07/08/1974 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

:I;r;pac-i:: -Mr~.BTa'-yn~y - expTained that the'" study iiidlcat~d there--was-no - particul?1:i' 1- difference between downtown and the Goodpasture Island area because both were close ! to the center of the metropoli tan ar'ea. Down_town was better served by mass tra"nsi t :and probably would continue to be better in that respect because of its adaptability . to a-transit system. Calculations were made with regard to investment in mass :transit to avoid street widening, also the effect of removing parking~ It was con~ . ;cluded that costly additional traffic capacity would be needed on Goodpasture Island ito serve full development, regardless of whether it was commercial or residential - :either widening the Belt Line bridge, new construction north of Belt Line, or ex- , ;tending a bridge across the River at Park Avenue. A new regional center would :generate more total traffic than either downtown or Valley River because of its I ,less centra~ location. There would also be little difference in costs of locating :retail or office space in the downtown area compared to outlying sites. The study suggested an oversupply of office space for some time taking into account the present high-rise construction in the downtown area., The downtown free parking program tended: ,~, to act as an equali zer. Mr. Blayney noted the considerable amount of obsolere housing;" near the downtown business district and suggested further study and possible urban i renewal project for new housing close in. ) . 'i Policies recommended-were: j 1. Identify potential regional centers and protect those sites from piecemeal develop- 'mente Suggestions were north of Valley River, Coburg and Belt Line intersection, and Gatewa~ south of Belt Line north of Springfield. -"." ,2. A development plan far more detailed than the 1~90Plan to provide for a second renewal project west of Charnel ton Street, and a site reserved for an -'. enclosed mall regional shopping center at the west end of the Eugene mall. ! Mr. Blayney encouraged attraction of two large departmeQt stores or relocation i of present stores to ensure the downtown's future. Possible use of tax incre- , I I ment funds'for the mall expansion and close-in housing development was suggested I " as one way of financing. , , .' . ' , , 3. Consideration of an all-day parking tax in the downtown development district to fund transit service. Mr. Blayney thought at least 30% of all employe trips should be by mass transit. 4. Continual review of the downtown free parking program to maintain equity between , offices and retailing. ~..,..../;i'--~~_... . . _~"/~.._,_,,~J_________ . 5. Commercial develOpment ~hould be lLmited to the area south of the gravel ponds on Goodpasture Island and the remaining 300 acres devoted to residential uses. P" . Mr. Blayn~y---s8:1a by no means did the study indicate there should be no further development on Goodpasture Island. Limiting commercial development would avoid a mixture and a commercial strip' which would detract from the quality of resi- dential development on the rest of the land. ~ --- _...... / - .- ~------- -- ~:~ . . ~Q.- -Wi-thhold zoning for a new outlying'~egiolJal shopping center until there jJi -- ~___ - -~ "'"---"..7"- assurance of two department stores in a 500M square foot development and until review of an economic impact report analyzing effect of the new center on exist- . ing retail complexes. 7. Alternative uses_for land now zoned comme.rcial but having little potential for developmeift in the near future should--:Jje-.studied with continuance of the policy for final approval of new commercial zoning only after assurance that'develHR- ment would occur. John Porter, planning di~ector, said the key element of the report for his office was t-he projected doubling of retail floor space- to 10MM square feet. That informa- tieI1, he said,'woul.a allow a better updating of the General Plan. ----- Councilman williams thought that to pre~ent_a third regional Shopping center until what appeared to be the appropriate- time seemed to call for control outside the__ :purvielv of the ci ty of Eugene. He wondered if i t- was aSsumed that the 1990 General j -~ ~ 'Plan would be the vehicle to provide control of that development.Mr: Blayney agreed ,that it was very seldom that one jurisdiction had the power to control commercial :development. However, he felt the high level of co-operation between jurisdictions for the --total good of this metropoli tan area was commendable, and would work for a greater interest in the quality of development rather than the fiscal impact. , . --- Councilman Murray asked if projections of the study would indicate how much commercial; space was needed in ratio to population and the degree of historical economic impact i on the downtown area. Mr. Blayney replied that the projections were limited to i statistics available. Oregon's havi~g no sales tax resulted in meager information with regard to gross sales. But at this time both downtown and Valley River had a - \ \ 7 (8(74 - 16 ' 2.41