CC Minutes - 02/10/03 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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B.WORK SESSION: Draft Endangered Species Act/Salmon Strategies The council was joined for the item by Neil Bj0rklund of the Planning and Development Department. Mr. Carlson reminded the council this was the second of two work sessions on the topic. Mr. Bj0rklund reviewed the work done to date, specifically the internal work done on City practices to determine their impact on salmon and salmon habitat. Staff completed an aquatic and riparian habitat assessment in September 2002. Staff analyzed all City regulations to determine if any were harmful to salmon and to identify gaps. That resulted in a set of recommendations to changes to City regulations and internal practices. Those were reflected in ten strategies the council reviewed at the last work session. Mr. Bj0rklund said that Strategy A, Create a New Salmon Habitat Protection Overlay Zone, was the recommendation for new regulation, but staff was recommending that be deferred pending further outreach to the public. He recalled the council's direction to staff when the Endangered Species Act (ESA) Work Program was adopted, which was to make sure that all parties were brought to the table before new regulations were presented to the council. Mr. Bj0rklund noted the City's parallel work on the Natural Resources Study, which overlapped the areas affected by the salmon overlay district described in Strategy A. Staff was postponing outreach on the overlay district so that the City did not confuse people with multiple outreach efforts while outreach was occurring on the Natural Resources Study. He noted that the district was not currently on the work program and work would not begin until fiscal year 2004. Mr. Bj0rklund asked for council concurrence that staff was going in the right direction with the implementation of the other nine strategies, with the acknowledgment that the regulatory proposal would follow after more public outreach. Mayor Torrey called for council comments and questions. Mr. Meisner commended the staff materials and said that the recommendation actually represented a long-term strategy to achieve a solution. He believed it was safe to say that the City was seeing a steady erosion of environmental protections from the current administration. He asked what happened if the species was delisted. Mr. Bj0rklund said the effect of a species delisting would be to remove the mandate to protect the fish. It would then be a local option as to whether the City would want to protect the fish habitat. Mr. Meisner suggested the possibility the City could be acting in isolation. Mr. Bj0rklund did not think the Oregon Plan would go away if the salmon was delisted by the federal government. That plan called for the protection of important habitats. There was still a State framework for protecting the salmon, but there would be no federal law prohibiting harm to the fish in its habitat. Responding to a question from Mr. Meisner, Mr. Bj0rklund said he understood there was administrative pressure to eliminate federal habitat restoration funding funned through the states to the local levels. He believed that there would still be Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board funds available from other sources even in the absence of those funds. Regarding Strategy A, Ms. Taylor was disappointed the City could not do habitat protection now because she feared that in the interim, important habitat would be destroyed. She wanted to speed the process. She asked for clarification about the PTH (potential tree height) and Mr. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 10, 2003 Page 4 Work Session