Item 2A - Approval of Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Pap~ expressed the opinion that State law was sufficient and it was not necessary to attempt to improve upon it. He asked that the draft ordinance language also be reviewed by the Housing Policy Board. He commented that the program would usurp fees from the 90 to 95 percent of landlords who took care of their units and considered habitability to be important and hoped that as the program was ongoing a lower fee per unit and higher enforcement fines would be considered to target those landlords who were the perpetrators. Mr. Meisner agreed with Mr. Pap6's suggestion that the program eventually become a complaint-driven, fine-driven program. He said he would support the motion and appreciated the Mayor's suggestion to contact Corvallis to determine what changes might be recommended. He concurred with Ms. Bettman's remarks that mediation was not an appropriate enforcement tool. He asked if the City could enforce through the courts if civil penalties were not effective in resolving a complaint. Ms. Miller said that currently the City could place liens on properties when civil penalties reached a certain threshold. City Attorney Glenn Klein said the ordinance could grant the City authority to do both an administrative civil penalty, as well as go to Municipal Court. Mr. Meisner asked that such language regarding enforcement authority be included in the ordinance. Ms. Nathanson observed that the motion did not include a request for alternatives for the council to consider regarding exemption. She said there were exemptions that would be appropriate for Eugene, such as educational institutions that provided housing and owner-occupied shared housing. She asked staff to provide more information on the program in East Lansing, Michigan, which offered the opportunity for exemptions by neighborhood. She also asked for information on whether multi-year licenses would make the program simpler and more efficient to administer and reduce costs and fees. Ms. Bettman stated that she would support the motion and thanked the community coalition for their work on the project. Mayor Torrey thanked staff for their work and noted that the council's action would not adopt an ordinance, only request that draft ordinance language be developed. Mr. Kelly said he had suggested a work session before summer break because he did not anticipate a public hearing until the fall and school was back in session. Mr. Taylor said that the schedule and tasks would allow for a work session before summer break, reviews and comments by all appropriate bodies, and conduct of the regular ordinance process in the fall. The motion passed unanimously. C. WORK SESSION: Banning/Controlling Location of"Big Box" Stores Mr. Taylor introduced Planning and Development Executive Director Tom Coyle to outline the issues raised in Background on "Big Box" Retailing provided as Attachment A to the agenda item summary. Mr. Coyle emphasized that the document was a summary of the issues and not a scientific analysis or economic study of the retail market in Eugene. He directed the council's attention to the section of the document that addressed terminology and stressed the critical need to use consistent language when MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 24, 2004 Page 5 Work Session