Item A: City Council Goal - Downtown Initiative Action Plan

Home Browse Search

ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Work Session: City Council Goal - Downtown Initiative Action Plan Meeting Date: July 11, 2007 Agenda Item Number: A Department: Fire and Emergency Medical Services Staff Contact: Randy Groves www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 682-7115 ISSUE STATEMENT The purpose of this work session is to ask the City Council to provide guidance to staff on refining the Downtown Initiative of facilitating a significant revitalization of the downtown core. Final approval of the Council Goal language and Downtown Initiative Action Plan is requested. BACKGROUND At the January 2007 goal-setting retreat of the Eugene Mayor and City Council, revitalizing downtown Eugene was launched as a council strategic goal. An interdepartmental staff team (hereafter referred to as the CC Downtown Goal Team) was formed to act as the catalyst, facilitator and agent of information between community members, Mayor, City Council and staff, in order to keep moving toward the goal of revitalizing the downtown core. The CC Downtown Goal Team will work to ensure that every level of the City organization involved in public projects or project review downtown works together in support of the vision for downtown. A great deal of planning work has already been done towards the revitalization of downtown. There have been a number of plans and policies for downtown adopted within the last several decades. In 2000, the Eugene City Council appointed a Committee for Greater Downtown Visioning to develop a vision for downtown since the last plan was adopted in 1984. The vision that emerged promoted downtown as a thriving, active urban center with ties to the community’s rich natural heritage, a variety of intermingled activities, and safe, inviting streets. In 2001, the City Council accepted the Vision for Greater Downtown Eugene and directed the City Manager to use it as the basis for an updated downtown plan. The current Eugene Downtown Plan, adopted by ordinance in 2004, and deeply rooted in public process and stakeholder involvement, is the result of those efforts. Using the adopted Eugene Downtown Plan as a foundation, the attached draft Downtown Initiative Action Plan was created. The Downtown Initiative Action Plan provides a framework for defining the objectives and outcomes the council envisioned when identifying the goal of revitalizing downtown. The Downtown Initiative Action Plan is framed around four key values: vision, teamwork, commitment and communication, and the implementation strategies from the Downtown Plan. The four key values are as follows: Vision: Downtown Eugene is an active and thriving city center filled with people. It is the heart of ? the community, tying together a rich natural and cultural heritage. Downtown is a safe and inviting place fostering opportunities for a wide range of social and cultural activities, a variety of local and national business, and innovative spaces for modern living. L:\CMO\2007 Council Agendas\M070711\S070711A.doc