07/28/1982 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Roll call vote; motion carried 5:3, with Councilors Ball, Hamel, e Obie, Smith, and Wooten voting in favor, and Councilors Lindberg, Schue, and Miller voting in opposition. Councilor Wooten said the reason she voted for the "re" spelling was to make it distinctive from the conference center or the performing arts center itself. v. DOWNTOWN HOUSING POLICY RECOMMENDATION BASED ON THE LELAND-HOBSON STUDY (memo, resolution, background information distributed) Recommended approvel by Planning Commission July 12, 1982 Vote: 5:0 Mr. Hibschman said the study began in the spring of last year in response to adopted policy which indicated a need to develop an implementation strategy for downtown housing. The Leland-Hobson study was specifically designed to address what kind of housing should be put in the downtown area, where it should go, and how to do it. It was originally intended to become a short-term implementation strategy. The study ended in August of 1981 and was circulated to a number of City boards and commissions for review, as well as to lenders, developers, and particularly those who participated in the study process. The resolution is the result of some of the more significant findings of the Leland-Hobson study and comments that were received during that review process. The resolution was submitted for review twice to the Joint Housing Committee and twice to the Planning Commission. In the course of those discussions there were some concerns on the part of the Joint Housing Committee that some provision be made to include some below-market-rate units. This was discussed before the e Planning Commission and it was felt that, given the difficulty of downtown housing, the full array of tools that are outlined in the resolution should be made available and those options kept open. There is recognition that the two more significant tools, the land cost write-down and the below-interest loan tools, would be cause for public review. Any additional public benefit that might want to be included as part of those tools could be used during that review process, primarily on a case-by-case basis. This resolution is to be considered more a long-term planning document than a short-term implementation strategy. Staff strongly supports it. It will provide a clear direction for downtown housing in the future. An important sidelight of the study was its educational value. During the course of the study it was necessary to bring the lenders and developers and staff together to discuss downtown housing issues and to look at the kind of projects that lenders would most likely want to see developers bring to them for financing. Mr. Hibschman thanked the Lenders' Task Force which provided a forum for those meetings. Those discussions heightened everyone's awareness about downtown housing and how difficult it is. Mayor Keller, with approval of the council, opened the public hearing to allow those who had requested to testify to speak. John Van Landingham, 1172 West 5th Avenue, member of the Joint Housing Committee, sald he was the author of the Joint Housing Committee's proposed amendment to the resolution. That amendment was adopted by the Joint Housing Committee by a 4:1 vote. The Joint Housing Committee wanted to make it City policy to limit e significant subsidies for downtown housing in the form of interest reduction and MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 28, 1982 Page 9