10/09/1989 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e Mr. Schwartz said he believed that the total vision of downtown must be considered. It was his concern that the vision keeps changing. He pointed to the development taking place on Country Club Road while downtown continues to experience vacancy. Retail sales have fallen while development takes place on the fringes. The vision could change in 24 hours if, for example, Nordstrom wished to locate downtown. He was frustrated by years of discussion of process and consensus building; it has gotten downtown no where. Sales have eroded and office space has disappeared. Mr. Schwartz said the council exhibits different attitudes for development in the Chad Street area, for example, than it exhibits for development downtown. Mr. Schwartz said everyone seems to want a viable, vital, quality downtown, but it takes years to do consensus building while downtown continues to go down. Mr. Holmer proposed that the council direct the Downtown Commission to undertake, before January 1, 1990, an examination of designs for reopening Olive Street and a funding plan. In addition, he wished the commission to develop information about the fiscal scope of the opening of Willamette Street. Ms. Ehrman asked about the possibility of adding councilors to such an effort. Mr. Bennett said he believed in the work that the Retail Task Force was attempting to accomplish. He did not think the proposal would help. Ms. Ehrman said it could not hurt. Responding to a question from Mr. Bennett, Ms. Bohman said she could not pinpoint a date for the task force's work to be finished. Mr. Gleason said it seemed as though the council wished to have a serious examination of the reopening of Olive Street, but that the examination be e part of a larger, more comprehensive study of downtown. The council wishes to have the commission develop a plan that parallels the work of the Retail Task Force and opens a discussion with all the interested parties. Councilors agreed that this summary was accurate. City Councilors left the meeting at 7:20 p.m. Commissioners debriefed the meeting. Commissioners agreed that it had been useful to hear Mr. Bennett's description of the mission of the Retail Task Force as it focused the work of the group in their minds. Ms. Aspinwall- Lamberts said she would like the issue of access to move faster than she anticipated that the work of the task force will. She suggested an entirely separate group with a similar composition work on access. Ms. Aspinwall- lamberts said for the commission to work on the issue alone would be a mistake. Commissioners agreed with this statement. Commissioners agreed that the task force would continue in its work while the Downtown Commission worked with staff to develop schematic designs for the opening of Olive Street. A variety of designs and a funding scheme could be developed, and this work incorporated into the work of the task force at a later time. The commission could invite representatives from various points of view to review the designs after a good start has been made. Mr. Schwartz suggested that the commission involve City Councilors in the design work. Commissioners agreed this would be a good idea. - MINUTES--City Council/Downtown Commission-- October 9, 1989 Page 9 Dinner/Work Session