CC Minutes -10/24/01 Work Session

Home Browse Search

Ms. Bettman believed that the City lacked staff to work on the high-priority items because of the resources required for the code amendments. She said that it became apparent at the last hearing that many of the issues that were being addressed through that process were not housekeeping omissions or errors, but actual policy issues. She proposed that the City postpone the Spring 2002 amendments until fall, and proceed with the high-priority items, especially the alternative path, because the intent of adopting it for the post-update work program was to give the City a mechanism to deal with policy issues that came up through the adopted code. Ms. Nathanson said in the past she had suggested an Amazon Creek overlay zone. She wanted to promote Amazon Creek as a linear neighborhood park running through the city. If the creek was enhanced it could increase the value of nearby residential and commercial neighborhood. Current development patterns, with buildings with the back to the creek, resulted in trash and junk along the creek in certain places. She was particularly interested in the redevelopment possibilities that existed along the creek west of downtown to the city limits. Ms. Nathanson asked if it was possible to include discussion of the overlay zone during the commission's discussion of design standards in south Eugene given the creek's status as the northern boundaries for the south hills. Speaking to Ms. Taylor's remarks regarding condominiums, Ms. Nathanson noted that the renter- owner ratio in the West University neighborhood was approximately 98:2, a very unhealthy ratio. She wanted to improve that ratio and thought improvement would benefit all residents. She respected the issue Ms. Taylor raised, and said it was a legitimate concern but easy to avoid the problems that could be created. Mr. Meisner agreed with Ms. Nathanson's remarks about condominium development, acknowledging the concerns raised by Ms. Taylor, but pointing out that no one was advocating for the wholesale conversion of residences to condominium complexes. He wanted to look at what other cities had done. He said that in some places a house could be divided and people could own a floor of the house. Mr. Meisner indicated that if he agreed to fold density dispersal into items 1 and 14, he was not agreeing to a density dispersal policy that was a tool for areas to use to stop densification. Mr. Meisner did not question the value of the Amazon overlay zone, but suggested it might be an interdepartmental issue outside the scope of the commission. He believed that it would be an easy project to seek grant funding for planning. Mr. Meisner expressed interest in the alternative path concept, noting that many cities had great success with it. It could encompass a design review process that was not overly bureaucratic. He expressed interest in a flexible approach, saying that standards were great but did not solve everyone's problems. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 24, 2001 Page 6 Work Session