CCMinutes - 02/09/04 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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expertise needed to tell the City about what would and would not work would not be present, because the property owner or developer would not be there. Ms. Bettman said the community spent more than a decade discussing nodal development and had developed a definition of nodal development. She believed it was the council's intent that staff would put pen to paper and come up with a plan. Mr. Kelly believed the council had, through its discussions, delivered a consistent message that the overlay could not be applied in the abstract, but staff must consider the reality of what was on the ground and work with the property owners and residents on a plan. He believed that many of the issues in the 29th and Willamette area would be related to reducing automobile-pedestrian conflicts, and that could be done with the current property owners in the current environment. Mr. Kelly said if Mr. Coyle or the Planning Commission had new fundamental facts to share with the council about nodal planning, it should share them soon. He did not want the division to spend the money allocated by the council if it was not to be used for the purpose intended. City Manager Taylor recalled the committee allocated $250,000 for two activities, one related to nodal development and one related to the Land Use Code Update (LUCU) amendments, and staff was trying to convey that the council was not going to get eight site-specific plans for that amount. Mr. Kelly acknowl- edged that. He said the funding was merely to get the City started. Mr. Kelly, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to raise Issue 27, housing standards, to the high-priority list, and to direct staff to bring back a fund- ing request if necessary for development of a proposal. Mr. Kelly said that the council had heard about the issue for several years and it was a high-priority recommendation of the City of Eugene-University of Oregon Joint Task Force on the West University Neighborhood. He said the City could use Corvallis program as a model. It was a self-supporting program with small fees. He did not believe that renters should be required to go to court to get heat in their homes. Mr. Meisner agreed that a model existed, and suggested that the question was who performed inspections and provided enforcement. He believed that the lead division was not likely to the Planning Division. He requested a scope of work clarifying that issue as well as information about the cost implications of the motion. Ms. Bettman expressed support for the motion. She recalled that the item had been on the council's post LUCU work program as a high priority. She agreed that good models existed. Ms. Bettman suggested that improved human habitability was more important than improved alleys, which the council had agreed to fund as a result of the joint task force's recommendations. Mr. Poling asked if the work required could be done before the beginning of the new school term. City Manager Taylor described the work that had already occurred and said staff needed clarification, given that it was his impression the joint task force recommendations largely addressed exterior conditions. He asked if the council envisioned a local statute or assistance in enforcing the State statute. He said a work session on housing standards had been scheduled to clarify such issues. He recalled that the City had at one time had a housing code, but dropped it due to cost. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 9, 2004 Page 7 Work Session