CC Minutes - 04/23/03 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ms. Bettman said her first objective was to create a competitive environment for health care in the metropolitan area. Her second objective was to facilitate the location of a hospital in Eugene in a way that met multiple local objectives without costing the taxpayers money in the form of infrastructure. She thought the council's motion regarding hospital zones made it clear that it wanted to facilitate the location of a hospital in the central core. Ms. Bettman recollected that when the motion had passed, she had asked if a hospital zone was something the City should initiate immediately. She asserted that at that time, Mr. Coyle had assured the council that such a zone change could be made easily and quickly. Now she was hearing the opposite. Staff was suggesting that the City open every zone, save a few, to a hospital use. Speaking to the issue of conditional uses, Ms. Bettman believed that the City granted most conditional use permit applications and suggested that approach was "one more hoop to permit it." She said that a new hospital would be at least 750,000 square feet. That size facility was not appropriate in every residential zone in the city. She believed that adopting the staff recommendation would remove the City's ability to influence the location of the hospital to a place where it served the City's interests. Mr. Pap~ concurred with Ms. Nathanson and Mr. Meisner that Eugene needed its own hospital. He asked if McKenzie-Willamette Hospital requested an overlay zone. Mr. Coyle believed that both hospitals preferred what the staff was recommending. He believed the hospital would have made its siting decision by the time the City was able to complete an overlay zone. Mr. Pap~ asked if the City could do something in the shod term in the form of an overlay zone to help resolve the future of the area around the new hospital. Mr. Coyle said that he understood the concerns about the overlay discussion as it related to ancillary uses, but the size that the hospital was discussing was one that would embrace those uses. The size of the parcel the hospital purchased would likely make the hospital the land broker for those uses. Issues of compatibility would be resolved through ownership rather than zoning. He said that staff would pay particular attention to the residential zones in its examination, and he expected to be challenged on that by the council. Mr. Pap~ determined from Mr. Coyle that the City would be able to help guide the hospital's development. Mr. Coyle said the City would work with both providers in any siting decision. He pointed out that such large-scale uses were often more able to address issues of mitigation, buffers, setback, joint use, and joint parking than smaller scale uses. He said that often, smaller projects, such as infill projects, create the large problem. He noted, for example, that the council would soon hear an appeal of the process for reviewing a four-lot subdivision. Ms. Solomon suggested that if the council wanted a hospital, it should ensure it was a permitted use. She believed an overlay zone was costly and burdensome, and that it bolstered arguments made in the business climate survey about the City's burdensome and onerous processes. She wanted to enable the hospital to move forward, and to enable staff to help that process. She said she trusted staff, and suggested that the staff professionals be allowed to do their work. Mr. Poling agreed with the remarks of Mr. Meisner, Ms. Nathanson, and Ms. Solomon. He deemed the approach suggested by staff simple, workable, and one that did not favor any particular hospital or hospital group. Mayor Torrey was pleased to hear the council's comments about wanting the hospital to be able to move into the community and identify the site it thought most appropriate without the council micro-managing the process. There was fear in the community that would occur. He asked Mr. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 23, 2003 Page 3