CC Minutes - 11/26/01 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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for that purpose. Mr. Robinson further pointed out that alleys were legally not intended to serve either general traffic purposes but were intended to serve adjacent business uses. Jim Werfelmann, 770 East 11th Avenue, Executive Director of Property Planning for PeaceHealth, said that the hospital had consistently communicated its desire to establish two facilities to the City, including redevelopment of the Hilyard campus. He briefly described the improvements proposed and the location where construction would occur. He emphasized the importance of the vacation to the effort, and said it was important for the hospital to know what planning constraints existed soon because it would use the information to help determine what services go on what campus, and how those services will grow and evolve over time. Terry Connelly, Eugene Chamber of Commerce, 1401 Willamette Street, spoke in favor of the alley vacation, arguing that to deny the application would send the wrong message to private sector companies who want to do business in downtown Eugene. He said that the City's planning efforts seemed to indicate it wanted downtown to be a thriving center for commercial employment and cultural activities, but the staff recommendation did not support that vision. He thought the vacation request was a simple issue for the City to resolve. Vicki Walker, State Representative for House District 41, PO Box 1034 Eugene, 97440, spoke in support of the alley vacation request. She said that she was concerned about traffic safety and medical services. She believed that vacating the alley would appear to improve both without downsides. She noted the staff concerns regarding the displacement of pedestrians from the alley, but pointed to the Oregon Revised Statute definition of alleys, ORS 8.01.110, which defined alley as meaning a street or highway primarily intended to provide access to the rear or sides of lots or buildings in urban areas, and not intended for through vehicular traffic. She also cited Eugene Code, Section 4.830, which stipulated that alleys shall not be used as a pedestrian thoroughfare. Ms. Walker suggested that, if necessary, she could clarify that issue in the next legislative session. She concluded by saying she thought that PeaceHealth's proposal was in the community's best interest, and anything the City could do to facilitate the hospital's effort was in the collective best interest of the community. Mayor Torrey closed the public hearing and called for council questions/comments. Councilor Bettman thanked the public for its testimony. She asked about the relationship of the Central Area Transportation Study (CATS) to the application. She noted that in the council's discussions with the hospital regarding a downtown campus, airspace cost was quantified. It was not in the application, and she asked why not. She questioned the time blocks shown for the peak hour time periods associated with the TIA and asked what effect that had on the data. Ms. Bettman asked if the owners of the Alder Street Market supported the vacation. She wanted to know if the hospital intended to redevelop the site for exclusively medical use with administration to support that use, or if retail or commercial office space would be available. Ms. Bettman asked how, given the ultimate use of the alley was not known, the hospital could know what became of the internal trips, and could the City be sure they were not displaced. She asked if staff had looked MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 26, 2001 Page 7 Regular Meeting