agenda item summary, and reviewed the six principles outlined: 1. Balance safety, mobility, community and environmental goals in the project. 2. Involve the public and affected parties early and continuously. 3. Use an interdisciplinary team tailored to each projects needs. 4. Address all modes of travel/transportation. 5. Apply flexibility inherent in design standards. 6. Incorporate aesthetics as an integral part of good design. Mr. Schoening said that staff solicited issues about the design from neighbors at the last public meeting, and heard a request that the path be bark-mulched. That required staff to consider the ramifications of other requirements, such as from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), for example, which required hard surfaces for paths to allow the disabled to use them. The City Code also required the adjacent property to maintain sidewalks or pathways, and there was a question of what burden would be placed on the property owner from a bark-mulched path. He anticipated more such dialogue on design issues. Mr. Schoening said that the unimproved streets in the community were not in the City's preservation and maintenance backlog; they were above and beyond that. It took considerable staff resources to maintain those roads. The LID process had been used successfully in the past, and based on the City's funding outlook, he did not anticipate another viable funding mechanism for street improvements in this area. He said the neighbors were focused and had a lot of energy around the topic, and he thought the City had an opportunity to take advantage of that energy to do something good for the neighborhood and address the safety and maintenance issues caused by the condition of the streets in the neighborhood. Mr. Schoening acknowledged Mr. McNeel's work on the topic, saying he had been involved in the process from the beginning and had done much of the "heavy lifting" needed. Mayor Piercy called on the council for comments and questions. Ms. Taylor said that many people in the Crest Drive area did not know of the staff recommendation that a LID be formed until the last few days. She pointed out that generally, LIDs on non-collector streets were formed with the support of more than 50 percent of the residents. There had been no request to form a district. She thought the recommendation violated the trust of the residents who wanted to be involved and were told that context-sensitive design standards would be in place before anything happened. Ms. Taylor asked if there were exceptions to the ADA requirements in the case of steep terrain, for example. Mr. Schoening said yes, as long as access was available to every one. However, he did not think any of the streets in question could not accommodate a hard surface path. Ms. Taylor asked if the ADA entered into the situation if just a pavement overlay and a few stop signs were added. Mr. Schoening said no. Ms. Taylor expressed dismay that the City was not considering another method of financing outside of those MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 24, 2005 Page 4 Work Session