Laserfiche WebLink
under the imminent threat of development. She asked how many acres on the site were recommended for <br />protection. Mr. Björklund recalled that between 30 and 40 acres on the site were not recommended for any <br />level of protection at all. <br /> <br />Mr. Björklund noted that the City received an application for a planned unit development (PUD) on the Joe <br />Green parcel earlier that day. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman perceived the motion as creating expense and process without accomplishing anything as State <br />law would still give the property owners time to submit an application to develop the property. She said that <br />she was inclined to vote against the motion. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor said the intentions of those who wanted to protect the property were good, but he did not think the <br />motion achieved the desired goal. He said the motion appeared to be broader than what was needed, and <br />Mr. Klein’s remarks indicated that the motion would not have the desired effect. He said most troubling was <br />that the passage of such moratoriums required the council to have a good solid basis in fact, law, or science. <br />He was concerned that the motion seemed to reflect an “I don’t want this to happen because I don’t like it” <br />as opposed to “I don’t want this to happen because it’s not supportable.” He acknowledged those points <br />were debatable but the debate needed to occur. Until it did, he did not think the council should adopt a <br />moratorium. He was also inclined to oppose the motion. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly asked Ms. Taylor if her reference to Sites E37 encompassed the stream corridors and adjacent <br />riparian areas, or the entire site, including the upland habitat on the draft inventory until removed by the <br />council in 2003. Ms. Taylor said the motion was intended to preserve the entire site until the City secured <br />the scientific evidence that justified its protection. She said the language came from the attorney working for <br />those who wished to see the property preserved. She continued to support a moratorium as a means of <br />delaying development on the property. Ms. Taylor did not think the property should be developed at all. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly referred to Ms. Taylor’s statement about waiting for scientific evidence, and noted that under <br />State law a moratorium period was for 120 days and it could only be extended up to six months. He asked <br />if the council could get through the upland inventory in time to beat that moratorium deadline. Mr. <br />Björklund recalled that at the July work session, staff provided the council with a timeline that indicated the <br />inventory and recommendations for the upland sites would take 18 months to prepare. If Goal 5 staff was <br />working on the moratorium, it could not work on the uplands inventory. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor suggested the site could be separated into smaller pieces for the purpose of completing the <br />uplands inventory earlier. Mr. Björklund did not think that work could be done by the time the moratorium <br />expired. He said that field work for the study could not start until spring because of the need to identify the <br />location of flowering native plant species of concern. Ms. Taylor thought it important to do anything that <br />could be done to postpone the development of the property in question. She said the cost cited by Mr. Klein <br />for the preparation of an ordinance was not large compared to City expenditures on other, less important <br />items. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman agreed that expense would not be a consideration if the objective of the motion could be <br />realized. She questioned to what extent the riparian areas and setbacks could be protected through the PUD <br />process. Mr. Björklund indicated that while he had not reviewed the recently submitted application, he had <br />seen prior drafts, with the most recent setting aside virtually the entire riparian corridor included on the <br />City’s inventory. He said that projection of the riparian edge could also be addressed through the PUD <br />process. Ms. Bettman asked if staff would use its discretion to ensure that protection occurred. Mr. <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 26, 2005 Page 5 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />