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and, in February 2002, the City Council approved eight areas as high-priority areas for short-term nodal development implementation. The City Council initiated the Metro Plan amendments and overlay zone amendments for these eight areas in March 2002. The Planning Commission held public hearings on the first two areas, Crescent Avenue and Danebo, in December 2002. At that time, the Commission requested a mid-project review following completion of the Planning Commission recommendation on the first four of the eight nodal development areas. On March 24, 2003, the Planning Commission discussed issues and concerns related to nodal development implementation and requested that this report and recommendations be included with the materials for the April 14, 2003 City Council public hearing on the proposed 29th and Willamette nodal development area. Affirmation of Support for Nodal Development First, we wish to affirm our continued support for the concept of nodal development. We support the intent and fundamental principles adopted as part of TransPlan. We also note that a majority of the testimony we have received through the six public heatings we have conducted supports the concept of nodal development. Even if nodal development implementation were not required through TransPlan, it would be an important part of the City's Growth Management efforts. Concerns with the Current Process From the very first of our public hearings, on the Crescent Avenue nodal development area, we heard comments and concerns that could not effectively be addressed through the use of an overlay zone. We stated to the Council at that time, and believe even more strongly today, that "this and all future nodes require a currently unscheduled nodal planning process to make the goals of nodal development attainable and to make this development compatible with adjacent properties." Some specific issues raised in testimony included both how to obtain compatibility with existing development within the node and how to obtain compatibility of development within the node with existing development adjacent to the node. We noted the limitation in addressing these kinds of compatibility issues when the process does not allow a change to the underlying Metro Plan diagram designation and base zone for the property. We also noted the difficulty in achieving the nodal development characteristics -- the fundamental principles that define nodal development -- and in achieving both the density and employment goals in the TransPlan alternative performance measures without being able to develop an overall plan for the entire nodal development area. - For the Royal Avenue and Chase Gardens areas, we were able to hear from property owners and residents from the beginning through a collaborative process to explore how to achieve nodal development in these areas. For Chase Gardens, in particular, we were hearing from those who wanted to develop the property in the short-term. To date, we haven't seen another way to do the kind of planning required to achieve the nodal development characteristics without preparing site specific plans.