CC Minutes - 06/11/08 Work Session

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M I N U T E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room—City Hall—777 Pearl Street Eugene, Oregon June 11, 2008 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Bonny Bettman, Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor, Jennifer Solomon, George Poling, Andrea Ortiz, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the work session of the Eugene City Council to order. A. ACTION: Coordinated Population Projections City Manager Jon Ruiz said the purpose of the work session was to receive direction from the council regarding beginning the process of establishing a population forecast for Eugene in order to comply with requirements of House Bill 3337. He introduced Lisa Gardner, of the Planning and Development Department, to present the topic. Ms. Gardner stated that the comprehensive lands assessment studies required by HB 3337 required that a 20-year population forecast be established for both Springfield and Eugene much earlier than the County’s next periodic review. She said the County had delegated preparation of the population forecast to Lane Council of Governments (LCOG), but in April 2008 the Board of County Commissioners had rejected LCOG’s forecast and decided to wait until its next periodic review to conduct a population forecast. She said the County had rescinded that action and would be conducting a population forecast sooner than the next periodic review. She said state statutes allow cities to use a “safe harbor” approach to establishing population forecasts if a coordinated number is not otherwise available. She said City staff had reviewed several options and determined that the safe harbor approach was the best strategy for moving forward; Springfield staff had made the same determination and there was an opportunity to be more efficient by preparing one joint Metro Plan amendment that would allow each jurisdiction to take its own path. Ms. Gardner said the council was being asked to initiate a Metro Plan amendment process, but doing so did not commit the City to a population figure. She said an amendment process would allow input and questions when it went before the Planning Commission and the council. Ms. Bettman asked about the impact of the County’s most recent action on Eugene’s use of the safe harbor approach. Ms. Gardner said County staff was preparing materials for a June 25, 2008, work session that would include four options for the board’s consideration, none of which would preclude moving forward with the safe harbor approach or render a safe harbor population number irrelevant. She said safe harbor would assume a steady 1.31 percent growth rate for the urban population projected over the 20-year period. Ms. Bettman asked if establishing a population projection was a requirement of HB 3337. City Attorney Emily Jerome explained that the bill required the City to demonstrate it was providing sufficient buildable lands to accommodate housing needs for 20 years and a 20-year population forecast was required to begin that process. MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 11, 2008 Page 1 Work Session