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Councilor Bettman commented that the public's investment in infrastructure was already planned for, including acquiring 11 acres for a park and an eventual connection with the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman regarding whether it would be possible to develop a higher density in the area with the nodal development overlay, Mr. Nystrom, as an example, called attention to the area to the south of Royal and noted that without the overlay zone, the area would develop at 10 units per acre as opposed to 15 per acre with the overlay. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman regarding whether there had been public hearings before the formation of the priority list for nodal development areas, Ms. Childs said the Planning Commission had conducted two public comment sessions but stressed that they were not formal public hearings. Councilor Kelly commented that the Planning Commission had made some very good points regarding the changing circumstances on the land since its designation as a priority nodal development site. Regarding Ms. Childs' answer to Councilor Bettman that it was not relevant whether the area was a priority node, Councilor Kelly said that while the criteria of the Metro Plan and the local refinement plans were very important, it was also important to do something that would work. He noted that if circumstances had changed on the land in question, then the City could use its discretion on whether the site should be on the priority list for nodal development. He added that saying that the area would eventually be connected with BRT was "a real stretch" and the eventual route would come within a half mile of one corner of the east end of the site and would not serve the area well even within the 20-year plan. Councilor Kelly called for a response from staff regarding other actions that could be taken toward improving the future development of the land. He cited an altered boundary of the node or increasing the zoning density as an example. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman regarding the nature of the vacant property left on the site, Mr. Nystrom noted that this was the site he had identified as having a pending subdivision or was designated for a City park. He noted that those developments would not be subject to nodal development requirements since their applications had been processed before the area was designated as a node. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman regarding whether there had been discussion of other uses for the site, Mr. Nystrom noted that the area had been identified as another possible hospital site. In response to a comment that if the nodal development overlay were not approved by the council and the pending land use applications could then be pulled and something else entirely developed with potential zone changes, Mr. Nystrom said the current applicant could decide to drop an application for whatever reason and stressed that he could make no guarantees about what would eventually be developed on the land. He said he could only provide information on was what was pending at the moment. MINUTES-Eugene City Council February 10, 2003 Page 8 Regular Meeting