Item 3A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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rezoned and having new limits placed on it; 2) newly proposed setbacks encroach on previously built and established buildings and his home; and 3) plans for his property included retaining walls and cuts and fills in the proposed setback zones in order to create more usable space and increase the value of the property. Mr. Schutz asserted that Goal 5 measures would not allow these improvements or would add engineering and land studies which would make the costs prohibitive. He felt the retaining wall changes he and his wife wished to make were necessary due to the topography of the property. He averred that although Goal 5 measures allowed for emergency work the language was unclear or it added costly steps for preventive or protective measures. He underscored that he was not a developer and he and his family were supportive of most environmental measures. He maintained that the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs) for a home in this area already had adequate protection and drainage systems in place for this stream feeder zone which was targeted for the proposed ordinance. Charlotte Elizabeth Brady, 1488 Barber Street, stated that she provided information to the council on the protection of "green space" in terms of global warming. She wished to protect the City's natural lands. She supported the adoption of the ordinance to update the Goal 5 inventory. She pointed out that she was a real estate broker and averred that there were many ways to create affordable housing that would not destroy what makes Eugene a livable community. She read an excerpt from an assignment her son received at South Eugene High School called Knowing Our Place by Barbara Kingsolver. The essay highlighted the fact that as of 1996, more than half of all the human beings on the planet were urban dwellers. Jim Welsh, 90050 Killian Lane, Elmira, representing the Eugene Association of Realtors (EAR), explained that the EAR was supportive of the Goal 5 planning process and was pleased that the process would complete the final phase in the periodic review for Eugene. He said EAR maintained that Goal 1 0 had not been adequately addressed during the periodic review process. He underscored that it required local governments to provide for the housing needs of citizens of the state and under implementation plans should provide for continuing review of housing need projections and a process should be established for accommodating needed revisions. Mr. Welsh averred this provision and rule established that there should be an ongoing process that should provide current information on data on the housing needs of Eugene, similar to the study conducted by the Lane Council of Governments (LCOG) and the HBA. He expressed disappointment that this information was not currently being used as it was likely the most current information available for the study. Mr. Welsh said when giving testimony before the Planning Commission, the EAR had been under the assumption that the 1992 information was being used regarding the buildable lands inventory, but now the organization understood that the City of Eugene, for the purpose of the natural resource study, used the Eugene/Springfield Metropolitan Area Residential Lands and Housing Study of 1999. He thought while this had been an improvement, it was not as good as the information staff could have gleaned from the LCOG study. Mr. Welsh stressed that the 1999 inventory was six years old. He felt this change in reference would provide Eugene the opportunity to sidestep its responsibility to provide a 20-year buildable lands inventory and would help to push the demand to outlying communities who were developing residential properties at a rapid pace, placing a tremendous burden on the transportation infrastructure. He asked that the record remain open for a minimum often days. John A. Willener, 2086 Norkenzie Road, supported the Planning Commission's view on the portion of property that ran behind his property that had historically been a farm. He said the irrigation ditch for the former farm had been proposed to be a riparian corridor. He disagreed, stating it had only been utilized for irrigation, taking water from the McKenzie River and channeling it to the Willamette River. He MINUTES-Eugene City Council Regular Session September 26, 2005 Page 8