CC Minutes - 05/09/05 Mtg - Laserfiche WebLink

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families in the neighborhood and a number of neighbors outside of the CNR area. He shared that one member, an architect, convened a %oot camp" that taught participants about setbacks, roof slopes, and building mass among others, and that members walked the neighborhood, recording detailed information on how lots had been developed. He felt that without this work, there would not have been the database on which to present the group's proposals. He thought CAFHN had provided a remarkable opportunity for people to learn about issues and to have a real say on what the ultimate proposals were. He asserted that without this process, the public meetings would not have been enough. He cited the April 14 design review meeting at which 50 slides were shown in two hours with little time for neighbors to ask questions. He hoped the council would encourage the project team to ;;have the appropriate regard" for the work done and the concerns the neighbors still had. Sharon Sherman, 1129 Taylor Court, said she was one of Eugene's original ;;infill pioneers," as she and her husband moved into a modest bungalow that had been moved from its original location to a vacant lot the City had landbanked on an alley. She showed an article from The Register-Guard that covered the story, dated from 1979, that talked about how the City and the Westside Neighborhood Association were working together to promote houses being placed on vacant lots in the neighborhood and sold to owner- occupants. She related that the emphasis on owner-occupied residents was to stabilize the highly transient rental neighborhood. She asserted the planners had lost touch with this idea and through zoning changes the neighborhood had burgeoned with cheap apartments without concern for the impact on adjacent home- owners or neighborhood stability. She called her block the ;;poster child" for destructive and destabilizing infill. She said the City invited area residents to participate in a process that would result in infill standards to protect the health of the neighborhood. She alleged that because the project ran out of time, a crucial standard to limit building height and mass had not been addressed and 35- to 40-foot buildings would continue to be allowed. She asked the council to encourage the CNR team to extend its collaboration with CAFHN and address this remaining issue. Paul Cont,, 1461 West l0th Avenue, said he was a member of the CAFHN steering committee. He thanked the staff and consultants who had worked on the project. He averred that two problems that arose in late March and April had jeopardized the project, which he deemed %nce on its way to success." He said staff and consultant resources were underestimated and that building height and mass standards had not been completed. He alleged the ;;deficiencies" in the standards did not reflect the well-documented neighborhood character. This caused 18 of the 20 people present to sign a letter in opposition to the standards, which was then submitted to the project team. He asserted the team appeared to be no longer using the neighborhood's character as the basis for some of the standards. He said the group was told height standards for the neighborhood could not be stricter than R-1 and infill standards for the neighborhood had to be generic enough to fit mixed use nodes throughout the City. He called this a major reversal in how the project had been presented to the residents. He thought it made no sense to have standards that sought to protect the character of a neighborhood unless the standards were based on a ;;well-researched identification of the characteristics specific to that neighborhood." He asserted the project was moving ahead with a proposal that had strong public opposition to major elements and that did not fulfill the purpose of the project, which sought to develop infill standards. He declared the project to be sliding back to the %ne-size-fits-all" approach to nodal development that the council specifically rejected. He said CAFHN proposed a solution to the PDD Director that would have the Planning Commission consider whether infill standards should be based on the character of the neighborhood to which they apply or whether such standards should be generic. MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 9, 2005 Page 4 Regular Session