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much greater degree. Ms. Nathanson observed that underground parking structures were a way <br />to use land more efficiently and conceal the parking. <br /> <br />Ms. Nathanson said that she frequently heard complaints about tickets issued in error in private <br />parking lots and wanted to have more discussion about that issue at some time. She suggested <br />that problem could discourage people from using structured parking. <br /> <br />Ms. Nathanson said that the council's discussion was not just about budget, but about urban <br />form, the quality of life, the health of downtown, and the attractiveness of downtown. She <br />pointed out that the City had spent more to ensure that Pearl Street Garage was attractive, <br />acceptable, and fit into a downtown the community was proud of. <br /> <br />Ms. Nathanson referred to the costs of building a new parking structure and asked if that <br />assumed no other revenue. Mr. Luell said yes. Ms. Nathanson suggested the estimate <br />represented a worst-case scenario because commercial facilities would reduce those costs. Mr. <br />Luell concurred. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor asked if it was true that Symantec employees and Broadway Place tenants would <br />consume all the available parking in the Broadway Place parking garage. Mr. Farmer said no. <br />There was still additional parking available for the public. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor wanted the council to be conscious of the effects of what it did downtown. She noted <br />that the end of the free parking program seemed to coincide with the closure of retail stores in <br />downtown. She said that the "playing field" between downtown and the periphery needed to be <br />equalized if retail was to succeed in downtown. She wished the City could reinstate the free <br />parking program. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor was opposed to raising the fee for event parking because it would make it more <br />difficult for people with limited means to come downtown to special events. She supported the <br />elimination of bulk sales as proposed. <br /> <br />Mr. Johnson pointed out that the free downtown parking program was not free except to the end <br />user. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor opposed private garage facilities because of the high number of constituent <br />complaints she received about enforcement in private lots. <br /> <br />Mr. Pap~ said that parking was a nonessential service the City chose to provide to people <br />patronizing downtown. He agreed with other councilors that the monthly rates should be higher. <br />He did not think that free parking correlated to more customers downtown, adding if the <br />downtown had quality retail stores in quality buildings people would get there through any means <br />they can. He favored the shod-term recommendations and appreciated that the downtown <br />visioning process would include the input of affected businesses. He wanted the City to create <br />some disincentives for parking and transportation demand management through appropriate <br />pricing of downtown parking. <br /> <br />Mr. Pap~ endorsed exploration of the sale of City parking structures. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey said he hoped the City was looking at creative solutions to parking downtown. He <br />noted plans for Peace Health to expand and said that would exacerbate the problem of parking <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 8, 2000 Page 7 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />