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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/17/1982 Meeting (2) 1 ;, e e e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room, City Hall February 17, 1982 12:30 p.m. PRESENT: Councilors Brian Obie, Mark Lindberg, Bill Hamel, Gretchen Miller, and Emile Schue; Micheal Gleason, City Manager; Pat Decker, Jody Miller, Jim Croteau, Planning staff; Eleanor Mulder and Adrienne Lannom, Eugene Planning Commission; Pat Lynch, Sheila Arthur, Marge Beck, Beth Campbell, City Manager's Office; Wilma Downie and Marshall Landman, West University Neighborhood; and Barbara Matt, KVAL-TV. I. REVIEW OF MEMORANDUM Jody Miller reviewed the Planning staff memorandum dated February 10, 1982, which outlined the differences between conditional use permit, site review, and mixed use zoning as they would apply to the East 12th Avenue area in the West University Refinement Plan Land Use Diagram. She noted that councilors present had toured the area in question and had received a memo dated February 4 with the Planning Commission's recommendation incorporated into the plan draft. Councilor Lindberg asked that the woonerf concept be moved from a proposal to a policy status and staff be directed to examine the issues and recommend which issues can be implemented and which cannot. Council consensus was to proceed in this manner. II. CONSIDERATION OF 12TH AVENUE AREA Jody Miller said the Planning Commission had recommended that clinics be an outright use, subject to site review, in R-4 districts north of 13th Avenue in the plan area. The West University Neighborhood, in forwarding the draft plan, recommended that clinics not be allowed in the R-3 or R-4 districts. The draft plan recommended that clinics be a conditional use in R-4 districts and that clinics are an appropriate use on 12th Avenue, but that residential uses should be predominant. A tax map showing the R-4 on 12th Avenue for the area in question was displayed to assist the council in their discussions. Ms. Schue asked for a definition of "clinic." Mr. Croteau said a clinic is any medical facility, such as a doctor or dentist office, that does not qualify as a hospital. There is no differentiation between a one- or two-person and a ten-person office. One method for allowing clinics on 12th Avenue and still protecting existing housing was offered by Mr. Lindberg. His criteria stated that clinics would be allowed as outright uses if: 1) at least half the floor area is housing, 2) the clinic has a certain level of intensity (three stores or more), 3) not more MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 17, 1982 Page 1 ~ ,- ~ e than 50 percent of the land is non-residentially used, and 4) the clinic uses an existing structure so that the character of the neighborhood was not destroyed. Ms. Schue felt two issues were important: how to preserve the housing on 12th Avenue and how to accommodate physicians who need offices near the hospital. She said a definition which would distinguish between doctor's offices and clinics would be helpful. She agreed that a mixed use of residential and professional offices was a good idea, but she understood it is difficult to finance. Mr. Obie suggested that the council could adopt the plan as recommended by the Planning Commission with the exception of the 12th Avenue area which could be treated as a special area. He was inclined to favor clinics in R-4 districts as a conditional use. In reviewing the existing criteria for conditional use, Mr. Lindberg felt they were somewhat vague and should be more specific for this particular area. Jody Miller said the Hearings Official, in considering a conditional use application, would refer to the refinement plan for guidance and it would be appropriate for the council to include specific guidelines for allowing clinics in the area. Mr. Obie was concerned about investors who have relied on past plans and he felt that should be a consideration in this conditional use process. Mr. Hamel asked how much of the area was owner-occupied. Jody Miller said that in the whole neighborhood, the owner-occupancy rate is about 5 percent. Within the specified area on 12th Avenue, the figures were not readily available. e Mr. Lindberg observed that the principal goals were to preserve housinq and to preserve the character of the neighborhood. Balancing the two objectives was difficult, but one way to preserve housing would be to obtain very intense use through high-rise buildings. The problem with this, as he saw it, was that massive structures would destroy the neighborhood's character. Councilor Miller reviewed the Metro General Plan goals for this area regarding increased housing density. She said she was inclined to favor one or two high-rise medical facilities and preserve the rest of 12th Avenue for housing. She noted the importance of 12th Avenue for bicycle and foot traffic. In addition, she was concerned about the feasibility of converting some of the older existing structures into professional offices. Mr. Hamel expressed his concern about traffic related to high-rise residential or professional buildings. Ms. Schue said a general practitioner might be very comfortable in an older home, but it would probably not satify a specialist who desires to be close to the hospital to take advantage of using the hospital's expensive equipment. Mr. Croteau said the more specific the plan could be in policy language regarding what types of conditional uses would be permitted, the more it would assist the Hearings Official in making a decision. Jody Miller said the specifics for 12th Avenue would be included in the text for the Land Use Diagram, as well as in the policies in the Land Use Element. - MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 17, 1982 Page 2 , . ,"" e Mr. Obie asked if there was consensus for treating 12th Avenue differently from the rest of the area in the West University Refinement Plan draft. Councilor Miller felt that there were several options before the council: one was to make the use of R-4 districts for clinics a conditional use throughout the city except for the 12th Avenue area, where it would be an outright use with site review; and another option would be to make it an outright use in R-4 districts except for the 12th Avenue area. Jody Miller explained the Planning Commission's recommendations that clinics be a conditional use in R-4 districts city-wide, except in the plan area. Clinics would be an outright use with site review in the R-4 district north of 13th, including the parcels zoned R-4 around the Millrace. In the R-4 district south of 13th, clinics would not be allowed. Mr. Gleason suggested that staff be directed to bring back to the council drawings of the area where the council may favor intensive development as an outright use and drawings of the zone around 12th Avenue where the council may wish conditional review with specific criteria to be met. Ms. Decker suggested requesting maps showing exactly where the R-4 zones are north of 13th as well as a list of options for treating clinics in that area compared to the city as a whole. Mr. Gleason suggested the use of map overlays (including blank overlays) to assist the council in their discussions. Mr. Obie was interested in develop- ing criteria with incentives for increased intensity of use. He also wished the council to discuss the expansion of existing clinics north of 13th. Council will discuss these issues further on March 10 and 17, 1982. The meeting was adjourned. (Recorded by Joyce Edwards) 4It JE:kb/CM8b24 ~~ 4It MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 17, 1982 Page 3