CC Minutes - 09/11/02 Work Session

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Mr. Rayor called for a better summary of the issue points. For example, what size grocery store did the developers want? He also asked for more information about street connectivity, saying he did not see how the pedestrian-bicycle system worked. Mr. Rayor said he would like to see the bicycle system in the node connected to the Autzen Bicycle Footbridge. Ms. Nathanson said her concerns about the plan focused on the commercial element. While the development form in question was not brand new, it was not commonly used in Eugene. She noted that she had visited a grocery store in Salem that was a two-story construction, with the second story being a type of mezzanine. She asked for more information regarding the commission's recommendation as it related to the mezzanine/second floor issue. Mr. Yeiter said that the commission originally considered a staff recommendation to consider the height of the building and leave the interior space up to the developers; in other words, there could be a mezzanine. The commission recommended to the council two full functional floors to achieve the desired height and density of the commercial development the commission thought the node needed. Ms. Nathanson questioned the requirement for entrances facing the street. She assumed there would be many pedestrian and bicycle visits to the commercial area, and asked Mr. Yeiter to use the map to describe how access would work. Mr. Yeiter used the map of the study area to demonstrate access. He emphasized that Centennial Boulevard was not intended to be a pedestrian-oriented street. There was insufficient building mass to line the streets. There would be customers from the residential area south of Centennial and bicycle trails from Springfield to bring people in. There would be bicycles lanes along Garden Way. However, Mr. Yeiter said, the developers envisioned that the majority of customers would drive to the commercial development and did not expect many of the retail establishments to want two entrance ways. The developers believed that, as a practical matter, the entrance should face the parking area. The commission believed that if there was only one single entrance, that entrance should face the street. The code required each building, rather than each business, to face the street, not necessarily each business. The commission was saying each one should. Ms. Nathanson said she wanted to ensure the City designed something that was viable because she wanted to ensure development occurred in the node. She hoped that the commission would offer testimony to persuade the council and the public that the proposed commercial design was sensible, useful, not too unusual, and that were there local examples that worked. Mayor Torrey determined there was no objection to extending the time for the item to 1 p.m. Ms. Taylor was also concerned about the amount of compromise over nodal planning principles that had occurred. She determined from Mr. Yeiter that the grocery store was intended to serve the immediate existing under-served neighborhood. Mr. Yeiter said that residents wanted a viable grocery store. He said, however, that the store could not be so large it became a regional attraction. The proposed grocery size was sufficiently large to accommodate a bakery and pharmacy, for example. It was the size of an older Albertsons or Safeway. He noted that most of the local PC Markets of Choice and Wild Oaks stores were closer to 35,000 square feet. Staff was cautioned by knowledgeable parties that a much smaller store would likely have higher priced merchandise and not serve the neighborhood well, or the site would attract a specialty tenant like a Trader Joe's, which attracted people from throughout the community. Ms. Taylor suggested that the council consider a main arterial other than Garden Way. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 11, 2002 Page 5 Work Session