CC Minutes - 06/11/03 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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people, she was not talking about those who qualified for subsidies, just those who had less money. Ms. Taylor asked why the price of land in the core did not go down when it was not used. Mr. Weinman said that the issue was one of market demand. Mr. Kelly supported both Planning Commission recommendations and hoped they were incorporated in the final ordinances considered by the council. Mr. Kelly supported some expansion of the MUPTE boundaries. He said that in areas such as the West University Neighborhood, the MUPTE could help the City meet the desirable goals of varying and improving the housing stock in the neighborhood. He did not want to rely on the council approving projects on a case-by-case basis and preferred to institutionalize quality housing in some way. He said that in discussions with local architects he received a good suggestion, which he passed onto the council. The architects suggested that if the City was trying to encourage better housing, it could require developers to go further in exchange for the MUPTE. A simple statement regarding quality objectives could be developed that stated what housing characteristics the City wanted to encourage. If staff or the Planning Commission determined that a project met the statement of objectives, the application would go to the council for MUPTE consideration. Mr. Kelly opposed expansion of the boundaries west of Lincoln Street and supported eliminating the historic district from the boundaries. Ms. Nathanson supported some expansion of the MUPTE boundaries. She thought expansion to the west too controversial and suggested that the City would be reneging on some prior commitments it had made by expanding too far to the west. She agreed the historic district should be excluded. Ms. Nathanson believed that expansion of the MUPTE boundaries to the south and the east could be justified to help the City achieve the goals it had for the West University Neighborhood. Ms. Nathanson found Mr. Kelly's suggestion for a statement of objectives an interesting one and hoped such an approach could be as objective as possible. She said that the council had discussed quality design a few years past, and she hoped that information related to that discussion could be reexamined. Mr. Poling liked Mr. Kelly's suggestion. He shared Ms. Taylor's concern about involving the neighborhood association in the development of the boundaries. He supported expanding the MUPTE boundaries and suggested that the City look at the area on a block-by-block basis to see what existed already and to take into consideration any historic values that might exist. Mayor Torrey solicited a second round of council comments. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 11, 2003 Page 7 Work Session