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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 07/09/07 City Council Meeting M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Regular Meeting Council Chamber—Eugene City Hall July 9, 2007 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Andrea Ortiz, Chris Pryor, Jennifer Solomon, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka, Bonny Bettman, Betty Taylor. COUNCILORS ABSENT: George Poling. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the regular meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. 1. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Piercy reviewed the rules of the Public Forum. Joyce Berman , 2440 Charnelton Street, wished to address the proposed exceptions to the portions of the code that govern “tailgating” activities at University of Oregon home games at Autzen Stadium. She stated that along with the Boy Scouts, the Masonic Lodge, the BMX track, and the Elks Club, the Willamette Institute for Science and Technology (WISTEC), also known as the Science Factory, depended on parking revenue received on game days to fund its services. She explained that 27 percent of the Science Factory budget had been raised from game day activities in 2006. She averred that the “parkers” were well-behaved and the lot had been well monitored. She believed the most equitable solution to concerns about enforcement of the prohibition on public drinking would to be level the playing field by expanding the code exemption currently enjoyed solely by the stadium to include the surrounding non-profits who partner with the University to provide game day parking. She said the increased cost of complying with a possible permitting or licensing requirement caused the Science Factory grave concern as it would have a negative effect on an “already tenuous bottom line.” She underscored that the income brought in by parking was immediately used to provide direct services to the community’s families and children. She reiterated that there had been no incidents involving alcohol in the Science Factory lot, adding that they would continue to educate people about responsible alcohol use in their game day activities. William Ivanoff , 1810 Harris Street, #336, said he was not a member of the Lane County Home Builders Association. He believed that land developers and builders would have benefited had the West Eugene Parkway (WEP) been constructed as land values would have increased. He thought the WEP would have also benefited the people who live in Veneta but commute to Eugene. He averred that young families living at the edge of the City would spend more time in their cars instead of more time with their children. He commented that more parking garages in the downtown area also enabled people to live at the edge of the City. MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 9, 2007 Page 1 Regular Meeting Joe Collins , PO Box 24411, Eugene, reiterated his concerns regarding alleged interactions with his neighbor and with the Eugene Police Department. He felt he was not being listened to. th Samantha Chirillo , 157 East 27 Avenue, Apt. 3, stated that she was a graduate student at the University of Oregon with a Masters Degree in biology, working on a degree in Public Policy. She explained that she was co-director of Cascadia Citizen Advocates and was speaking on behalf of that group and the Climate Crisis Working Group. She presented letters from the groups in support of preservation of the Amazon Headwaters to the council. She acknowledged the cost of the land and the pressure from developers, but she did not believe there was an acceptable alternative. She averred that to allow development to go forward on the Beverly/Green properties would negate the City’s efforts on behalf of climate change and sustainability. She pointed out that the City had invested money in the lower Amazon Creek area and to develop the upper area would compromise previous work. She urged the council to “do the right thing” and preserve the Amazon Headwaters. James R. Seaberry , 1475 Green Acres Road, Space 126, asserted that there were “150 … endangered species” at his address that entered onto Green Acres Road several times daily. He said he had contacted Traffic Engineer Tom Larsen regarding his concerns. He hoped to place a caution sign for drivers approaching from the east on Green Acres Road toward Delta Highway. He felt visibility was “terrible” and the cars “coming off the hill” were going too fast. Zachary Vishanoff , Patterson Street, opined that the University of Oregon drinking district proposal was a “dangerous proposal” and an “intolerable request.” He asserted that this sort of thing needed a balanced discussion with a public hearing. He reiterated his opposition to the proposed basketball arena planned by the University of Oregon. He felt that MacArthur Court was adequate as a basketball arena. He suggested that the council take a “wait and see” stance before authorizing a Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA). Mayor Piercy closed the public forum and invited comments and questions from councilors. Councilor Taylor thanked everyone for their testimony. She extended a special thank you to Ms. Chirillo for “bringing up some of the most important reasons for saving the Amazon Headwaters.” Councilor Zelenka said during the earlier work session the council had approved a traffic calming plan in the Fairmount Neighborhood that would be very necessary when the arena was built. He underscored that his goal was to minimize the impacts of the arena and not to profit from it or support it. He stated that the arena was in the purview of the internal politics of the University of Oregon. 2. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of City Council Minutes - April 11, 2007, Work Session - May 14, 2007, Work Session - May 14, 2007, City Council Meeting - May 29, 2007, City Council Meeting - June 13, 2007, Work Session B. Approval of Tentative Working Agenda C. Approval of Police Auditor Cost of Living Adjustment MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 9, 2007 Page 2 Regular Meeting Councilor Ortiz, seconded by Councilor Pryor, moved to approve the items on the Consent Calendar with the exception of the minutes from the work session that was held on May 14, 2007. Councilor Bettman explained that she had pulled the May 14 minutes in order to gain clarification about a portion of the document. Roll call vote; the motion to approve the Consent Calendar with the exception of the min- utes from the May 14, 2007, work session passed unanimously, 7:0. 3. ACTION: An Ordinance Concerning Manufactured Dwelling Park Closures; and Amending Sections 2.1060 and 2.1086 of the Eugene Code, 1971 Councilor Ortiz, seconded by Councilor Pryor, moved that the City Council adopt Council Bill 4948, an ordinance concerning manufactured dwelling park closures. Councilor Bettman, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to amend the title and the pro- posed ordinance to add a new section 2.1088 to the Eugene Code, 1971, to read: “No manufactured dwelling park owner may refuse tenancy on the basis of a manu- factured dwelling’s age or size if the same size or similar age as the prospective ten- ant’s dwelling. Manufactured dwellings are of similar age if they are constructed within 10 years of each other.” Councilor Bettman said she considered a prohibition on older homes to be a form of discrimination and not a quality issue. Councilor Solomon stated that she had served on the committee that reviewed the issue and helped to prepare the proposed ordinance language. She said the motion was not part of the recommendation and she believed the amendment would be detrimental to it. She felt some of the unintended consequences of the amendment could be that park owners could choose not to renew leases at all rather than be forced to accept something that could compromise the quality of the park. In response to a question from Councilor Ortiz, Councilor Solomon affirmed that there were manufactured home owners serving on the committee. Councilor Ortiz noted that manufactured home parks were located in both her ward and in Councilor Solomon’s ward. She acknowledged that some of her constituents were concerned about whether they would continue to have the ability to stay in their homes. She said she would not support the amendment. She believed that there was good representation in crafting the proposed ordinance by mobile home residents and that there had been a lot of work done on the ordinance already. Roll call vote; the amendment failed, 5:2; councilors Bettman and Taylor voting in favor. Mayor Piercy related that a request had been made regarding an amendment to allow appeals to go before the City Council. She said the ordinance included the option for an appeal to the Hearings Official. She MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 9, 2007 Page 3 Regular Meeting reported that the City Attorney had advised against such an amendment as it would create a potential for a standard of deviations among similarly situated persons. Councilor Solomon recalled testimony given by Troy Brooks, owner of Songbrook Manufactured Housing Park, at the public hearing regarding the mobile home park that used to be located by the Ferry Street Bridge. He had pointed out that the mobile home park was now gone and a large hotel stood in its place, greatly increasing the property tax contribution the property made to the City. She said this had brought home to her why someone would want to take a mobile home park and build something of more value on it. She averred that around the State, the pressure on the land within urban growth boundaries (UGBs) caused the value of the land to dramatically increase and people wanted to convert land such as the property by the bridge to something with a higher value. She stated that the City then benefited from such a change with an increase in revenue. She felt strongly that the committee did what it had been asked to do but she wanted to stress that the ordinance would not solve the problem, as the real problem was the lack of available land on which to build housing. Councilor Bettman called it a myth that the City benefited with the intensification of use of land. She asserted that the City did not benefit financially as it may receive more in taxes but it cost more money to meet the increased burden in services. Mayor Piercy said the real reason the ordinance was before the council was to create fairness and justice for the people who lived in the manufactured home parks. Councilor Zelenka supported the ordinance. He believed a mix of housing was needed in the community. He felt a mobile home park was one of the few “refuges” for people who had a low income. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 7:0. 4. ACTION: An Ordinance Authorizing the Institution of Proceedings in Eminent Domain for the Acquisition by Condemnation of Property for Park and Open Space Land Near the Amazon Creek Headwa- ters in South Eugene; and Declaring an Immediate Effective Date Mayor Piercy stated that Councilor Poling had requested that no action be taken on the ordinance in his absence. She said Councilor Zelenka had an intended motion that would not enact the ordinance but would help to lay the groundwork for the next step and that Councilor Poling was not opposed to it. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Ortiz, moved to 1. Direct the City Manager to get an appraisal as soon as possible on each of the properties based on low, medium, and high levels of development density. As part of obtaining the appraisals, the City shall contract with whatever consultants are necessary to develop an opinion and supporting rationale as to the “highest and best use of the property” as that term is used by appraisers. 2. Schedule a work session as soon as possible after the completion of the appraisals and related information, where we will discuss the following topics: a. History and status of development and purchase proposals on both proper- ties (including citizen activities); MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 9, 2007 Page 4 Regular Meeting b. More detailed eminent domain process and issues discussion (in Executive Session); and c. Potential sources of money for the purchase of the properties, especially funds other than the Parks Bonds 3. Bring back the ordinance only after the work session and with the following lan- guage changes: a. Delete Section 5 which calls for immediate effect; b. Add language that describes the importance of preserving the Amazon Headwaters for water quality purposes; and c. Add language that describes the importance of preserving the land for plant and wildlife habitat and wildlife connectivity. 4. The sequence of items brought back to the council shall be the appraisal and the work session and the work session shall be informed by the appraisal, and then re- visiting the revised ordinance. 5. After the City has contracted with the appraiser and other consultants and devel- oped a timeline for completion of the appraisals and related documents, the City Manager shall report back to the council as to when the work session can be sched- uled. Councilor Bettman asked how long the appraisal was anticipated to take. City Manager Taylor estimated that it would take three months. He asked Parks and Open Space Director, Johnny Medlin, to elaborate. Mr. Medlin said they needed to evaluate what supporting information would have to be developed according to the motion that would be provided to the appraiser. He was uncertain what that information would be. Councilor Bettman asked why Councilor Zelenka had used the language referring to “the highest and best use of the property,” which she asserted would be based on the developers’ expectation of how they could develop the properties to make a profit. Councilor Zelenka replied that this was not his intent. He asked City Attorney Glenn Klein to speak to this. Mr. Klein explained that an appraiser was required to evaluate a property according to its highest and best use. He stressed that this did not mean what the developer meant by highest and best use. He said the purpose of contracting with the consultants was for the City to obtain all of the information about the geo- technical and hydrological aspects of the property in order to bolster the City’s case if the eminent domain taking went to trial. He stressed that this information would create the definition of the highest and best use and then the appraiser could use it to determine the value of the property. Councilor Bettman found the language to be confusing given that earlier in the motion it spoke to low, medium, and high levels of development density. She suggested that the language be modified so that it said “based on a range of development density.” Councilor Zelenka responded that this would mean low, medium, and high development density. He said the second part of the sentence referred to the offer that the City would need to make on the properties and the need for expert witnesses to inform the City what the best offer would be. Councilor Bettman took issue with the looseness of the time frame. She averred that the City had negotiated with the developers before and “things do not go anywhere because they do not have to go anywhere” by a date certain. She said in order to support it she wanted to see a date, such as within a month after the council break. MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 9, 2007 Page 5 Regular Meeting Councilor Zelenka said it was difficult to know how long the steps that were needed would take. He had confidence that the City Manager would move forward expeditiously. He was not worried that the process would “drag on forever.” Councilor Bettman, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to amend the motion to indicate that the revised ordinance should come back before the City Council at a work session in the beginning of October. Councilor Bettman asserted that if there was a deadline the negotiations would “move a little faster.” Councilor Zelenka said he would take it as a friendly amendment to say that the work session would occur in October. Councilor Bettman offered a friendly amendment to add (d) under (2) of the motion that would state that the council would consider and discuss the revised ordinance language at the first work session in October. The maker and the second accepted the friendly amend- ment. Councilor Solomon wished to honor Councilor Poling’s request that the council not take action at the present meeting. She said in hearing the present discussion it was clear that the council was moving toward eminent domain proceedings. She indicated she would not support the motion. Councilor Clark said he had supported the motion until it became more time specific. He indicated that out of respect for Councilor Poling he would also refrain from supporting it. He wanted to know the amount of money spent by the current owners of the properties trying to negotiate the requirements the City placed on them as they tried to develop the properties, which the City indicated they could do. Councilor Clark asserted that the motion spoke from the City’s point of view, which was that the land was zoned R-1, residential. He said the Comprehensive Plan indicated that the land was intended for housing. He felt they were analyzing the values of the land for housing that low, medium, and high density would allow. He averred that this would give the City accurate information that would allow it to negotiate in good faith and with willing sellers. Mayor Piercy understood Councilor Poling’s position to be that he opposed moving the ordinance itself forward. She believed the present motion would not do so. Councilor Pryor said the notion of setting a date certain to bring back an eminent domain vote gave him “pause” because he believed it would “short circuit” having the information to study and understand prior to moving into eminent domain. He asked Councilor Zelenka if he was proposing to have a date certain for an issue of condemnation to be brought to the council or was he still working on garnering all of the informa- tion. He said if the latter was true he could still support the motion. Councilor Zelenka stated his intent was to hold a work session to discuss ordinance language in advance of action on it. Councilor Pryor indicated his willingness to support the motion based on Councilor Zelenka’s response to his question. He requested a legal opinion of the allowability of the purchase within the specifics of what the MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 9, 2007 Page 6 Regular Meeting Parks and Open Space Bond language said the bond would and would not pay for. He also wished to know what would happen if it was found to be allowable and it went to court and was then overturned. He wanted to know what the personal liability of the councilors was in that situation. He understood, at this point, that the councilors could be held personally liable for “paying the money back.” Councilor Taylor was not satisfied with saying the council would discuss the language in October. She averred that the council should have passed the ordinance already. She felt that Councilor Bettman’s friendly amendment included a deadline for action. She expressed concern that without a deadline the action could be deferred “forever.” Councilor Bettman clarified that her intent was to have the revised ordinance language for review at a work session in October. She said it would give time to conduct due diligence work that “others” thought had not been done or “for some reason” was thought to be needed prior to taking action on the ordinance. She asserted that typically the City undertook its due diligence work after an ordinance for eminent domain had been passed. Councilor Bettman asked how much money was in the stormwater acquisition fund. Public Works Department Executive Director Kurt Corey replied that he would find out for her. Councilor Bettman requested a memorandum with information on the cost of the additional acreage the City was negotiating to purchase for Golden Gardens Park. Councilor Bettman said the City had received a phone call from someone who felt the City should only pay the amount listed on the tax rolls for the Beverly-Green properties. She related that the person made the point that if the property was worth the millions that the developers might want for it, the developers should already be paying taxes on that amount. She thought this was a “good point.” Councilor Zelenka understood his motion to be in line with Councilor Poling’s wishes regarding any action taken. Councilor Ortiz supported Councilor Zelenka’s motion. She did not think the action should be taken lightly. She declared that it warranted more time. Councilor Clark wished to address a “mischaracterization” of Councilor Bettman’s. He hoped the council would address this in a future council process session. He related that Councilor Bettman had asserted that people who oppose acquiring the property hoped the process would be open ended. He felt that assumed that people who wished to have an open ended process were opposed to the acquisition. He said this was not true. Councilor Clark stated that if language for an ordinance was to be considered at a future work session that would move the City toward taking eminent domain he wished to have language prepared that would set aside $3 million for a Santa Clara community park. Councilor Bettman reiterated her question on what the legal standard for the worth of a property was. She thought there needed to be reconciliation in terms of how the cost of the property would “end up.” Councilor Taylor asked how long it had taken in the past for the City to exercise eminent domain. She also wondered how long it would take for the City to exercise eminent domain over the property near Madison MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 9, 2007 Page 7 Regular Meeting Middle School. She said that in the past it seemed to her that the council “just voted for it and it happened.” Mr. Klein responded that he would provide information on past eminent domain takings. City Manager Taylor agreed that this would be useful information. He pointed out, however, that the City was working within the new legal framework dictated by Ballot Measure 39. Councilor Zelenka said this was an important point. He stated that it took more upfront work now than it did before so that the initial offer was an appropriate offer and the City would not be assessed court costs. City Manager Taylor added that there might also be budget amendments and other things to authorize the source of funds. Mayor Piercy supported the motion. She felt the information was necessary and that it was good to continue trying to work toward having willing sellers. She remained committed, should the sellers not be willing, to utilize the tool of eminent domain in order to preserve the Amazon Headwaters land. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 6:1; Councilor Solomon voting in opposition. The meeting adjourned at 8:36 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 9, 2007 Page 8 Regular Meeting