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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MInutes - 07/24/06 Meeting M I N U T E S Eugene City Council City Council Meeting Council Chamber—Eugene City Hall July 24, 2006 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Jennifer Solomon, Bonny Bettman, David Kelly, Andrea Ortiz, Gary Papé, George Poling, Betty Taylor. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Chris Pryor. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order and welcomed everyone to the meeting. 1. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Piercy reviewed the rules of the Public Forum. Jim Hale, 1715 Linnea Avenue, Eugene, stated that he supported fixing streets and funding of that by a user fee. He said that $6.26 million could be generated by simply raising the gas tax by nine cents and phasing it in at one cent per month over the next nine months. He suggested that a legal challenge to an ordinance could be blocked by adopting nine separate ordinances with one for each cent of increase. He was opposed to the transportation system maintenance fee (TSMF) because it would raise more funds than was needed and the additional funds would be used for a bureaucratic collection system when raising the gas tax would cost nothing to administer. He was opposed to a TSMF because those who did not use the system still had to pay the fee; it was regressive and based on the illogical premise that buildings triggered vehicle trips when people generated trips. He said the gas tax was a user fee and forced people to confront the need to limit the use of highways and pay for them as they were used. Dean Rea, 1220 Clinton Drive, Eugene, said that four-block long Clinton Drive was recently paved as part of a pavement preservation project. He presented the council with a document signed by more than 30 people that thanked the Public Works Department and the City of Eugene for repaving their street. Zachary Vishanoff , Patterson Street, Eugene, invited councilors to view a video he was developing about a number of planning issues. He asked the council to weigh in on whether it would support the use of eminent domain in the Fairmount neighborhood. He was concerned about its potential use by the University of Oregon and hoped for a level of support for long-term business owners in the area. Jerry Oltion , 750 Brookside Drive, Eugene, asked the council to consider revisions to the City’s noise ordinance that would take into account new technologies that imposed new noise levels, such as leaf blowers, weed whackers, pressure washers, and mulch-blowing trucks. He said the noise generated by mulch-blowing trucks was phenomenal and more appropriate to industrial zones than a residential MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 24, 2006 Page 1 Regular Meeting neighborhood. He related that the owner of Lane Forest Products would be willing to stop using mulch- blowing trucks if his competition did not use them either and Eugene had more mulch-blowing trucks per capita than any other city in the world. He said that peace and quiet were being sacrificed for convenience and thanked the council for agreeing to Councilor Betty Taylor’s request for a work session. Hugh Pritchard , 2671 Emerald, Eugene, encouraged the council to initiate a code amendment for the Downtown Zoning District. He said the current code had a number of unintended consequences that were an impediment to downtown development. He said new buildings in the core area were required to meet a floor-to-area ratio (FAR) of 2.0, commonly believed to mean a two-story building; when the language actually stated a building should be not less than two square feet of floor area to one square foot of the development site. He pointed out a number of existing downtown buildings that could not be built under the current code. He said a similar situation existed on south Willamette Street with an FAR requirement of 1.0; few existing buildings could meet that requirement. He said the issue had not arisen because no new building permit for those areas had been applied for and the code was untested. He said the intent was to densify consistent with the council’s goals, which he supported, but the reality was that new buildings could not be built with the current FAR requirements. Charles Biggs, 540 Antelope Way, Eugene, spoke to multi-unit property tax exemptions (MUPTE) and the approval process. He said he had experienced difficulties attempting to review the files, including lack of information and timeliness of receipt of that information. He questioned why public comments were not included in an agenda packet and cautioned the council to make sure that all attachments were included. Kevin Matthews, PO Box 1588, Eugene, president of Friends of Eugene, expressed dismay at the evolution of the City Hall master planning process. He referred to the council’s recent decision not to renovate the existing building and noted the consulting contract for the planning process was over $1 million. He pointed out that hundreds of citizens participated and felt the City Hall process was turning into the same thing as Whole Foods because there had been no comprehensive public presentation about renovating the current City Hall and professionals in the community had not been afforded the opportunity to examine the basis for estimated project costs compiled by the consultant. Mayor Piercy closed the Public Forum and called for council comments. Councilor Papé thanked Mr. Rea for taking the time to convey the appreciation of residents along Clinton Drive. Councilor Taylor thanked everyone who spoke. She noted that a work session on the noise ordinance was scheduled for August 16, 2006, and hoped staff would provide information about controlling mulch- blowing trucks and other technology. Councilor Kelly also thanked Mr. Rea and the Clinton Drive residents. He said the council had discussed at its work session ways to address the backlog of pavement preservation projects. He agreed with Mr. Hale’s remarks that increasing the gas tax was preferable to a transportation system maintenance fee. He had not heard any serious suggestion to exercise eminent domain in the Fairmount neighborhood. MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 24, 2006 Page 2 Regular Meeting 2. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of City Council Minutes - July 10, 2006, Work Session B. Approval of Tentative Working Agenda C. Initiation of Code Amendment for Downtown Zoning District D. Adoption of Resolution 4885 Approving a Multiple-Unit Property Tax Exemption for Resi- th dential Property Located at 673 East 14 Alley Way, Eugene, Oregon (Robert and Leslie Quinney) E. Initiation of Eugene Water & Electric Board Metro Plan Amendment F. Approval of Overseas Travel Request Councilor Solomon, seconded by Councilor Ortiz, moved to approve the items on the Consent Calendar including a corrected version of Item D. related to adoption of Resolution 4885, which was distributed at the start of the meeting. Councilor Kelly pulled Item C. Councilor Papé pulled Item D. Councilor Bettman pulled Item E. Roll call vote; the motion to approve the Consent Calendar with the exception of items C, D and E passed unanimously, 7:0. Regarding Item C, Councilor Kelly indicated he was frustrated the item was again on the Consent Calendar as it had been pulled that last time with a request to obtain public input and return to the council for further direction. He asked if the suggested motion included by reference the seven bulleted items in the City Manager’s recommendation. Associate Planner Nan Laurence replied that staff would start on those items but also recognized that a citizen participation process might develop other items. Councilor Kelly said in order for him to support moving forward, two areas of concern had to be addressed. He said the first was C-3 surface parking limitation and, while he was not opposed to looking at code changes to facilitate better use of shared parking, he did not want to allow more surface parking in C- 3 zones. Referring to the Transit Oriented Development Overlay and FAR, he agreed that the code should not preclude construction of buildings like the U.S. Bank but preferred to consider changes to a number of functional floors requirement instead of reductions in the FAR. Councilor Bettman also expressed surprise that the item was on the Consent Calendar instead of coming before the council in a work session. She said there was broadly worded language that needed to be clarified and some new items that had never been vetted in a work session. She did not feel that the public comments included with the agenda materials made a compelling argument for any of the new items. She said FAR requirements did not affect existing buildings and related to the density the council was trying to achieve in terms of commercial development within the downtown area. She recollected that C-3 allowed for existing buildings to be demolished and the site left vacant for surface parking, which was counter to adopted City policy of densifying. She could not support the amendment until she had more specific information. MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 24, 2006 Page 3 Regular Meeting Councilor Solomon stated she was comfortable moving the item forward as the agenda item summary indicated any code amendments would be processed and require public hearings before the Planning Commission and City Council before action could occur. She said the council could request another work session at any time and in the meantime she wanted to see staff begin working on the issues. Councilor Kelly said he was comfortable with the three items that had been added. Councilor Kelly, seconded by Councilor Papé, moved to amend the City Man- ager’s recommendation as follows: TD Transit Oriented Development Overlay consideration of functional floors rather than FAR.. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 7:0. Councilor Kelly, seconded by Councilor Ortiz, moved to amend the City Man- ager’s recommendation as follows: C-3 Major Commercial surface parking limi- tation parking: consider ways to enhance shared parking provisions. Councilor Papé asked for staff’s understanding of the proposed amended language. City Manager Taylor said he understood that Councilor Kelly wished to maximize the opportunity for surface parking to be available for cross-parking agreements with other users to reduce the amount of surface parking in the downtown area. Councilor Kelly added that he wanted to steer the discussion away from relaxation of the current limitations on surface parking. Councilor Solomon expressed concern about too narrowly limiting the discussion. Councilor Kelly said the Land Use Code Update intentionally included substantial limitations on surface parking in the core of downtown and his purpose was to direct the discussion to satisfying parking needs through shared parking instead of increasing surface lots. Councilor Bettman said she would be able to support the motion if it was Councilor Kelly’s intent to preserve existing code provisions on surface parking and new opportunities for parking would be entirely through shared and structured parking. Roll call vote; the motion to amend the reference to C-3 surface parking in Item D passed unanimously, 7:0. Councilor Papé said he saw nothing in the code amendment that would prohibit taking down a building, excavating the site and then leaving it vacant for years. He said those situations were a disgrace to the downtown and should be prevented from occurring. Councilor Bettman agreed with Councilor Papé. She asked if there were any communities that included such a provision in their downtown zoning code that required buildings to be replaced within a certain amount of time after demolition. Ms. Laurence said she had not seen such a provision; the timing of development on a site was influenced by economics and not subject to the code. She would consider how that issue could be addressed as part of the downtown zoning review. MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 24, 2006 Page 4 Regular Meeting Councilor Bettman asked if the matter could be approached through some type of taxing of undeveloped property as if it were developed after a certain period of time. Ms. Laurence said she would research how other communities had addressed the problem and report back to the council. City Manager Taylor affirmed that staff would research tools to influence the condition and duration of vacant lots, particularly when the lot had been excavated or there was debris. He said a memorandum would present the issue to the council to determine whether it was appropriate to the downtown code revision process or a separate process. Roll call vote; Consent Calendar Item C, initiation of code amendment for Down- town Zoning District as amended, passed, 6:1; Councilor Bettman voting in opposi- tion. Regarding Item D, Councilor Papé indicated he was in support but questioned the date of January 1, 2012, instead of an earlier date. Urban Services Manager Richie Manager explained that the date was consistent with State statutes but he understood development would actually begin immediately. He said the council could change the timeline. Councilor Papé, seconded by Councilor Bettman, moved to amend the project completion date from January 1, 2012, to January 1, 2009. Councilor Bettman stated that the amendment would help avoid the problem of demolishing an existing structure and leaving the site vacant. Councilor Kelly supported the shorter timeline, but noted that in another instance where a project timeline was shortened construction delays required an extension. He said the developer for this project could do the same. Roll call vote; the motion to amend the project timeline passed unanimously, 7:0. Councilor Taylor stated she would be voting against the tax exemption as she saw no clear benefit to the City and the project was located in an area that would be developed as multi-family housing eventually because of its proximity to the University. Councilor Bettman stated she would vote no as she objected to the use of a public subsidy, forgiveness of tax liability, to build a profitable development. She said there was no reason to forego tax collection on property that was profitable, especially since that money was then not available for public safety and schools. She could see using MUPTE in situations where it was necessary to level the playing field or a public subsidy was needed in order for development that met multiple City objectives to happen; in this case multi-family housing would be built anyway and there was no justification for a public subsidy. She was also concerned about subsidizing the demolition of vintage houses. She stated that the loss of Westmoreland student housing would create an even larger market for student housing and strongly believed the City should not be publicly subsidizing this type of project. Councilor Solomon clarified that the owners would still pay tax on the land; the exemption was for a ten- year period and only for improvements to the property. MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 24, 2006 Page 5 Regular Meeting Roll call vote; Consent Calendar Item D, adoption of Resolution 4885 approving a th multiple-unit property tax exemption for property located at 673 East 14 Alley Way as amended passed, 5:2; councilors Taylor and Bettman voting in opposition. Referring to Item E, Councilor Bettman asked if the projects located outside of the urban growth boundary in Eugene and Springfield were being built in order to provide capacity for future growth. Principal Planner Kurt Yeiter replied that he understood the projects were a combination of accommodating planned growth, improving services for existing residents and in one instance providing additional backup through a joint effort with other utility districts. He said in some cases the project would relocate pipes to a more suitable location. Councilor Bettman cited references to a metropolitan-wide system and connections between three different water systems. She asked if that reflected a trend toward regionalizing the water system the way the wastewater system was regionalized. Mr. Yeiter said he did not believe the amendments before the council represented a step toward regionalization. He said the concept of a regionalized water supply had surfaced through the Region 2050 project and would be a separate discussion. Councilor Bettman said she did not think it was a separate discussion; it was a huge policy decision and before initiating the amendment to move in that direction, it was the council’s responsibility to have a discussion and make a policy decision about whether it was beneficial to the City of Eugene and the public. She intended to vote against the amendment. Councilor Kelly understood Councilor Bettman’s concerns but observed there was no amendment before the council and without even an outline of that amendment it was not possible to have a policy discussion. He would support the motion to initiate with the understanding that he would want the issue of regionaliza- tion clarified in the amendment with respect to which projects might be associated with that direction. Councilor Taylor questioned why it was necessary to vote on the item immediately. She expressed concern about inappropriate items on the Consent Calendar. Councilor Bettman disagreed that initiating the amendment did not change anything as it committed resources to pursuing a direction that the council had not discussed in terms of policy. She said that no documentation was provided in the agenda materials for the cost savings or significance of moving in a regional direction. She was concerned about regionalization and pointed to the wastewater system as an example of how Eugene ratepayers suffered under the financing structure and local control was lost. In response to a question from Councilor Kelly, Mr. Yeiter said that if there was no decision on the item 60 days from the date the staff report was forwarded to the council it was automatically denied. Roll call vote; Consent Calendar Item E, initiation of Eugene Water & Electric Board Metro Plan amendment passed, 5:2; councilors Taylor and Bettman voting in opposition. The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m. Respectfully submitted, MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 24, 2006 Page 6 Regular Meeting Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Lynn Taylor) MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 24, 2006 Page 7 Regular Meeting