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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 02/25/08 Meeting NAME OF MEETING: Eugene City Council Regular Meeting DATE OF MEETING: February 25, 2008 TO: Vicki Cox RECORDED BY: Kimberly Young = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = R O U T I N G I N F O R M A T I O N 2/27 KY Draft to City Manager’s Office (Date & Initials) 5/27/08kb Draft Returned to Minutes Recording (Date & Initials) Draft Received by Minutes Recording (Date & Initials) Draft Proofed/Revised by Minutes Recording (Date & Initials) Draft Returned to City Manger’s Office (Date & Initials) 6/20/08vc Council Amendments Incorporated (Date & Initials) M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Regular Meeting Council Chamber—City Hall February 25, 2008 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: George Poling, Betty Taylor, Jennifer Solomon, Andrea Ortiz, Chris Pryor, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Bonny Bettman. 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. th Ellen Wojahn , 2136 McMillan Street, represented Central Lutheran Church, which was located at 19 and th Potter near the proposed apartment development at 19 and Alder Street, which was proposed to be seven stories in height. She said the church council had many concerns about the development, which were delineated in a letter she provided to the council. The concerns expressed by the church council were essentially concerns of neighborhood compatibility. She spoke of the value of neighborhood refinement plans and the lack of a plan for the neighborhood in question. In the absence of such a plan, Ms. Wojahn suggested the City carefully consider the impacts of the proposed development and mitigate them as necessary, perhaps to the points of reducing the size and mass of the structure. She said the City relied on infill to maintain compact urban growth, and infill worked best when residents were able to work with the City and developers on the goals that worked best for all. Mia Nelson , 40160 East First Street, Lowell, asked the council to send a representative to the next Lane Council of Governments (LCOG) Board of Directors meeting to object to its adoption of population estimates. She provided some background on the item to support her contention that LCOG had prepared forecasts that worked to the advantage of the small cities and that had the potential to affect infrastructure planning in Lane County. She said the City had an agreement that no action would be taken by LCOG unless the City approved it. Doug DuPriest , 777 High Street, Suite 200, representing Ms. Nelson as Shade Tree, a residential land developer located in Lowell, reiterated the concerns expressed by Ms. Nelson. He provided an overview of the methodology used by LCOG and concluded its new work was not consistent or coordinated. He said LCOG lacked the legal authority to prepare such forecasts and Lane County had rescinded its authority to do so. Despite that, LCOG was asking its board to adopt a revised forecast. While LCOG’s forecast carried no legal weight, his client was concerned that it would carry political weight. Mr. DuPriest recommended the council send a representative to the LCOG meeting to indicate its opposition to the forecasts. MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 25, 2008 Page 1 Regular Meeting Lauri Segal , 642 Charnelton Street, representing the ‘Goal One Coalition’ reiterated the concerns expressed by Ms. Nelson and Mr. DuPriest about LCOG’s adoption of the population forecasts. th Chris Pender , 6777 West 12 Avenue, reported on the impact railroad horns had on him while he was ill, and suggested that the council take into account other residents who might be sick. Since he had moved away from the railroad, he slept better but continued to be worried about those who lived near the tracks. Mr. Pender endorsed the establishment of a railroad quiet zone. Kathleen Brandt , 1960 Alder Street, spoke of a typical morning at her home, noting the many users of alternative modes who passed by each morning. They came from a variety of walks of life. The same thing happened in the afternoon going the other way. She maintained that she rarely saw a vehicle. Many people used the route. In 1975 the neighborhood group had the goal of making the route safe, and she would not like to see the proposed structure undo that work. She asked that the building be scaled back. Al Kreitz , 2284 Hampton Court, spoke of what he termed the “mega structure” being proposed by the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) and maintained that employees he spoke to asserted that updates could be done at the current site for $2 million. He asserted that EWEB Commissioner Ron Farmer, a senior officer for the Bank of America, who could “float the loan” for $85 million, could “make a million dollars in profit.” He asserted it was legal if not ethical. Mr. Kreitz said that he had received no answers to his questions from EWEB. He asked the council to refer the issue to the voters or put off the vote so there could be serious discussions about the issues he raised. stth Malcolm Wilson , 961 East 21 Avenue, expressed concern about the development proposed at 19 and Alder Street. He thanked the council for scheduling a work session on the issue. He considered the proposal an urgent threat to the neighborhood and hoped the council met soon. He requested a moratorium on the project until the Infill Compatibility Standards (ICS) Task Team finished its work. He asked the council to impose a deadline on the manager for the minor code amendments process. He said the neighbors did not oppose students or high density, but were concerned about any project built in the R-4 zoned area and the potential of incompatible density. He expressed concerns about designations imposed on whole blocks that did not provide sufficient parking, and development that did not maintain the character and livability of the neighborhood. He asserted the neighbors wanted to do their part to contain sprawl, but in a way that preserved neighborhood character. Sally Smith , 2015 University Street, expressed concern about the proposed apartment development and said th the R-4 zoning established in the 1940s along 19 Avenue was done more to grandfather in existing student Greek houses than to plan for future growth. She asserted if the zoning was a planning tool, it would have been applied with care and concern for the existing neighborhood. She said the proposed development would house 208 students in 52 apartments, most under 22 years old. She questioned what that would do to the demographics of the neighborhood and questioned the impact it would have on the existing neighbor- hood. Comparison of the proposed development and Bernard Hall (formerly University Inn), where she had once been employed, indicated to her there was supervision at Bernard Hall, but there was no plan for live-in supervision at the proposed development. University housing provided more parking than was proposed for the development in question, and with only 40 parking places, the residents would send 50 or more cars into the neighborhood. She said that non-residents cruise the streets all day now looking for a parking space. th Katy Hulse , 1256 East 20 Avenue, spoke of her work as a resident at Bean Residential Hall, and expressed concern that the proposed development would have no one on-call to deal with problems that MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 25, 2008 Page 2 Regular Meeting arose from students living on their own with few rules other than those imposed by the legal code. Neighbors would have to request police enforcement of conduct issues, and she did not think that was fair. She also did not think it was fair to students as they would be surrounded by people in very different stages of life. She said if the development went up and housed college students, it would be a dorm. She likened it to Chase Village, which was known as the sophomore dorms and was notorious for police activity. She envisioned the development would change the neighborhood for the worse as the environment it would create was not good for families. She did not want to see her neighborhood changed into a transitional zone by her peers. th Gary Craiger , 856 East 19 Avenue, spoke nostalgically of when he had moved into the neighborhood. He had been surprised to learn of the development and said he would prefer to see the sky rather than the structure proposed, which would change his world in ways he could not imagine. He questioned how the building could be considered compatible infill and asked if the structure would be allowed to start an invasion of high rise structures from Alder to Agate streets. He requested council assistance and support. Tim Herman , 1965 Alder Street, spoke of his experience living in a neighborhood close to campus and characterized it as a wonderful place to live. He questioned how the proposed development made sense. He thought transitional planning was lacking. He said residents favored density and residential infill but the proposal did not make sense. He would welcome a shorter building as the proposed building did not seem compatible with the neighborhood. He said it “reeked of greed” and asked the council to place a moratorium on it until the ICS Task Team completed its work. Paul Moore , 2586 Potter Street, advocated for the inclusion of bicycle paths in the Crest Drive street improvement project. He said without such paths, the system would be incomplete. He addressed testimony offered against such paths, saying there was a need for paths in the area, a Eugene Bicycle Coalition representative participated in the process but did not support the final design, and there was no compromise in regard to the overarching value of narrow streets. He said information disseminated by the City had once mentioned bicycle paths but no longer did, even where there was overwhelming sentiment at the open house for bicycle paths. Mayor Piercy closed the Public Forum and noted the council work session on the development in question was scheduled for March 10. She called for council comments and questions. Councilor Pyror thanked those who attended the meeting and indicated that as the council’s representative to the LCOG board, he had additional information to share. The speakers were correct in that Lane County had taken over population projections. LCOG had official authority and were it to act on Eugene’s population figures, they would have been brought to the council for approval. He said the Eugene population forecast figures included in the LCOG projections were population figures already approved by the council in 2005 and had been increased by a standard demographic population figure. The LCOG figures have no official standing, so LCOG would move them on to the Lane County Board of County Commissioners with a recommendation to use them if the board chose to do so. Councilor Pyror said some of the Lane County municipalities chose to have their population figures adopted, and every jurisdiction was approving its own population figures, not the figures in total. He advised the council against being drawn into a very contentious disagreement involving communities such as Lowell. Those communities needed to work out their issues on their own. . Councilor Clark thanked those who testified about the proposed development in south Eugene. He spoke to the concerns expressed by Mr. Price, and said that Ron Farmer and other commissioners had asked that the MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 25, 2008 Page 3 Regular Meeting costs be retooled after initial cost projections were produced. He noted Mr. Farmer’s long service to the community and expressed concern about the accusation levied by Mr. Price against Mr. Farmer. He confirmed with City Attorney Jerome Lidz that Mr. Farmer’s profiting in such a manner would be a breach of the law. Councilor Clark invited Mr. Price to produce evidence of his accusation. Councilor Poling thanked those who spoke and for condensing the message by limiting the number of speakers who offered testimony. He looked forward to the work session. Councilor Poling agreed with the remarks of Councilor Clark as they related to Mr. Farmer, and noted his commitment to the community. Councilor Zelenka said the residents of the South University Neighborhood were not “no-growthers” but th instead were concerned about the compatibility of the development being proposed at 19 Avenue and Alder Street. He speculated that because of the R-4 zoning along the road, in the future, there could be a wall of twelve-story buildings directly across from the low-density housing that already existed. He maintained that constituted incompatibility. He thanked the residents of the area for attending the meeting. Councilor Ortiz also thanked all those who testified. She said she was always concerned about personal attacks on someone’s character as it was not the council’s role to sit in judgment but to make policy decisions. Councilor Ortiz agreed that railroad noise was a quality of life issue. Councilor Taylor thanked all those who spoke and said people were so eloquent she could hardly keep herself from applauding. She believed the council got the message about the proposed development and agreed with Ms. Smith’s remarks. She regretted she would be out of town when the work session occurred; however, she believed she understood the situation and hoped the council could do something to “avert what’s happening.” Mayor Piercy spoke to the issue of the population forecast. While she understood that all the cities had their own idea as to how their communities would grow, her concern was that there was no regional plan, and when every body “just comes and brings their numbers,” it did not help answer the question of “what are we going to look like and where is it going to happen.” She asserted that “we’ve got this whole regional planning thing in front of us that we’re supposed to be participating in” and LCOG’s actions “seemed awkwardly juxtaposed” against what’s coming up, as opposed to “how we think” is the best way for the region to grow. She thought a finer examination of the issue was needed. 2. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of City Council Minutes B. Approval of Tentative Working Agenda C. Adoption of Resolution 4931 Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of Election System Utility Revenue Bonds in Aggregate Principle Amount of not to Exceed Eighty-five Million Five Hundred Thousand ($85,500,000) for the Purpose of Financing Improvements to the Elec- tric Utility System and Providing for Related Matters D. Endorsement of Ridgeline Open Space Vision and Master Plan E. Adoption of Resolution 4929 Adopting Amended Systems Development Charge Methodol- ogy for Parks System and Amending Resolution 4900 MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 25, 2008 Page 4 Regular Meeting F. Adoption of Resolution 4930 Amending Eugene City Council Operating Agreements and Repealing Resolution 4872 G. Approval of Construction Excise Tax—Bethel School District Councilor Clark pulled item D. Councilor Zelenka pulled item C. Councilor Pyror, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to accept the Consent Calendar with the exception of items C and D. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 7:0. Councilor Zelenka recalled his desire, expressed at the work session on the topic, that Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) would install a solar photovoltaic project on the roof of its new building. He hoped the EWEB board would direct staff or ask a private party to install such a project on its new building. He found it ironic that in the same week as The Register-Guard chose to do an editorial stating that solar power did not work and was not cost-effective, it ran an article about Pepsi’s new solar rooftop system and how effective it was. He hoped EWEB would soon announce it would do the same. Councilor Zelenka said he had asked about EWEB’s plan to guarantee the use of the proceeds of the sale of the land the utility would be leaving to buy down the bonds. The council had not heard a guarantee but that a statement was planned. He hoped the EWEB commissioners would come out with a statement to that effect as it would lower everyone’s power costs. Councilor Clark said he would vote to support the bonds because shortly after the work session he had met with EWEB staff members and discussed the issue with several board members sufficiently to be convinced that it was the board’s intent to buy back the cots of the bonds with the sale of the river front property, which would give the utility the ability to build a green building and perhaps do what Councilor Zelenka wanted. Mayor Piercy said she strongly supported solar-generated power but believed the places that the largest solar arrays were being installed were on private buildings because they received a tax credit the public buildings could not receive at this time. It would be easier to install such facilities on publicly constructed buildings if the tax credits were available to governments. Roll call vote; Item C passed unanimously, 7:0. Speaking to Mayor Piercy’s remarks, Councilor Zelenka maintained that EWEB could work with a third- party to install a solar array with the tax benefit to accrue to a third party entity who could use the tax credits. He recalled that the Legislature passed a bill calling for one percent for solar but EWEB had not yet presented him with its plans in that regard. He hoped it would do so soon so Eugene could live up to its billing as the fifth greenest city in America. Speaking to Item D, Councilor Clark said the Agenda Item Summary listed groups who endorsed it; he asked Planner Carolyn Weiss who declined to endorse it. Ms. Weiss deferred to Jeff Krueger of LCOG, who indicated that the Convention and Visitors Association of Lane County had declined to endorse the plan. Councilor Clark recalled that the association had been concerned that the visioning plan in question would become a land use plan over time. He asked how many private acres were involved. Mr. Krueger said that 7,500 acres of habitat block were in public and private ownership, the majority in private; he emphasized the MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 25, 2008 Page 5 Regular Meeting effort was voluntary. For the most part, the properties would remain in private ownership with the potential of taxing incentives to improve them. Councilor Clark indicated he would likely vote for the motion because he favored the vision but the plan included thousands of acres of private land targeted for acquisition by some government body. Eugene had some very controversial discussions about such acquisitions and he did not want to be in the position of creating years of conflict down the road, and wanted to create a vision that worked and did not want to go down the road of condemnation to bring the vision to fruition. He hoped the City worked with residents better than it had to this point. He said that many people’s rights needed to be safeguarded along the way. Councilor Solomon agreed with the remarks of Councilor Clark. She said her chief objection was that the information came to the council on February 7 and now she was being asked to approve it as a consent calendar item. She called for a work session to be scheduled and a public hearing. Councilor Pyror expressed appreciation for the concerns expressed previously but said he was comfortable with the plan given how many people had vetted it. He noted that he had reviewed the document in a different context. He said it was hard to separate the vision from the body that implemented it. That was the body’s problem, not the visionary document. He supported the plan and encouraged the council to be diligent. Councilor Zelenka endorsed the vision. At his request, Mr. Krueger reviewed the vision statement. Councilor Zelenka thought that in the future, people would think the vision was good. He really supported it and was impressed by those who supported it. He also liked the map, and hoped that those who owned private property along the trail would share the vision and “cooperate.” Mayor Piercy said the council was charged by its residents to look out for future generations, and she thought the plan was a perfect example of that. She noted the land acquired through the Forest Legacy was part of the vision. Mayor Piercy did not think the council would do anything irresponsible in carrying out the vision. Councilor Clark thought the vision was good and it was the council’s job to articulate a larger vision. However, he asked the staff to bear in mind the need to be straightforward; if there was land the City wanted to protect it should change the zone as appropriate and list it as land to be protected rather than land to be built on. Roll call vote; Item D passed, 6:1; Councilor Solomon voting no. 3. ACTION: RATIFICATION OF COUNCIL COMMITTEEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS OF JANUARY 3, 2008 Councilor Pryor, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to ratify the actions of the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations as set forth in the minutes of January 3, 2008. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 7:0. MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 25, 2008 Page 6 Regular Meeting 4. ACTION: An Ordinance Providing for the Withdrawal of Territories from the River Road Water Dis- trict, River Road Parks and Recreation District, and Santa Clara Water District Councilor Pryor, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to adopt Council Bill 4968, an or- dinance providing for the withdrawal of territories. Roll call vote; the motion passed unani- mous, 7:0. 5. ACTION: An Ordinance Concerning Offenses and State Traffic, Amending Sections 4.115, 4.990, and 5.005 of the Eugene Code, 1971; Declaring an Emergency, and Providing an Immediate Effec- tive Date Councilor Pryor, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to adopt Council Bill 4969, an or- dinance concerning offenses and State traffic laws. Councilor Poling called the council’s attention to a memorandum from Judge Allen of the Municipal Court stating minors would be eligible for the diversion program. He expressed appreciation of that fact, because most people were good people who made bad choices, and he thought the community’s kids should get a chance. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously. Mayor Piercy adjourned the meeting at 8:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Angel Jones City Manager pro tem (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 25, 2008 Page 7 Regular Meeting