06/24/1987 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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should be voted on by the citizens of Eugene, as was done for the 6th Avenue and 7th Avenue redesign and the Mahlon Sweet Airport expansion. He said the e City has an obligation to ensure full citizen participation on the Wi 1 lamette Street redesign issue. In response to a question from Ms. Ehrman, he sa i d this vote would be advisory if the tax increment district were still in effect. Ms. Wooten said other councilors should consider the suggestion offered by Mr. Holmer. She said holding a vote would not be an attempt to avoid a decision by the counci 1. She said the council should make a firm decision on the redesign issue. In response to a question from Ms. Wooten, Mr. Gleason said the decision on the redesign issue can be made when the council is ready to do so. He said there is little chance to get it on the council agenda before August or September. Mr. Holmer said he wants to review a detailed design of the proposed reopened street before deciding the issue. Ms. Ehrman said the council may want to take tentative action on the opening and direct a design process to occur. She added that it will be crucial for all councilors to attend the vote on the redesign issue. E. Development Projects and Financial Issues Mr. Byrne said the Renewal Agency owns a substantial amount of property in the downtown. He said one of the major unrealized goals of the 1968 Urban Renewal e Plan was to have these properties developed by the private sector. He said staff has studied the financial effect of having these properties developed at three different intensities of development (floor area ratios of 1.5, 3.0, and 4.5). Based on this study, the staff recommendation is that the development sites have an average floor area ratio of 3.0 (i.e., the sites, on average, would be developed with three-story buildings). He said this recommendation in the Finance Plan assumes that all three stories of this development would be taxable. It also assumes that agency-owned or agency-developed parking will support the development of these properties; this parking demand would be met by either existing or new parking facilities. He said that when staff projected the intensity of development at a floor area ratio of 4.5, the financial situation of the agency worsened. He said the tax increment flow generated by this intensity of development would be insufficient to pay for the parking demands that this level of development would create. Later in the meeting, Mr. Bennett asked why this development intensity (floor area ratio of 4.5) would worsen the financial situation of the agency. He suggested that if the development occurred at this intensity, the agency could build the parking structures needed to support this development, and the parking could be leased at a rate that would service the debt on the parking structures. Mr. Byrne said the question is: Will the market rate for which parking can be leased downtown service the debt on a parking structure? He said the answer is "no." Operation and maintenance costs for a parking garage are about $20 to $25 per space, per month. This is about the average price of e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 24, 1987 Page 12