Item B: Joint Meeting with EWEB to Discuss Riverfront Property

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of the first steps in the master planning process. The Advisory Team would have representatives from the community, EWEB Board and staff, and City staff. One of the first Advisory Team tasks would be to develop a recommendation to the EWEB Board for a RFQ to select an urban design consultant. The consultant would help to frame the citizen involvement process and help the Advisory Team develop a series of concepts to address the required elements of the master plan. EWEB would host public involvement sessions to share the concepts with a larger audience and to gather input. Based on the input and oversight from the Advisory Team, the consultant would combine the best concepts for each element into a single conceptual design for the site. A public session would then be held for response to the concept. After further modifications, the conceptual design would be presented to EWEB and the City for approval. RELATED CITY POLICIES Downtown, which includes the EWEB riverfront property, is one of the council’s 10 priority areas. Numerous City policies also reference the potential and community value of the EWEB riverfront property. The most relevant and recent are the four policies in the Downtown Riverfront section of the Downtown Plan (page 29): 1.Incorporate the Willamette River as an integral element to downtown planning and development. 2.Collaborate with EWEB to encourage relocation of their utility facilities. 3.A master plan for the EWEB riverfront property must be approved by the City before any redevelopment, land use application, rezoning, Metro Plan or refinement plan diagram amendments are approved for uses not associated with EWEB functions. The master plan shall be evaluated based on the master plan's consistency with principles A through D below: A.Create a “people place” that is active, vibrant, accessible and multi-use. B.Provide appropriate setbacks, deeper where environmental or habitat issues are more critical, shallower in other areas. C.Incorporate appropriate building and site design techniques that address environmental concerns. D.Incorporate an educational aspect, so that the riverfront improvements teach us about our river, our history and our city. The master plan shall be considered using the City's Type II application procedures, unless the applicant elects to have the master plan reviewed concurrently with a Type III, Type IV or Type V application. 4.Facilitate dense development in the courthouse area and other sites between the core of downtown and the river. COUNCIL/BOARD OPTIONS 1.Request that the City Manager and EWEB General Manager provide direction to EWEB and City staff to continue to work together to pursue Strategy 1, above: Initiate master planning for the EWEB riverfront property; 2.Request that the City Manager and EWEB General Manager provide direction to EWEB and City staff to pursue Strategy 2 or 3, above, or to modify work to pursue an alternative master planning process; or 3.Take no action (pursue Strategy 4). L:\CMO\2007 Council Agendas\M070212\S070212B.doc