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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/07/1990 Meeting e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall November 7, 1990 11:30 a.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Emily Schue, Rob Bennett, Debra Ehrman, Freeman Holmer, Ruth Bascom, Roger Rutan, Bobby Green. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Shawn Boles. The adjourned meeting of November 5, 1990, of the Eugene City Council was called to order by His Honor Mayor Jeff Miller. I. ITEMS FROM THE MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, AND CITY MANAGER A. City Manager's Merit Increase on Hold In light of financial uncertainty surrounding the passage of State Ballot Measure 5, Mayor Miller suggested that the council put on hold the City Man- e ager's merit increase recently recommended by the Council Committee on Com- mittees; the council should continue to recommend the standard cost-of-living increase. Ms. Schue agreed with the Mayor's suggestion, noting that the Committee on Committees agreed unanimously that Mr. Gleason had been very effective in his position and felt a salary adjustment would be appropriate. Mr. Gleason offered his support for the council's decision. B. Impact of Ballot Measure 5 Mr. Gleason provided the council with a report on the possible impacts of Ballot Measure 5. He stressed that the real impacts of Measure 5 are yet unclear and will depend on how the courts interpret the language in the mea- sure. Mr. Gleason also noted that due to actions taken during the past year, the success of the measure does not put the City in a crisis situation. Mr. Gleason said that the figures being presented represent neither the best- nor worst-case scenario of events. He said that the cumulative loss in reve- nues to the General Fund over the next five years would be between $3-5 mil- l ion. Mr. Gleason said that the City will need to begin a transition in FY92; staff will soon be bringing the council a policy statement with a list of decision e MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 7, 1990 Page 1 e options regarding the basic structure of the budget. He said that the coun- cil will need to spend a lot of time in the upcoming year educating community citizens on fiscal affairs and determining what they want local government to look like. In order to handle the extensive public communication process, Mr. Gleason recommended an increase in Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) staff. Mr. Gleason suggested that the City begin conserving financial resources and recommended that the council initiate an administrative spending authority to roll forward approximately $600,000 for next year. He said that the need to hire additional positions should be examined closely, but noted that he does not recommend instituting a hiring freeze because the costs associated with it often exceed the benefits (i.e., covering additional workload with staff overtime is often more expensive than hiring a new employee). Mr. Gleason said that the success of Measure 5 demonstrates citizens' intent to force changes in school funding. However, inherent in that decision is an implicit agreement to forfeit some decision-making authority to the State Legislature. In sum, the compounding effect of the measure will be about how local government will deliver its services in the future and what services it will provide. Referring to a point made earlier in which Mr. Gleason reported that Measure 5 would not impact all City operations but only those areas which rely on General Fund support, Ms. Bascom pointed out that although one portion of City operations may be doing better than another, employees from the non-im- e pacted areas should not be getting a higher level of compensation. Mr. Gleason concurred. Mr. Rutan requested a brief report on the major components of Measure 5 and potential impacts on City operation. Mr. Gleason agreed to provide the re- port and said that some areas of potential impact would be tax increment financing, Bancroft funding, State-shared revenues, property tax, and some user fees. Ms. Ehrman said that because of financial uncertainty surrounding Measure 5, the issue of library funding might need to be postponed. Mr. Rutan said that the additional information that he requested is necessary before making any decisions about the library. Responding to a question from Ms. Bascom, Mr. Gleason said that Measure 5 did not pass in Eugene. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 7, 1990 Page 2 e C. Council Appointments Ms. Schue moved, seconded by Mr. Green, to appoint Larry Hedberg and Johnathan Stafford to the Downtown Commission; and Jerry Blakely to the Eugene/Springfield Metropolitan Partner- ship. Roll call vote; the motion carried unanimously, 7:0. D. Council's Position on the Tree Ordinance Ms. Ehrman noted that she would be attending a meeting of the Board of County Commissioners regarding the Tree Ordinance and asked for discussion about the council's final position on the issues. After discussion, the council agreed unanimously that the City's Hearing's Official should be the appeal body for the ordinance. E- State of the City Address Mayor Miller asked the council for input on what format should be used for this year's State of the City Address. Some councilors favored a noon-time session because it provided the greatest opportunity for community participa- tion while others favored an evening session because it allowed more time for the swearing-in ceremony. After discussion, the council agreed on an evening forum to be held at the Hult Center. F. Budget Committee Lay Member Appointment Process e Mayor Miller said that the Council Committee on Committees discussed the appointment process for lay members of the Budget Committee and agreed that the process should be changed. The committee recommended an at-large member appointment process and that the interview and appointment process should be similar to the Planning Commission model. The committee also agreed on the need for a job description stipulating the Budget Committee's role in the budget process. Ms. Ehrman said that providing that there are enough candidates, she favors the current process of appointing candidates by wards, rather than the sug- gested at-large appointment process. The council called for preliminary staff work on this issue prior to a coun- cil work session. Mayor Miller announced that the Agenda Item V (Council Vacancy Appointments) would be moved up to item II so that Ms. Schue could be present for discus- sion. II. COUNCIL VACANCY APPOINTMENTS Mr. Holmer announced that he would be resigning as council representative from Ward 5. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 7, 1990 Page 3 e Mr. Holmer commended the two candidates from Ward 5 for the civil, issue- oriented nature of their campaign and said this manner of campaigning should serve as a model for future political campaigns. He noted that the candi- dates had agreed to only accept campaign contributions from individuals who reside in the City and agreed that contributions would not exceed $100. He suggested that in the future the council may want to examine the manner in which campaigns are financed; specifically, it might want to consider parti- san elections. Ms. Schue moved, seconded by Ms. Ehrman, to appoint Paul Nicholson to the council seat in Ward 4 and Kaye Robinette to the council seat in Ward 5 effective upon the receipt of the resignation of those currently holding the positions. The motion carried unanimously, 7:0. Mayor Miller and Ms. Schue presented Councilor Bennett and Councilor Holmer with plaques in recognition of their service on the City Council. (Councilor Schue was not present for discussion of the remaining agenda items. ) III. WORK S ESS ION: COMMERCIAL LANDS STUDY Teresa Bishow, Planning and Development Department, provided a brief status e report on work completed on the draft Eugene Commercial Lands Study. She said that the Planning Commission is scheduled to complete preparation on the draft study in December. The draft study will then go through an extensive public review process. The council is scheduled to hold its first work ses- sion on the draft study in June and if adopted qUickly, plan implementation will begin in July. Nancy Nathanson, Eugene Planning Commission, provided the council with a preliminary look at the emerging recommendations from the Planning Commission discussions. As an overview, she said that the commission is discussing commercial lands supply and demand issues, design concerns, and the portions of the Retail Task Force recommendations which the Planning Commission deemed as relevant. Ken Tollenaar, Eugene Planning Commission, spoke about the supply and demand issues. He indicated that the commission is recommending a supply of commer- cial lands roughly equal to the present supply. He reviewed the following list of tentative Planning Commission recommendations: 1) Include downtown Urban Renewal Agency surface parking lots as part of the "Buildable Commercial lands Supply." 2) Acknowledge the influence physical site constraints have on devel- opment costs and qua4ity of supply. 3) Correct significant plan/zone conflicts to provide greater cer- tainty to developers/community. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 7, 1990 Page 4 ...~~ e 4) Amend zoning ordinance to better gUide types and scale of uses permitted in commercial zones. Consider a new zoning district for small scale neighborhood-oriented uses. 5) Support local economic objectives over national trends. 6) Rely on the redevelopment and infill of existing commercial land and the supply of vacant commercial sites to meet short-term de- velopment needs (1990-1995). Regarding the commission's recommendation to include all downtown Urban Re- newal Agency (URA) surface parking lots as part of the "Buildable Commercial Lands Supply," Ms. Ehrman said that the supply of commercial lands should reflect actual buildable land. As an example, she said that if the City was to make a commitment that certain parking lots would remain as parking lots over the long-term, these lots should not be included in the commercial land supply. Regarding the recommendation which proposes a new zoning district for small- scale, neighborhood-oriented uses, Mr. Bennett asked whether the commission made a distinction between whether the neighborhood commercial site was sur- rounded by multi-family versus single-family residential uses. He noted that some types of mixed-use developments are more successful in higher density residential areas where developers have more latitude in areas such as site planning, buffering, shared open space, etc. In response, Mr. Tollenaar said that the commission did not make such a distinction. Ms. Nathanson provided an overview of design recommendations for commercial e areas. Mr. Tollenaar emphasized that the commission would be revisiting the design recommendations again before signing off on the draft. Mr. Bennett urged the commission to be cautious when implementing design standards for large-scale commercial developments. He spoke about the debate which exists in the community about whether large-scale developments such as ShopKo should be allowed to develop. Citizens who oppose such developments often feel that they are aesthetically displeasing while others support them because they provide a wide variety of items at affordable prices. Mr. Bennett said that it is better to make it clear up front what types of busi- ness will be allowed in the community rather than allowing business to come in and then imposing such stringent design and parking standards that they can no longer compete. Mr. Green voiced concern about the legal ramifications of deciding what type and scale of developments would be allowed in the area. Regarding site development requirements, Ms. Nathanson noted that developers have indicated a willingness to work with more stringent design requirements if they were imposed fairly and equally to all. She emphasized that it is not the commission's intent to curtail creativity by requiring more stringent design standards, and spoke about the possibility of negotiating with devel- opers on site development. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 7, 1990 Page 5 e Mayor Miller wondered how it would be possible to negotiate with developers on site development standards and yet remain objective and equitable to all parties. Ms. Nathanson said that the commission has discussed the possible implementation of an administrative plan review and appeal process; she stressed that the commission has not completed this discussion yet. Mr. Rutan observed that developments can increase property values through landscaping and the addition of other amenities and suggested that the com- mission promote these standards as an opportunity for developers to improve commercial property values. Ms. Nathanson reviewed a list of items taken from the Retail Task Force re- port which the commission felt were important within the context of the Com- mercial Lands Study, including: implementing more stringent design and site review, implementing parking maximums and minimums, designating downtown as a commercial service area for south and southeast Eugene, and discouraging major office development outside of downtown. Mayor Miller cautioned the Planning Commission that the council has not reached agreement on Section 4 of the Retail Task Force report which included the recommendation to discourage major office development outside of down- town. He said that it would be inappropriate for the commission to deal with this issue until the council has reached some agreement. IV. WORK SESSION: SIGN CODE AMENDMENT TO ALLOW FLAGS FOR GOVERNMENTAL e ENTITIES Marsha Miller, Planning and Development Department, reported that at its September 12 council work session, the council directed staff to draft an amendment to the Sign Code that would exempt governmental entities from spec- ified flag or banner use. This request was due to a specific request for banners on flag poles on Centennial Boulevard at Autzen Stadium. Ms. Miller said that based on a review of the specific request involved, and the provisions of the new Sign Code, staff has identified four options that the council could consider: make no change in the current code; expand the exemption for "public signs" in the code to include the University in the category of governmental agencies; expand the exemption for "conference and convention banners" to include for a limited time the banners; or create a new exemption that would be broad enough to allow this class of banners. Ms. Miller said that staff recommends that the council choose the first op- tion, to make no change in the current code. She explained that although at the time of the request, the University did not feel that it would be able to go though the revokable permit process, it has since begun the exemption process and found it to be workable. Also, the new Sign Code has not been in operation long enough for staff to evaluate whether the request about the banners on Centennial Boulevard is unique and whether an amendment of this area of the code is in order. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 7, 1990 Page 6 e The council agreed unanimously to continue to monitor the request but take no further action on this issue at this time. V. WORK SESSION: PROPOSED TOBACCO VENDING ORDINANCE The council agreed to withhold a decision on the proposed tobacco vending ordinance until Ms. Schue could be present. Lieutenant Vic Mann, Department of Public Safety, provided a brief staff report. He said that this item was prepared in response to a request from the Lane County Chapter of the Ameri- can Lung Association that the council consider a City ordinance to be effec- tive in preventing the illegal sale of tobacco to minors. Lieutenant Mann said that the Department of Public Safety has reviewed simi- lar efforts in other locales and indicated that there are a number of poten- tial options available to the council, including: taking no action and de- ferring to the County or State for possible legislation; implementing a li- censing program that registers every retail tobacco sales outlet; adopting an ordinance similar to Linn County's and mandating a one-year review to deter- mine its effectiveness; or considering a range of stronger regulations. Lieutenant Mann said that staff's first recommendation is to take no action on this item and defer legislation to the County or State. However, if the council desires to take action, staff recommends that the council consider an ordinance similar to the one adopted in Linn County. He estimated that such an ordinance would involve approximately 50 machines in the City and would e have negligible enforcement costs. Responding to a question from Ms. Bascom, Lieutenant Mann said that the law currently in effect prohibits smoking in public places. The law, which des- ignates the Oregon State Health Division as its enforcer, is primarily en- forced on a complaint basis. Mr. Rutan said that the council needs to consider what the proper role of government should be in regulating this activity. Noting that the proposed regulation program would not be self-supporting, he urged the council to retreat from this issue. Mr. Green voiced concern with the proposed ordinance. He noted that while the ordinance penalizes cigarette vendors, it does not hold minors legally accountable for their actions. Ms. Ehrman said that she brought this request before the council at the re- quest of a constituent. She agreed that any licensing system should be done on a statewide issue. She expressed an interest in following Springfield's lead of licensing tobacco vending machines. In light of the health hazards associated with passive smoke, Ms. Bascom expressed her interest in becoming involved in a State program that would effectively enforce the indoor smoking law. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 7, 1990 Page 7 ---- ---- e Mr. Bennett noted that only a small percentage of juveniles get their ciga- rettes from tobacco vending machines. The meeting adjourned at 1:25 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ""'.-:t--;": / .~~~ .."",, I' '/ :,....:..'-'>!" /" . . 11 Micheal Gleason City Manager (Recorded by Traci Northman) mncc 110790-1130 e e MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 7, 1990 Page 8 -