CC Minutes - 02/14/05 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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raised another issue for her, which was the City's ability to ensure that infrastructure was in place when low-income, high-density housing was built. She said the City may have to start looking at those kinds of issues when it considered additional densification and intensification of use. In regard to the rezoning of Crescent, she asked if the City had looked at the rezoning it had done in that area to assess the impact of that on the transportation system in a comprehensive way, as opposed to looking at each change "in a vacuum." While staff frequently maintained that there was no impact from such rezonings, they all have a cumulative impact on the system. She said that the City may have to change its policies to require upfront help with the infrastructure when such zone changes occur. Responding to a question from Mayor Piercy, Mr. Schoening said the City offered a deferral of the street assessment payment to some later date when the property changed hands. Mayor Piercy asked about the nature of the subsidy available. Mr. Schoening said it ranged from one-third to five-sixths of the assessment and was based on income level without regard to age. Mayor Piercy called for a second round of comments and questions. Mr. Kelly discussed funding the City's share of the cost of local assessment projects. He said that the first question that came to mind was the cost of that, and how often it happened. If the petition poll process was rarely successful, he believed the City share was a pretty small number in absolute dollars. He asked for a better sense of that. Mr. Kelly did not like the 100 percent rule, although he understood why the City took that approach with regard to alleys. He thought it removed the fairness from the process and spread the unfairness to more property owners. Speaking to Ms. Bettman's remarks regarding the use of CDBG dollars, Mr. Kelly said he was not suggesting any changes, but different cities use that money for very different things. In Eugene, the money was used to fund capital improvement for nonprofit organizations. He said he would like to have a council work session on the origin of that tradition, what other communities do, and if periodically the council should revisit the issue. City Manager Taylor said he had served in other communities where CDBG dollars were used both in eligible areas and for eligible individuals as part of an overall strategy to upgrade certain areas. It provided an additional equity for people sustaining the costs of an LID. It had been a very successful approach because it provided an incentive for people to get their roads improved and in the long-term improved the value of their property. In all such cases, there were community-wide maintenance districts in which all participated. C. EXECUTIVE SESSION Pursuant to Oregon Revised Statute 192.660(2)(h), the council entered into executive session. Following the executive session, Mayor Piercy reconvened the council to take action on the Consent Calendar. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 14, 2005 Page 5 Work Session