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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/17/1982 Meeting ,; M I NUT E S e Eugene City Council Work Session on West University Refinement Plan McNutt Room, City Hall March 17, 1982 11 : 00 a. m . PRESENT: Gus Keller, Mayor; Emily Schue, D. W. Hamel, Gretchen Miller, Mark Lindberg, Brian Obie, Cynthia Wooten (11:25 to adjournment), Eric Haws (12:15 to adjournment), Eugene City Council; Eleanor Mulder (11:20 to adjournment), Eugene Planning Commission; Micheal Gleason, City Manager; Pat Lynch, Council Administrator; Carol Baker, Community Relations Director; Beth Campbell, Neighborhood Liaison; Pat Decker, Jody Miller, Planning staff; Ed Mahn, Sacred Heart General Hospital; Wilma Downie, Marshall Landman, West University Neighbors; Fred Webb, KUGN; Jack Hammond, KEZI; Patty Mantia, Eugene Register-Guard. I. INTRODUCTION Councilors agreed to use the alternative language for the introduction to the plan that had been suggested in the memorandum of February 26, 1982, from Councilor Miller. 4It II. TRANSPORTATION AND PARKING ELEMENT A. Definition of Policy Councilors agreed with Councilor Miller's suggestion that the definition of policy not be included in each section of the plan, but that reference to the definition be made in each section. B. Policy 1 Councilors considered the wording used in the plan draft and the wording proposed by the Planning Commission and agreed to use the wording suggested by Councilor Miller: liThe use of bicycles, mass transit, walking, carpooling, and other appropriate alternative modes of transportation, especially by employees in the plan area, shall be actively encouraged and provided for in order to reduce automobile dependence and alleviate traffic and parking problems." - MINUTES--Eugene City Council Work Session on West University Plan 3/17/82 Page 1 c. Policies 2 and 3 . Councilors agreed to the changes in wording recommended by the Planning Commission. [Changes recommended by the Planning Commission are contained in the revised plan draft of February 4, 1982.] D. Policy 5 Councilors agreed to use the language recommended in the staff notes of Febru- ary 2, 1982: "Traffic management techniques shall continue to be used and new techniques developed to reinforce the idea of a hierarchy of streets in the plan area. Some streets shall combine their local, collector, or arterial function with a role as primary pedestrian-bicycle ways." E. Po 1 icy 7 Councilors agreed to use the wording recommended by Councilor Miller: "Access to institutions in the plan area shall be taken from arterials where practical. Access to existing institutions which is taken from arterials shall continue to be so maintained." e F. Definition of Proposal Councilors agreed to use the defintion only in the Introduction, rather than repeating it in each section. They agreed to use the definition suggested by Councilor Miller: "proposals are suggestions for implementing policies of this plan. In general, they will be further reviewed and studied and mayor may not be implemented in the form in which they appear in the plan. They are recognized as ideas which have been suggested, after some public discussion, as possible ways to implement the plan." G. Proposal 7 Councilors discussed the wordings suggested by the Planning Commission and by Councilor Miller. Mr. Obie said he preferred the Planning Commission's language. Ms. Miller said she felt emphasis should be placed on locating and designing parking structures to have minimal impact on nearby residential areas. Councilors agreed to a wording that combined the Planning Commission's language with Councilor Millerls suggestion: "If additional mullti-level parking structures are necessary, they should be designed for safety, efficiency, and compatability with surroundings, taking into consideration the effect on residential areas, including traffic, visual, noise, and artificial lighting impacts, and design for possible later conversion to other uses should be encouraged. II e MINUTES--Eugene City Council Work Session on West University Plan 3/17/82 Page 2 . H. Proposa 1 2 Jody Miller said that School District 4-J had expressed concern that the plan map showed changes in the Oak Street/Pearl Street corridor that would affect the district's bus garages. Councilors agreed to delete the portion of the map showing a possible street through the bus garage area and to add the language suggested by Councilor Miller to indicate that the effect of changes to the Pearl-Oak system should be studied with special consideration for the public and private investment in the existing system and that if a decision is made to make a change, it should be designed to minimize adverse effects on landowners. Councilor Wooten arrived at the meeting. I. Proposal 10 Councilors agreed with Councilor Miller's suggestion to delete from the last sentence of the proposal the words "viability" and "visibility." The amended material reads, "improving current connections to the river, especially the Hi lyard Street access. II III. PUBLIC FACILITIES AND SERVICES ELEMENT A. Finding 10 Councilors agreed that reference to Lincoln School should be deleted, since the school is no longer a functioning elementary school. e IV. NEIGHBORHOOD DESIGN ELEMENT A. Introduction Councilor Miller said she felt that the definition of IIWaterways" in the plan should be amended to make it clear that the council, in adopting the plan, is not endorsing the Emerald Waterways proposal. Councilors agreed to change the word "endorses" to the words "refers to." The amended sentence reads: "This plan refers to a third waterway, a canal which, if built, would connect the existing two, thus forming a waterway system that, as proposed, would serve several purposes: flood control, transportation, recreation, and a visual amen ity. II v. LAND USE ELEMENT A. Introduction Councilor Miller said that the changes suggested in her memorandum placed greater emphasis on commercial interests in the area and deleted reference to the South University Neighborhood Association, as well as simplifying and shortening the introduction. - MINUTES--Eugene City Council Work Session on West University Plan 3/17/82 Page 3 e Ms. Decker noted that, since the time of the plan draft, considerable study had been done on commercial interests in the plan area. Councilors agreed to accept the changes recommended in Councilor Miller's memorandum, deleting the sentence that reads, "This plan suggests that commercial uses in the plan area need further study after the plan is adopted, because this planning process has tended to focus on residential and institutional issues." B. Findings Councilors agreed to delete Finding 35, since they did not believe it was properly classified as a finding. They agreed to include a portion of Finding 35 as a policy, to read, "Commercially zoned property must be used more intensely in the future." e Councilor Miller referred to the reordering of findings suggested in her memorandum. She felt the reorganization presented the findings in a more logical order, grouping subject areas such as employment and land use. Councilor Miller suggested that the first line of Finding 38, which states, "Health care is an important and growing industry in the local economy," be deleted, since a similar statement is included as a policy and since she believed including the statement would require further identification of other important industries in the plan area, such as the University of Oregon and Northwest Christian College. Ms. Wooten and Mr. Lindberg agreed. Mr. Obie felt that the sentence should be left in, since he felt it was important to recognize that the health industry is a major growth industry in the plan area. He did not foresee a great deal of growth for the educational institutions in the plan area. Mr. Hamel agreed. ./ After considerable discussion, councilors agreed that Findings 38 and 41 should be combined, with addition of information on the payrolls, expenditures, and numbers of employees for the University of Oregon and Northwest Christian College, similar to the information for the medical community contained in the draft of Finding 38. C. Po 1 i ci es 1. Policy 19 Councilor Miller felt it was important to indicate that the City's support of the growth and maintenance of the health care and education industries would be balanced with other City goals. Mr. Lindberg favored the wording suggested in Councilor Miller's memorandum, since he believed that it recognized the limits of City resources. Councilors agreed to accept Councilor Miller's wording, substituting the word "grow" for the words "remain stable." The amended language reads, "The City will assist the health care and education industries to grow and to continue to provide services and employment, to the extent allowed by balancing of all City goals, recognizing that they are important contributors to the local economy." e MINUTES--Eugene City Council Work Session on West University Plan 3/17/82 Page 4 # e e e . D. Land Use Diagram Jody Miller explained that the diagram in the draft plan had designated Mixed Use areas, but that the Planning Commission had attempted to eliminate use of the term "Mixed Use" because of public concern and misundertanding. She said that in past discussion the council had indicated it wished to reinstate the Mixed Use designation in the diagram, strengthening the text to emphasize that this designation was not a rezoning. She said that another alternative would be to designate the mixed use areas "Commercial and Housing" or "Commercial with Housing." After some discussion, councilors agreed to use the "Commercial and Housing" designation. Councilors agreed with the suggestion made by Councilor Miller that the Intro- duction, particularly the third paragraph, be revised to conform with decisions made by the council in adopting the plan. V. GENERAL COMMENTS Mr. Lindberg asked that reference to implementation of the woonerf concept be stated in a positive way to indicate that the woonerf will be used to create an incentive for automobiles to use arterial streets, but that it is not intended to prevent access to the woonerf area streets. He wanted to make certain that the woonerf concept was not confused with street diverters or barricades. Councilors agreed that this should be done. Jody Miller suggested that this could be done in a marginal note accompanying the woonerf policies. Councilor Obie asked that the Planning staff obtain written statements from the six clinics located in the residentially zoned area south of 13th Avenue, on the land under their development control as of December 1, 1981, that they desire to use for future clinic expansion. Councilor Hamel and Mayor Keller agreed that this was a good idea. Mr. Obie suggested that staff put together a draft of the plan, containing the revisions agreed to by the council and that a public hearing be held on the revisions. Ms. Decker said that the revisions would be incorporated into the plan in legislative format in time for council consideration prior to the April 14th meeting at which the council would be taking action on the plan. Jody Miller said that a public hearing is scheduled for April 14 on the R-3/ R-4 code amendments, the most controversial issue in the plan. Mr. Lindberg said he believed that the council had reached consensus on the plan. He felt that if there were to be a public hearing, testimony should be permitted only on the revisions, since there had been adequate opportunity for comment on the plan itself. VI. IMPLEMENTATION PRIORITIES Ms. Miller said that coordination between the institutions, the City, and the neighborhoods, which had been listed as an implementation priority, was already MINUTES--Eugene City Council Work Session on West University Plan 3/17/82 Page 5 j . e e . occurring through the University/Community Liaison Committee. She said that state payments in lieu of taxes to support transit, also an implementation priority, had been accomplished through the 1981 Legislature. Mr. Lindberg referred to the implementation priorities related to the woonerf concept and asked that the following items be included as priorities: nodal developments, pedestrian-scale lighting, east-west bicycle movement, and preferential parking programs. Councilor Haws arrived at the meeting. Councilors agreed to include the four woonerf-related implementation priorities suggested by Mr. Lindberg. Meeting was adjourned at 12:20 p.m. (Recorded by Darcy Marentette) DCM:vr/CM27b7 MINUTES--Eugene City Council Work Session on West University Plan 3/17/82 Page 6