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Mr. Farmer said that there was a love-hate relationship with publicly provided parking. If the City <br />was interested in growth management it wanted to encourage development downtown, where <br />the best opportunities for alternative modes exist. He believed that many people would continue <br />to come downtown by car, and the council needed to find a strategy that gets it closer to its ideal, <br />rather than attempting to realize its ideal immediately. <br /> <br />Mr. Farmer said that staff would examine the more comprehensive picture of parking. He was <br />not aware of any community that had assessed a parking tax communitywide. On the subject of <br />the market for parking, he suggested that no one actually knew what the market for parking was. <br />The cost of construction and debt service did not represent the market, because a market was a <br />willing buyer and willing seller. In the current economy, no one was going to pay $150 to $180 to <br />park in downtown Eugene, so the market argued against the construction of garages supported <br />by parking revenues alone. Mr. Farmer said that staff would return with some credible <br />development pro formas to show the council how parking does and does not work downtown and <br />may or may not work into the future. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lee moved, seconded by Ms. Taylor, to direct the City Manager to <br /> prepare an ordinance to eliminate the cap on monthly parking and to bring <br /> back a proposal for council approval. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. <br /> <br />Responding to a question from Mr. Rayor regarding the bulk contracts, Mr. Johnson said that <br />staff would present the option of eliminating the program to the council. <br /> <br />The meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m. <br /> <br />Respectfully submitted, <br /> <br />Jim Johnson <br />City Manager <br /> <br />(Recorded by KimberlyYoung) <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 8, 2000 Page 10 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />