Item 4: Ordinance Concerning Noise Disturbances

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B.. WORK SESSION: JeffersonIWestside Options for Immediate Protection City Manager Taylor introduced Planning and Development Director Susan Muir to present the options for addressing concerns raised by the Jefferson \Vestside Neighborhood. Ms. Muir explained that the purpose of the work session \vas to consider short-term options to pause or mitigate the R-2 zoning in a portion of\vhat "vas known as Area 15 oftbe Jefferson-Far West Refinement Plan asillustratcd in Attachment A of the Agenda Item Summary (AIS). She related the history of the issue and described staff s research and \\lork \vith residents of the neighborhood. She said ll1any options ,vere brainstormed \:vith the neighborhood to address inappropriate infill and those were set forth in the AIS. She said that additional discussions narrowed the options.do\vo to two for furtheroonsideration and those would provide a process that \vould ratify an opinion about the meaning of Lo"v...Medium Residential density. She noted an email from the Jefferson Westside Neighborhood co....chairs \vith suggestions for action and indicated that those vvere discussed in the AIS along with a recommendation from the city rnanagerand staff that the actions \vere not necessary. She discussed tbe.impact on Planning and Development Department resources, the Planning Commission's and departlllent' s work programs and high priority tasks, as ,veU as the difficulty of responding quickly. if the council initiated plan amendments. Ms. Bettman thanked staff for \vorking ,\lith the neighborhood. She remarked that one of the council'}s high priority.goals\vas protecting neigbborhood livability and a component of that ,vas preventing the negative effect of inappropriate infilt She said that Area 15 was a very small area of established, historic single- family housing in a larger neighborhood adjacent to do\vntovm tbat had a significant amount of den.sity, including several high-rise buildings. She said action ,vas necessary to protecttbe Area 15 enclave if the council \vanted to promote a diversity of housing in the neighborhood. She said. if low density zoning \vas at risk in that area it would remove any incentive for opportunity siting in the neighborhood. Mr. Pryor appreciated Ms. Muir's candidness regarding the department's workload as it \vasessential to know the impact of the proposal on department resources. He said he \vascomfortable devoting resources to the task and acting s\viftly on the matter to resolve tbe situation as expeditiously as possible. He \\Tas impressed by the character of the neighborhood and did not ,vant to see it move In a direction undesirable to the neighborhood and the council. He recognized that reducing densities also reduced residential develop- nlcnt opportunities, but in this case be \vas "vining to accept the trade-off. He fully supported a move to initiate the recommendations related to interpretation and reaching agreement and ,vas in favor of making \vhatever resources ,vere necessary available to accomplish that quickly. Mr. Pape said he.\vould support protection oftne area but ,vas concerned about the precedent being set. He said that similar situations existed in neighborhoods throughout the community. He "vas concerned that there \vere inadequate resources to address all of those situations and questioned no\v neighborhoods ,vould be prioritized for attention. He was also concerned about the illlpact 011 density requirements several years in the future. He was "villing to move the issue ahead vvith reservations and hoped tbat a community-wide solution to preserve certain areas while en.couraging opportunity siting could be developed. Ms. Ortiz said she understood the desire to protect neighborhood character, but the issue ,vas a challenge for her because of its effect on the ability of lo\ver income people to flOd affordable housing. She asked ho\v the goal to protect the urban gro\vth boundary and agricultural land c-ould be achieved if density did not increase. Sbeemphasized the. importance of encouraging economic diversity of residents in neighborhoods and said the less development ,vas aUo\ved to happen in better neighborhoods, the harder it \vould be for people with diverse backgrounds and lo\verincomes to integrate into the community. MINUTES---City Council Work Session August 16, 2006 Page 4