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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/18/1985 Meeting t, M I NUT E S . Eugene City Council Work Session City Ha11--McNutt Room December 18, 1985 11 : 30 a.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Cynthia Wooten, Emily Schue, Freeman Holmer, Ruth Bascom, Debra Ehrman, Roger Rutan, Jeff Miller. COUNCILOR ABSENT: Richard Hansen. Mayor Brian B. Obie called the work session to order at 11:40 a.m. I. PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION ON DRAFT TRANSPLAN Planning Director Susan Brody suggested the councilors review the draft of the TransP1an by examining the recommendations of the Planning Commission which were in a memo to the Mayor and City Council dated December 11, 1985. The memo was attached to the council IS agenda. Ms. Brody said the Planning Com- mission addressed most of the concerns expressed at the council's public hear- e i ng. She introduced Kirk McKinley of the Planning Department, who discussed each of the Planning Commission recommendations and asked for comments from the councilors on each recommendation. Mr. McKinley distributed a memo dated December 16, 1985, to the Mayor and City Council from Councilor Hansen. The memo contained several comments about the TransP1an. Mr. McKinley included Mr. Hansen's comments as he discussed the following recommendations of the Planning Commission presented in the memo: 1. The Planning Commission recommended the addition of the three following paragraphs as a preface to the plan: The automobile will continue to be the primary. . . transit or carpool. To accommodate increases in street and highway traffic. . . new routes. Due to unforeseen circumstances which include lack of funding, not all projects shown in the plan will necessarily be built. Ms. Ehrman questioned the phrase "due to unforeseen circumstances. II She said some circumstances, such as a lack of funding, are not unforeseen. Ms. Bascom said other circumstances that are unforeseen might develop. e MINUTES--Eugene Planning Commission December 18, 1985 Page 1 2. . . . Amendments to the plan will be considered in accordance with procedures outlined in PC7 of the Planning and Coordination section in the Goals, Objectives, and Policies Element of the plan. Ms. Bascom suggested Policy PC7 be summarized in the "Updating the Plan" section because people are interested in the process. Mr. McKinley noted that PC7 is a new policy. 3. Goals, Objectives, and Policies A. The Planning Commission recommended LU4 in the Land Use and Development Patterns Section be (page 3): LU4--Deve1op an arterial street system which will attract through automobiles and trucks off local streets. The councilors made no comments. B. The Planning Commission recommended the addition of the following implementation strategy in LUS (page 3): LUS.a.--Provision of adequate arterial and collector streets; e Councilor Miller asked if the staff considered designating collectors and arterials as minor and major ones. Dave Reinhard of the Public Works Depart- ment said the City uses the Federal classifications. An intent of TransP1an is to update the Planned Street and Highway Map and the street classification system after the adoption. C. PC7--Conduct a major update of TransP1an in conjunction with each major update of the Metropolitan Area General Plan. . . to initiate amendments to the plan. (See Appendix B for amendment procedures). The councilors made no comments. 4. The Planning Commission recommended the addition of the following policy: - PC8--Prepare an Annual Report which summarizes transportation statistics as they pertain to progress made in attaining the transportation goals of the p1 an. Mr. Holmer Questioned the advisability of an annual report. Ms. Brody said the Metro Plan will be updated every five years. The next update will be started in July 1987; therefore, the TransPlan will be updated in FY89. She said the annual report was suggested as a way to monitor progress in meeting the transit goal. - MINUTES--Eugene Planning Commission December 18, 1985 Page 2 5. The be . - 1 nc Answering questions, Mr. McKinley said by including the amendment process in the appendix, the public would be apprised of means by which they could amend the pl an. Mr. Hansen recommended the following wording for 16 (page 5): In construction or reconstruction of arterials and collector streets, provide on-street bike lanes when such installation will not reduce the need capacity of the road and when such additional cost for bike lanes will be justified according to the Bicycle Plan. Ms. Bascom said the provision of on-street bike lines involves a safety issue. She did not favor the wording suggested by Mr. Hansen. 6. and 7.--The councilors did not comment on the Planning Commission recom- mendation that the Implementation policies should be reordered with Policy 113 becoming the first one (page 4 and 5) or the recommendation that an addition be made to the discussion part of the Funding Section of the Goals, Objectives, and Policies Element (page 5). 8. e Mr. Holmer suggested that "local sales tax" and "local income tax" be deleted from the implementation strategies in F4. "- 9. and 10.--The councilors did not comment on the Planning Commission recom- mendatlon that the words "when necessary" be added to Pk1 (page 5) or the recommendation that the wording of Policy Pk2 be modified. 11. the following wordin for Pk3 Pk3--Investigate the possibility of changing the building and parking codes to promote alternative modes and transit usage by reducing the minimum number of parking spaces. Answering Questions, Ms. Brody said the commissioners discussed the policy at length. The Planning Commission vote on the policy was 4:3. 12. and 13.--The councilors did not comment on the Planning Commission recom- mendation that the wording of Policy Pk6 (page 6) and Implementation Strategy "b" be modified or the recommendation that the wording for Policy Pk8 (page 6) be modified. Mr. Hansen recommended the deletion of the following AM2c (page 6): c. closing streets to single-occupant autos; . MINUTES--Eugene Planning Commission December 18, 1985 Page 3 ,. Mr. Hansen recommended the following wording for AM3b (page 6): Reduce parking requirements so long as sufficient number of employees utilize other means of transportation so that there is not any infringement on on-street parking or neighboring lots and. . . 14. The Planning Commission agreed with the Lane County and Springfield planning commissions that policy AM3 and Implementation Strategy "b" should bemod1f1ed as follows (page 6): AM3--Provide incentives for businesses to subsidize transit fares for their employees, customers, or occupants or provide incentives for the use of alternative modes. b. reducing parking requirements for employers that agree to subsi- dize employee transit fares or provide incentives for the use of alternative modes; Answering a question, Ms. Brody said the implementation strategies are the i ncenti ves. 15. The councilors did not comment on the recommendation that the wording of AM5 (page 6) be modified to agree with the Springfield and Lane County planning commissions' recommendation. 16. The Planning Commission recommended the addition of the following policy e to the Alternative Modes Section (page 6) as suggested by Lane Transit Di strict: , AM8--Establish a permanent, central transit station in downtown Eugene that is located and designed to meet the needs of bus riders and to operate safely and efficiently. Answering a Question, Ms Brody said LTD is concerned that the current central transit station may not remain when the downtown is redeveloped. The councilors did not comment on the addition recommended by the Planning Commission to the third paragraph of the Transit Element (page 19), the change recommended by the Planning Commission in the fourth paragraph of the Parking Element (page 24), or the recommendation of the Eugene Planning Commission, the Springfield Planning Commission, and the Lane County Planning Commission that the explanation of the Transit and Alternative Modes Study (page 31) in Appendix B be amplified to indicate it may lead to a recommendation to reconsider the transit and alternative mode assumptions used in TransP1an. The work session was adjourned at 12:15 p.m. . (Recorded by Betty Lou Rarick) BLR:pv/1923C MINUTES--Eugene Planning Commission December 18, 1985 Page 4