Item 2A: Approval of Council Minutes

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Chuck Hauk , 2465 Parkview Drive, an employee of HACSA, supported Bascom Village because he believed in a just and compassionate community and such housing was needed as demonstrated by the many applications HACSA received for low-income housing assistance. He had lived in the region for more than 31 years and it was clear to him the area in question would be developed. He asked if it was it more desirable for the neighborhood to have regulated development or unregulated private development that did not take into account the community’s need for well-managed affordable housing. He predicted that the quality of management and construction at Bascom Village would be far superior to a comparable private development. He also predicted that residents of Bascom Village would take advantage of the housing to improve their lives and then they would move on. The development would provide needed assistance to families who were already employed but could not afford the high rents of the current market. He asked the council to support the proposal. Larry Abel , Executive Director of HACSA, spoke of the need that existed for affordable housing and the lack of funding that existed. He said that funding for low-income housing had been dramatically reduced in the face of greatly increased need. He said the community was fortunate that land bank sites were available because they made development of Bascom Village feasible. He noted that the proposal was the first joint submittal by HACSA and St. Vincent de Paul and he looked forward to the two agencies working together to provide decent and safe low-income housing to residents. Tom Moseman , 2559 Parkview Drive, also supported Bascom Village and hoped to see a community solution to the lack of low-income housing in Eugene. He suggested that it would have been challenging for the neighbors to know the public intent for the site given it was not annexed and rezoned until 2009 and 2010 and owned by the County previous to that. He appreciated that the HPB had slowed the process but also felt that there was not much of a dialogue between the board and project neighbors. Brian Land , 2320 Devon Avenue, said he had two children in Sheldon High School and could confirm the school was crowded. He believed the development would increase school crowding and wanted the council to consider the cumulative impact of such projects. He pointed out the council had the ability to decide the location of such projects relative to school capacity. Mr. Land said that everyone wanted a positive experience for students and school crowding did not help. He said that neighbors were not opposed to low-income housing and recognized the need; however, they wanted to be involved in the decision-making process. He said that residents did expect that the Housing Dispersal Policy would be considered, the 38 units on Matt Drive taken into account, and the lack of services would be addressed. That did not occur. Mr. Land said a more collaborative approach was needed. There being no other requests to speak, Mayor Piercy closed the public hearing. She thanked those who spoke and said the council would consider their input. Councilor Clark noted that he lived three blocks from the development site and believed the development would place an additional burden on an already burdened transportation system. One could not get onto Crescent Avenue at the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. With due respect to Ms. Thompson and Barb Bellamy of School District 4J, Councilor Clark clarified that the district indicated it could absorb additional students on a district-wide basis rather than on the basis of individual schools’ enrollments. He questioned the enrollment numbers provided by the district. Councilor Clark reported he had discussed the impact of the additional students his child’s school absorbed as a result of the closures of Coburg and Meadowlark schools with the school principal and came away from that conversation believing there was no way to add 100 additional students to area schools. MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 21, 2011 Page 13 Public Hearing