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M I NUT E S e Eugene City Council Dinner/Work Session Wilder Room--Eugene Community Conference Center November 16, 1987 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Debra Ehrman, Freeman Holmer, Jeff Miller, Emily Schue, Ruth Bascom, Cynthia Wooten, Roger Rutan, Robert Bennett. The work session of November 16, 1987, of the Eugene City Council was called to order by His Honor Mayor Brian B. Obie. 1. NO CRUISING ORDINANCE City Manager Micheal Gleason introduced the item. Sergeant Tom Mason of the Police Traffic Team presented the staff report. Mr. Mason revi ewed the history and current situation of cruising by youth on South Willamette Street, the IIGut.1I He also reviewed the proposed draft of an ordinance to prohibit cruising, projected costs of enforcement, and experiences of how other cities had dealt with cruising. Mr. Mason said cruising by youth on south Willamette Street had occurred for e many years and recently had resulted in severe impacts on the quality of life for residents and businesses in that area. He said he had been involved with traffic enforcement on the "Gut" for about seven years. During that time, enforcement had taken a three-phased approach, which he described as: 1) containment of activity through traffic control devices such as signs and barriers; 2) education and enforcement contacts with youth; and 3) selective enforcement of existing laws. Mr. Mason said recent cruising activity had required more police efforts than any other area except for narcotics, and responses had not been effective in dealing with complaints, which still were being received from nearby residents. Mr. Mason noted that residents in the area near McMillan Street, Portland Street and 24th Avenue in May of this year had submitted a petition requesting signs to redirect traffic. He said those signs had been installed and had been successful in reducing problems in the neighborhood. Residents east of Willamette Street then had begun complaining, however, and recently a group of youth had gone on a spree, smashing several automobi 1 e wi ndows in the residential neighborhoods west and north of Willamette Street. Mr. Mason said the City of Portland on March 26 had adopted a no-cruising ordinance based on a similar law in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Mason reported that the Eugene "Gut" on September 11 had moved from Wi 11 amette Street to West 11th Avenue. He exp 1 a i ned that the move had e MINUTES--Eugene City Council Dinner/Work Session November 16, 1987 Page 1