CC Minutes - 10/12/11 Work Session

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MINUTES Eugene City Council McNutt Room —City Hall 777 Pearl Street — Eugene, Oregon October 12, 2011 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Betty Taylor, George Brown, Andrea Ortiz, George Poling, Mike Clark, Chris Pryor, Alan Zelenka, Pat Farr. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the October 12, 2011, work session of the Eugene City Council to order. A. WORK SESSION: Multi -Unit Property Tax Exemption and Envision Eugene City Manager Jon Ruiz introduced the item. He anticipated that the discussion was one of several the council would have in coming months on tools to facilitate the implementation of Envision Eugene. Eugene Planning Director Lisa Gardner and Senior Planner Nan Laurence were present for the item and Ms. Gardner led the council through a PowerPoint presentation entitled Envision Eugene and MUPTE. She highlighted the Seven Pillars and identified Affordable Housing, Climate and Energy, Compact Development and Transportation, and Neighborhood Livability as pillars that MUPTE (Multi -Unit Property Tax Exemption) helped move forward. She anticipated that MUPTE would help the City meet its need for multi -unit housing within the urban growth boundary (UGB) but that required removing some regulatory barriers and incentivizing desired development. Ms. Gardner emphasized the importance of the MUPTE to project financing. Ms. Laurence then presented information about the application of MUPTE to areas outside the downtown. She reminded the council that it approved the extension of MUPTE for use in the Downtown Plan area. She shared a map showing the transportation corridors identified through Envision Eugene and suggested they were also likely candidates for the application of MUPTE. She said staff had considered development potential, the need for incentives, and recent area planning when identifying four likely areas for the use of MUPTE: 1) West University, 2) Trainsong/6 and 7 th ; 3) Franklin Corridor; and 4) Midtown/South Willamette. She shared a series of maps showing those areas. Ms. Laurence noted that MUPTE would soon sunset in the West University Neighborhood (WUN) and proposed that the City hold a neighborhood forum so residents could discuss the benefits and disadvantages of MUPTE. The council could then decide to retain or modify MUPTE for the area. Ms. Laurence recommended that the council retain the existing MUPTE boundaries in the Trainsong/6 and 7 th area at this time and initiate a planning process to determine future MUPTE boundaries. She also recommended that the council include the Walnut Station Special Area Zone in the MUPTE boundaries of the Franklin Corridor area. Ms. Laurence recommended the council consider the use of MUPTE in the Midtown/South Willamette area after the area planning process was completed. In response to earlier council questions, Ms. Laurence contrasted the average property tax for properties granted the MUPTE prior to exemption ($3,125) with the average property tax after the exemption period MINUTES— Eugene City Council October 12, 2011 Page 1 Work Session