CC Minutes - 08/06/01 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilor Rayor expressed his concern about ordinances of the type being discussed. He remarked on the difficulty of the situation where a few criminal individuals caused a whole group to lose some of their rights. Councilor Kelly said that there had been some justification for the ordinance when it was for the pedestrian blocks of Broadway on the downtown mall. He said that, although he had some question about it, he could reluctantly support a continuation of the original ordinance for the three blocks of Broadway and the associated alleys until Broadway was opened to traffic. He said that the expanded area had no justification of being unique to a pedestrian mall. He thought that there was no logic in the planned expanded area and would not support the planned expansion of the ordinance. City Manager Johnson said that the ordinance could be adopted that evening without the emergency clause, which would allow it to take effect in 30 days, or the council could postpone action until another meeting at which it would be possible to obtain the six votes necessary to implement the emergency clause and have the ordinance take effect immediately. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman regarding whether Councilor Kelly would consider an option that had an amended expansion, Councilor Kelly said his only interest was to maintain the ordinance on the pedestrian mall and not to expand it to streets that were open to traffic. In response to a question from Councilor Pap~ regarding whether the ordinance would cover the downtown Lane Transit District station, Lieutenant Roberts noted that LTD had its own exclusion policy and therefore was not a part of the mall exclusion ordinance. In response to a question from Councilor Nathanson regarding the consequences of enacting the ordinance without an emergency clause, Lieutenant Roberts said that people would commit crimes and continue to stay on the mall and re-offend. He said it was hard to predict how many would do that, but noted that it was a matter of concern. City Manager Johnson asked the council to consider Option A, Council Bill 4768, an ordinance concerning the downtown mall; amending Section 4.680 of the Eugene Code; 1971; adding Section 4.874 to that code; and providing an immediate effective date. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved that the bill, with unanimous consent of the council, be read a second time by council bill number only, and that enactment be considered at that time. Councilor Bettman, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved to amend the ordinance by providing a sunset date of six months after Broadway from Charnelton to Oak was opened to vehicular traffic. Councilor Bettman said that the amendment would offer an opportunity to examine the effects of the ordinance when more legal data would be available. She commented that the ordinance was a band aid and that bigger strategies were needed to meet the challenges downtown. The amendment passed unanimously. The main motion passed unanimously. MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 6, 2001 Page 7 Regular Meeting