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ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Work Session: Downtown Outcomes Meeting Date: September 14, 2009 Agenda Item Number: C Department: Planning & Development Staff Contact: Amanda Nobel Flannery www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 682-5535 ISSUE STATEMENT The work session is a follow-up to council’s August 10, 2009, workshop on downtown economic development, where council brainstormed desired downtown outcomes in light of the current downtown-related policies, plans, and prior public involvement efforts. Dr. Gary Manross from Strategy Research Institute will have 60 minutes to present results from their recent survey on the level of public interest and support for downtown revitalization and potential projects the council could consider. (The council will have the option of additional time with Dr. Manross following the public forum, as needed.) No formal action is requested. BACKGROUND The council’s discussion of downtown revitalization stems from its larger conversation on local economic development actions. The council unanimously approved a City of Eugene Mayor and City Council Economic Development Statement in January. The economic stimulus discussion continued at work sessions on April 13 and May 27, 2009. On May 27, the council approved actions on three economic development related items: 1) sale of surplus City real estate for identified development projects; 2) initiation of procedural code amendments; and 3) consideration of an amendment to the Downtown Urban Renewal Plan. On July 8, the council held a follow-up work session on strategies to reinforce existing programs and businesses downtown and to create a series of stimulus actions to strengthen the City’s role in community economic development. No formal action was taken on July 8; however, the council did express interest in talking about desired downtown outcomes prior to resuming discussion on the various tools available for achieving the outcomes. At a workshop on August 10, the council discussed and categorized desired downtown outcomes after reviewing a summary of the current downtown-related policies, plans, and prior public involvement efforts. Following the workshop, staff compiled councilors’ outcomes into collective statements using the model from the City Council Consensus Workshop Report February 6-7, 2009, prepared by Consensus Associates. (See Attachment A for the “Developing Collective Statements” section of the report and Attachment B for the collective statements.) In efforts to be responsive to direction from the council in July to bring specific economic development projects forward, staff has looked at different ways of gauging community interest and support for downtown redevelopment. One such effort to provide the council with quality information for future Z:\CMO\2009 Council Agendas\M090914\S091409C.doc