CC Minutes - 05/12/03 Mtg - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilor Kelly said that if the City were to intensify development and reduce auto-related trips, nodes must be distributed throughout the city. He asked why this area was chosen rather than another site along Highway 99. He also asked for more information on the commission's discussion of the node's orientation. Councilor Kelly asked staff to provide the council with a redevelopment scenario that would recreate the neighborhood center that was no longer in place at the Gilbert Center. Councilor B ettman said that if the City could realize the objectives of nodal development, it would create a profitable and marketable business environment inside the node. She believed that Mr. Gilbert had made some good points in his written testimony about the impact of City decisions and policies on what the family had attempted to create at the center. She said that the members of the Land Use Measures Task Force had discussed how to focus desirable new development and redevelopment into nodes and discourage undesirable development outside nodes. If someone could locate a business half-mile outside the node and capitalize on the density and livability in the node, the City would not be able to succeed at nodal development. Councilor Bettman called for a discussion of how the City would succeed with nodal development if it had no way to equalize the costs of developing inside and outside a node. Councilor Solomon noted her opposition to the proposed nodal development for the same reasons she opposed earlier nodal proposals. She said that in this case, the proposed nodal area lacked the high-density residential land base needed to support nodal development at the Gilbert Center. Mayor Torrey said that he also could not support the proposal before the council, and looked forward to Mr. Spickerman's written testimony. Councilor Kelly noted the negative impact of big-box developments on the businesses formerly located at the Gilbert Center. He said that the community needed to support locally owned businesses. He noted that many communities had banned big-box developments but the council refused to discuss it, which he thought unfortunate. 4. ACTION: An Ordinance Concerning The Lower River Road Nodal Development Area; Amending the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Area General Plan Diagram, the River Road-Santa Clara Urban Facilities Plan Land Use Diagram, the Whiteaker Plan Land Use Diagram, and the Eugene Overlay Zone Map; Adopting a Severability Clause; and Providing an Effective Date Alissa Hansen, Planning and Development Department, was present for the item. Councilor Pap~, seconded by Councilor Nathanson, moved that the City Council adopt Council Bill 4826, an ordinance concerning the Lower River Road Nodal Development area. MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 12, 2003 Page 17 Regular Meeting