CC Minutes - 11/16/05 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Council, and she expressed appreciation for the work offered in today’s presentation. She added that the presentation raised additional questions. Recognizing the realities of how development occurred in Eugene, and the market demand, the commission’s proposal was a reasonable tool to get the council moving forward. In response to a question from Ms. Solomon, Mr. Yeiter stated that TransPlan identified 38 or 39 potential sites, and plans were adopted for Royal, Chase, part of Chambers, and Crescent Village MUCs. He said that staff was currently working on two new sites: Walnut Station and lower River Road south of Rasor Park. Grant funding was needed to complete the lower River Road portion of the project. Referring to the Walnut Station MUC, Ms. Solomon asked if the City would have such specific require- ments for the Romania site, currently owned by the University of Oregon (UO) Foundation. Such specific requirements would exclude many opportunities. She expressed concern about how opportunity siting would work on that parcel. Mr. Yeiter said the process used in MUCs included identification of assets, existing conditions, natural resource areas, open spaces, historic resources, and a market analysis of what could happen in the areas. He added that staff worked with property owners on opportunities for their sites. Several scenarios that offered different levels of intensification and different types of uses were being developed for analysis by neighbors and property owners for the Romania site and other developable sites in the Walnut Station MUC project,. From this analysis, a plan would be developed, through which specific sites may be targeted for specific types of development. It was conceivable that a wide range of uses would be allowed on a specific site to fit into the overall development pattern. Allen Lowe, Walnut Station MUC Project Manager, stated that Planning Commissioner John Lawless was a member of the steering committee. Mr. Lawless said the Walnut Station MUC project area was a sensitive one, and steering committee members were learning that trying to contain the project within a predefined boundary was very limiting, problematic, and not realistic. He said the impact that the surrounding areas could eventually impose on the project were enormous. He said the steering committee hoped to find a way to expand the allowance for considering what happens when a market proposal comes through adjacent to, but outside of, the boundary limit. The steering committee suggested finding mechanisms to minimize the negative impacts and maximize the positive impacts, regardless of the project, property, or planning boundary source. He said there needed to be a way to make an analysis that pushed the proposal through a set of filters that identified good and bad proposals. Mr. Papé said he wanted to reconsider what the City Council did on Monday night regarding the Chambers neighborhood. He thanked the Planning Commission for its efforts in cooperating with the neighborhood. He asked what would happen if the same process was used in all neighborhoods when looking at mixed use and it was not possible to comply with citywide growth management policies and plans by achieving the prescribed densities. Mr. Papé said it may be easier to achieve density goals by looking at greenfields, such as the Royal Node, where greater flexibility may be possible than with established neighborhoods. Ms. Colbath noted that commissioners, councilors, and others were concerned with the issue. She said the Planning Commission attempted to address this concern with its third proposal, Use of opportunity siting citywide in an exercise to coordinate future populations while balancing other needs for space (e.g., parks, natural resources, other land uses) and better protecting neighborhood character. MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 16, 2005 Page 9 Work Session