05/26/1992 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e e e Jan Childs, Planning and Development Department, noted that the commission wanted to begin work on its top priority projects and asked for council direction. The council concurred that the commission should proceed with its top priority projects. II. LANE TRANSIT DISTRICT CLTDl--MCDONALD THEATER SITE Ms. Ehrman requested that the council discuss LTD's recent interest in use of the McDonald Theater site for its proposed transit station. Phyllis Loobey, Lane Transit District (LTD), displayed a conceptual plan of the LTD transit station at the McDonald Theatre site. She said that the LTD advisory commit- tee has many questions regarding this and other possible transit sites, and a Joint meeting between it and the LTD Board is scheduled for June 10. She said that meetings are being held with property owners of three sites currently under consideration: the McDonald site; the International House of Pancakes site; and the Pasta Plus site. She said that there are many objections to the latter two sites. Although the McDonald site has not raised many objections, it has a major site configuration flaw because it is L-shaped. She added that the configuration could be changed, if additional adjacent sites were pur- chased. She said that the station requires at least 3/4 of a block. Refer- ring to the conceptual design, she said that the station includes a customer service center. The two corners opposite the McDonald site are owned by the City, as urban renewal property. Mayor Miller expressed concern about the parking that would be eliminated if the station was constructed at the McDonald site. Lew Bowers, Planning and Development Department, stated that LTD searched for a site that does not have code-related parking. He said that the McDonald site is in a parking exempt zone. He added that the existing surface parking lots could be replaced with structured parking. Mr. Boles expressed frustration regarding the late timing of LTD's presenta- tion to the council. He preferred that LTD inform the council on an ongoing basis. He noted that the CATS study is examining parking replacement imple- mentation procedures, which is an issue relevant to the LTD transit station location. He requested more information on the process the LTD Board is using in selecting a location. Ms. Loobey said that the criteria for the site has not changed in the process of choosing one. She said that LTD has sought comments from bus riders and tenants of property near sites being considered. Ms. Loobey added that a calendar of events was given to the council representative. She said that public hearings are scheduled for the site determination as well as the environmental assessment. She added that the board intends to involve the Downtown Commission, the Planning Commission, and the City Council in those public hearings. MINUTES--Eugene City Council Planning Commission-5:30 May 26, 1992 Page 6