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MINUTES <br /> <br /> Eugene City Council <br /> Work Session <br /> McNutt Room-City Hall <br /> <br /> April 23, 2003 <br /> Noon <br /> <br />COUNCILORS PRESENT: Gary Pap~, Nancy Nathanson, Scott Meisner, David Kelly, Betty <br /> Taylor, Bonny Bettman, George Poling, Jennifer Solomon. <br /> <br />Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting to order. <br /> <br />A.WORK SESSION: Hospital Zoning <br /> <br />Planning and Development Executive Director Tom Coyle joined the council for the item. <br />Planning Director Jan Childs was also present. Mr. Coyle said that the item before the council <br />was the initiation of a code amendment regarding medical and hospital zones. Should the <br />council initiate the amendment, he requested that it provide direction to staff on the parameters <br />of the amendment. <br /> <br />Mr. Coyle recollected council discussion of a possible hospital overlay zone in 2001. He said that <br />it was staff's belief that modifications to the existing code, rather than an overlay zone, were all <br />that was required to accommodate VVillamette-McKenzie Hospital if it chose to come to Eugene, <br />or PeaceHealth if it chose to expand its Hilyard campus. Mr. Coyle distributed a matrix showing <br />the City's 14 zoning districts and how uses such as hospitals, laboratories, dental offices, and <br />clinics were treated in each zone; that is, whether they were permitted, permitted conditionally, <br />not allowed, or restricted. The matrix also indicated where the code could be amended to <br />accommodate those uses. <br /> <br />Mr. Coyle characterized hospitals as a fairly benign land use if viewed objectively; he likened <br />them to a commercial office use or high school. He believed that the City's development <br />standards were adequate to address the impacts of hospital development. The staff <br />recommendation could be accomplished using existing resources and within a reasonably short <br />period of time. He believed it would take considerable time to develop an overlay zone in <br />comparison, and it would take additional resources. Mr. Coyle invited questions. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey solicited a first round of council comments. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor confirmed with Mr. Coyle that the City could move quickly to accommodate a hospital <br />if needed. At this point, she believed the staff recommendation was satisfactory. She was <br />concerned about the public anxiety or unwarranted hopes that could arise if the City established <br />a particular zone in a place that a hospital did not intend to use. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly agreed that a hospital use could be relatively benign in terms of other commercial uses, <br />but he was concerned about the scale of such a use. He thought that the potential scale alone <br />created a significant impact. For example, he questioned allowing hospitals as an outright <br />permitted use in C-1 Community Commercial zones. Mr. Kelly believed that some of the zones <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 23, 2003 Page 1 <br /> <br /> <br />