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Mr. Meisner noted that the only time major commercial in downtown was mentioned in the vision <br />was in a subtitle, and suggested its inclusion was a mistake as the text referred to community <br />serving commercial activity downtown. <br /> <br />Responding to Mr. Kelly's remarks regarding parking, Mr. Meisner said that he advocated for and <br />succeeded in including a change in the key next steps that did not put all responsibility for parking <br />on the public sector. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner noted his concurrence with Ms. Nathanson's remarks regarding convention activities, <br />Mr. Kelly's remarks regarding parking, and Ms. Bettman's remarks regarding zoning and <br />downtown and nondowntown development. <br /> <br />Mr. Rayor said the City was strengthening downtown by constructing a new library and attempting <br />to locate the courthouse in Eugene. He was not comfortable with incentives. He said the <br />downtown should represent a planting bed the City seeded with infrastructure, and the private <br />sector must step up to make it work. He pointed out that major commercial uses could include <br />office development as well as department stores. <br /> <br />Regarding the Franklin Boulevard theme, Ms. Nathanson said that it focused on Franklin as a <br />corridor, the adjacent uses, and site design. She said staff should not be so concerned with Bus <br />Rapid Transit that it forgot about the remainder of the corridor. She advocated for an approach <br />that took advantage of opportunities to affect site and building design as applications come in, and <br />encouraged staff to think creatively in the absence of design standards. Ms. Nathanson said it <br />was also important to underground utilities where possible along the roadway, and asked staff to <br />think of ways to share those costs with EWEB and other providers. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly said that the section regarding Franklin Boulevard contained many good things but he <br />wanted more detail about what it meant. He concurred with Ms. Nathanson's point regarding <br />improvement of adjacent uses and emphasized the importance of improving pedestrian and <br />bicycle connections, particularly the missing segment of riverfront bicycle path near Garden <br />Avenue. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly agreed that Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) should be consistent with the vision, but first the <br />community should ensure it should be a first-class transit system. That might have an impact on <br />the aesthetics of the boulevard. <br /> <br />Mr. Rayor did not believe BRT could be the vehicle to totally transform Franklin Boulevard. He <br />believed it was reasonable to require Lane Transit District to mitigate the impact of the system. <br />Responding to Mr. Kelly's concerns, Mr. Meisner said he was not troubled by the general nature of <br />the text regarding the Franklin element, particularly when he looked at the specificity in the key <br />next steps. However, he wanted to ensure that whatever was proposed by LTD was consistent <br />with what it built. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman wanted to know why the City was not looking at the entrance to downtown from the <br />south and west as well. She wanted to see more emphasis on enhancing pedestrian amenities <br />and pedestrian safety. She said that if the City opened Broadway, it could become an east-west <br />corridor through the neighborhoods to the west and that needed to be addressed. Ms. Bettman <br />called for access management on Franklin Boulevard. <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 21, 2000 Page 8 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />