Item 2A: Approval of Tentative Working Agenda

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Mr. Brown continued to be concerned about the establishment of separate planning committees and indicated he preferred to amend the work plan to eliminate that provision. Mr. Clark continued to be concerned about the amount of time being dedicated to mixed-use centers. He said that people in Eugene disagree about many things, but most agree they live in Eugene due to the quality of life and the community’s beauty. Nothing affected one’s quality of life as much as being able to take care of one’s family. He said that Eugene-Springfield had double-digit unemployment. The City was participat- ing in work teams to establish regional economic development strategies. He noted the proposed resource split, which called for only one percent of resources to be devoted to developing local economic development code amendments. He thought that was a mistake and called for a broader focus on that issue. He thought it was central to what the community was facing and touched on what was needed to get people back to work. Mr. Clark encouraged the commission to give the issue greater thought. Mr. Zelenka thought the Strategic Neighborhood Action Plans were extremely important due to their connection to neighborhood livability and because the idea came out of the neighborhood summits. He recalled that he had offered a proposal to change the neighborhood empowerment goal to incorporate planning, to give neighborhoods the ability to use the tools in the land use code to preserve their livability. He thought the plans were the next best thing to refinement plan updates and appreciated the concept. He suggested to Mr. Brown that the neighborhood action planning committees, as he envisioned them, would be subcommittees of the neighborhood organizations rather than distinct and separate bureaucracies. Speaking to the issue of the resource allocation for the mixed-use center, Mr. Zelenka thought the topic was very important and key to how Eugene grew. It was also a sustainability and transportation issue. He thought the mixed-use centers had important implications for the reduction of vehicle miles traveled and found the allocation of time appropriate. Mr. Zelenka, seconded by Mr. Pryor, moved to approve the Fiscal Year 2010 Planning Commission and Planning Division Work Plan. Ms. Taylor, seconded by Mr. Brown, moved to direct the City Manager to add “Code Amendment to address 2001 Tree Ordinance Remand” to the list of City Council priorities on pages 8-9 of the draft Planning Division Work Plan and to accommodate this addition by reducing the percentage of staff resources from the Council Priority project “Mixed Use Centers” from twelve percent to four percent and delaying the target completion date of this priority project to the year 2012. The motion failed: 6:2; Ms. Taylor and Mr. Brown voting yes. The main motion passed on a vote of 6:2; Ms. Taylor and Mr. Brown voting no. Mayor Piercy thanked the commission for its hard work. She supported Mr. Clark’s remarks regarding economic development, but found elements of economic development in the mixed-use centers, infill compatibility standards, and opportunity siting. Mr. Zelenka requested that staff provide the memorandum on tree protections mentioned earlier. B. WORK SESSION: Joint Elected Officials Metro Plan Amendments Ms. Gardner and Ms. Jerome were present for the item. Ms. Gardner indicated the work session was a follow-up to the June 1, 2009, joint elected officials meeting regarding the development of a work plan to initiate specific regionally based changes to the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan General Area Plan (Metro Plan). She recalled that the elected officials directed staff to develop a work plan with a timeline, cost MINUTES—City Council September 9, 2009 Page 5