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<br />ATTACHMENT A <br /> <br />Summary of Council Discussions of Economic Development & Downtown <br /> <br /> <br />Council’s discussion of downtown revitalization is part of a larger conversation on local economic <br />development actions. Below is a summary of those discussions from 2009. <br /> <br />January 2009: Council unanimously approved a City of Eugene Mayor and City Council Economic <br />Development Statement. <br /> <br />April 13 & May 27, 2009: Council completed an initial review of possible local stimulus actions on <br />April 13. On May 27, council approved actions on three economic development related items: 1) sale <br />of surplus City real estate for identified development projects, 2) initiation of amendments to extend <br />the expiration period for approved land use applications, and 3) consideration of an amendment to <br />the Downtown Urban Renewal Plan. [On November 9, council approved extending the life of <br />approved land use applications to help projects that may have stalled during difficult economic <br />conditions. The ordinance provides a one-time, automatic three-year extension for certain land use <br />applications that have already gone through a public process and been approved by the City. Council <br />received a memo on strategies for the sale of surplus property dated December 3.] <br /> <br /> <br />July 8, 2009: Council held a follow-up work session on methods to reinforce existing programs and <br />businesses downtown and to create a series of stimulus actions to strengthen the City’s role in <br />community economic development. No formal action was taken; however, council did express <br />interest in talking about desired downtown outcomes prior to resuming discussion on the various <br />tools available for achieving those outcomes. <br /> <br />August 10, 2009: At a workshop, council discussed and categorized desired downtown outcomes <br />after reviewing a summary of the current downtown-related policies, plans, and prior public <br />involvement efforts. Following the workshop, staff compiled councilors’ outcomes into collective <br />statements using the model from the City Council Consensus Workshop Report February 6-7, <br />2009 prepared by Consensus Associates. <br /> <br />September 14, 2009: On September 14, council reviewed initial results of a downtown revitalization <br />survey conducted by Strategy Research Institute. Similar to the survey conducted the prior year for <br />the road bond, the downtown survey was conducted to provide specific information on the level of <br />community support for particular policies and actions under consideration. The full set of survey <br />questions, response percentages, and a sample cross tabulation by council ward were attached to a <br />memo for council dated October 1. <br /> <br />October 21, 2009: Council approved continuing downtown discussions according to a set <br />revitalization process and requested staff to return with specific projects and potential tools to <br />implement four strategies for downtown revitalization. <br /> <br />December 14, 2009: Council reviewed eight specific projects to implement the four strategies for <br />downtown revitalization. <br /> <br />