Item 2A - Approval of Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

marketplace and agreed with Mr. Meisner that shoppers would ultimately make the decision. He said that if wages, benefits, and union labor were the issues, they were more appropriately addressed at the State or national level instead of by the City of Eugene. Ms. Nathanson agreed that the issue was bigger than Eugene and said that in studies of the impact of large retail stores it appeared a major factor was some cities' pursuit of retail because they were dependent on sales tax revenue and that created difficulties in assessing whether the impact was positive or negative. She said that was not an issue for Eugene and wondered whether preventing or limiting large-volume retailers in Eugene would result in people driving farther to shop at that retailer in a neighboring community. She was dubious that restrictions would accomplish what was intended, either to influence the ownership of businesses or reverse the trend of consumerism. Ms. Solomon concurred with comments from Mr. Meisner, Mr. Pap~, and Ms. Nathanson, particularly about people voting with their pocketbooks. She stated she was a Wal-Mart shopper and had a right to choose and shop for the lowest prices, including going to Wal-Mart, and it was not the role of the council to take those choices away from citizens. Referring to earlier comments about %ig box" stores causing blight, she noted that the Wal-Mart/Target complex on West 11th Avenue had generated a number of additional local commercial and retail services in the vicinity. Ms. Bettman said that there were two distinct and overlapping issues: the economic security and develop- ment issue and the land use and growth issue. She said that over-commercialization did impact local businesses. She indicated that the City's policies relating to densification and infill also applied to businesses with respect to commercial property and parking. She stated that the City's efforts to attract jobs should include a look at the type of development that actually reduced jobs and wages. She said that public safety was impacted by a rise in shoplifting-related calls attributed to "big box" stores and when land was used for commercial development that included a large amount of surface parking, it was taken out of the inventory but not taxed in a way that created optimum revenue. Referring to the issue of choice, Ms. Bettman said that a formula chain entity represented a false economy because of the hidden costs related to subsidies. She said when a large regional attractor was created at the edge of the city limits, the municipality paid for costs such as transportation, public safety, and planning and subsidized the low-wage jobs through social services. Mayor Torrey asked if the real reason was for the proposed restrictions was the low wage and benefits jobs and if Wal-Mart agreed to pay a wage acceptable to the council, would objections to the expansion be dropped. He questioned whether the same rules would be applied to local businesses and if not, there would be legal ramifications. He said he did not believe that the Wal-Mart application already submitted could be stopped and if there were potential negative impacts to transportation or wetlands, residents could file legal challenges. He said preventing "big box" retail development in the community would simply result in that development being located at the edge of the urban growth boundary (UGB) north of Eugene along Highway 99 and Eugene would still have to deal with transportation impacts. He said he was not opposed to a council decision to address the issue as an ordinance, but was opposed to action that would stop the current process, such as a moratorium, and would veto such action. Ms. Taylor commented that "big box" retail sometimes caused the loss of other jobs, requiring a subsidy of employees through social services. She said that efforts to improve downtown were affected by what happened on the edge of town. She requested a moratorium to allow the council time to think about options. MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 24, 2004 Page 7 Work Session