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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/10/1991 Meeting e e e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room June 10, 1991 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Shawn Boles, Paul Nicholson, Ruth Bascom, Kaye Robinette, Debra Ehrman, Bobby Green (arrived at 6:05 p.m.). COUNCILORS ABSENT: Randy MacDonald, Roger Rutan. The regular meeting of the Eugene City Council was called to order by His Honor Mayor Jeff Miller. I. RETAIL TASK FORCE REPORT IMPLEMENTATION Mr. Gleason said he felt it would be worthwhile for staff to present back- ground on the Retail Task Force (RTF) recommendations since the council had asked to review them. Mr. Gleason reviewed statistics on downtown Eugene which he said had been requested at various times by Mr. Boles. He said the total population of people employed within Eugene's urban growth boundary (UGB) is 67,000, 22,000 of whom work in the downtown area (including the University and Sacred Heart General Hospital). He said people employed in the downtown area account for 33 percent of the city's total employment base and 25 percent of the metro- politan space. Mr. Gleason said it was essential that all of the kinds of businesses located downtown had the opportunity to interact if the area were to create a region- al draw. He said that if the area dissipated over time, Eugene would lose its status among other similarly sized cities in the Northwest. Mr. Gleason said a dense urban core would lead to regional activities such as banking, and would help with issues such as transportation and utilities. He said the present parking situation in Eugene arose because of decreased re- tail in the downtown core area and the effects of Ballot Measure 5. Abe Farkas, Director of the Planning and Development Department (POD) re- viewed groups involved in downtown decisions, which included the City Coun- cil, Urban Renewal Agency, Planning Commission, Downtown Eugene Inc., and ad hoc groups. He said ad hoc groups included the RTF, the Downtown Design Committee, Downtown Development District (ODD) Task Force, Lane Transit Dis- trict (LTD) Site Selection Committee, and RFP committees. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 10, 1991 Page 1 - In response to a question from Ms. Bascom, Mr. Farkas said the DDD Task Force and Downtown Eugene Inc. have had overlapping membership. Mr. Farkas confirmed for Mr. Boles that the RTF and the Downtown Design Com- mittee have both disbanded, as well as the DDD Task Force. The LTD Site Selection Committee has disbanded but may be reformed because the LTD Board is considering 11 new station sites. Mr. Boles asked if LTD had a citizen involvement component to its site selection plan and Mr. Farkas said it did not. Bob Hibschman, PDD, started his review of downtown accomplishments by saying that the Downtown Plan was approved in 1984. He said various improvements have been made downtown since that time, such as the conversion of street systems and building renovations. Mr. Gleason said the downtown area had a significant work list. Mr. Farkas pointed out that the list included areas beyond both the Urban Renewal District and the Downtown Plan area. Mr. Nicholson said the City had made some "dubious" improvements since 1984, most noticeably the EWEB Plaza. Mr. Boles asked when the ODD Task Force had been formed, and Mr. Gleason said the group was initiated in 1983. Mr. Hibschman referred to a chart on Renewal Assessed Valuation which showed that the biggest decreases since 1984 had been in the value of buildings downtown. He said the City hoped that the sale and development of sites e downtown would help increase the value of the district. Mr. Nicholson said he had graphed property values adjusted to "real" dollars and, in terms of value increase, the downtown area was underperforming resi- dential properties by a factor of five. Mr. Farkas pointed out that the urban renewal district is a fixed geographic area. He said the City's area as a whole has grown a great deal in terms of industry and residences. Mr. Gleason added that the County Assessor's Office does not often use income as an assessment practice. It relies primarily on a recent sales approach. (Mr. Green arrived at the meeting.) Mr. Nicholson said he had compared properties immediately inside and outside the urban renewal district and the area contrasted badly with these proper- ties. He said the premise of urban renewal was that it would increase prop- erty values. Mr. Hibschman presented a chart on DDD retail gross receipts. He said gross receipts had increased and decreased, but the trend was toward decreased receipts. Mr. Hibschman presented businessman John Brown's data on downtown occupancy rates which showed an increasing occupancy trend for offices, and decreasing occupancy for retail space based on square footage. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 10, 1991 Page 2 e Mr. Hibschman presented a Downtown Programs/Projects Timeline. He said LTD was expected to make a station-siting decision this summer. He said Lorig Associates planned to submit a development agreement for a site at 8th Avenue and Willamette Street by January. In response to a question from Ms. Ehrman, he said Lorig Associates needed this time to complete financing and other aspects of their agreement. In response to a question from Mr. Green, Mr. Hibschman said LTD would select a new station site and, depending on which site was chosen, would come to the council for its review of and concurrence with the site selection. Mayor Miller suggested the City conduct a public process on the site selec- tion as a means of coalition-building. Mr. Boles said LTD would probably request City funds for the new station and that he was loathe to provide these funds if the board had not conducted a citizen involvement process. In response to a question from Mr. Boles, Ms. Bascom said she had advocated strongly to the Metropolitan Policy Committee (MPC) for an interjurisdictional approach to mass transit. She said she had told MPC members that the committee needed to network with LTD. Ms. Ehrman said she was surprised that LTD was considering 11 new sites for its new transfer station. Mr. Boles said he was concerned that policy makers were not members of the LTD Site Selection Committee. Mayor Miller suggested the council request that LTD invite the council to appoint a member to the site selection committee. e Dave Reinhard, of the Public Works (PW) Transportation Division, said staff in his division had been working with LTD staff on the site selection. He said staff needed council direction in this matter. He said that if the Lane County Election site were chosen it was not clear what the City's role would be in the development of this site. He said LTD had held public hearings on the site selection, but had no citizen advisory committee. In response to a question from Mr. Boles, Ms. Bascom said Lane County, the City of Springfield, and the City of Eugene had committed to taking an in- ter-jurisdictional approach to transportation issues. Ms. Ehrman said all jurisdictions had agreed to discuss this issue. Ms. Bascom said Lane County Commissioner Steve Cornacchia was interested in LTD as a Springfield issue. Mr. Boles suggested the council write the MPC about addressing transportation as an interjurisdictional issue, including the LTD site selection. He said LTD was preparing to do a service assessment and planned to use staff from the three jurisdictions. He said a group of interjurisdictional policy mak- ers could assist with this study. Mayor Miller suggested that LTD be asked to invite a councilor site selection committee and MPC be asked to perform a broader issues study. Ms. Ehrman added that it would not be necessary cil's representative to the site selection committee to vote. to join the transportation for the coun- She vol un- e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 10, 1991 Page 3 e e e teered to represent the council on this committee. Mayor Miller suggested that the council ask LTO if it would include a councilor on its site selec- tion committee, and appoint Ms. Ehrman if the board agreed. Mr. Boles said staff should draft a letter to the MPC about long-term inter- jurisdictional needs. Mr. Hibschman presented a chart on RTF Recommendations. Mr. Robinette asked for a definition of the RTF study area. Mr. Hibschman said it focused on properties abutting the downtown mall and adjacent areas, but that its prin- ciples would be general enough to apply to a broader area. Jan Childs, POD, said the RTF study area had also included Willamette Street to 11th Avenue. Mr. Nicholson asked the size of the shortfall for the City's Free Parking Program. Lew Bowers, POD, said the deficit this year would be $165,000. He said the deficit next year would be $365,000 due to the effects of Ballot Measure 5. Mr. Nicholson said studies of retail shopping areas list access to public restrooms and free parking as the public's most requested amenities. Mr. Boles said studies do not show free parking as a top priority for shoppers. Ms. Ehrman said the council's original charge to the ODD Task Force was "pay as you gO." Mr. Gleason added that the concept of free parking conveyed the wrong approach to investment in the core area. He said investors could not get a return on an investment in parking. Mr. Nicholson said the City should collect a fee on its peripheral parking lots so that free parking was not offered anywhere in the city. He said these funds could be used for infrastructure to support the downtown core area. Mr. Boles said the RTF recommendations would address the issue of parking. He suggested that an impervious surfaces study might also be helpful. Mr. Nicholson said the City needed to recover all hidden costs, including those spent on peripheral areas. Ms. Childs reviewed the history of Part 4 of the RTF recommendations. She said Part 4 recommendations had included the least detail of any in the study. She said the Planning Commission had hoped to have a chance to review Part 4 prior to releasing the draft Commercial Lands Study (CLS). She said the staff and the Planning Commission had attempted to identify ongoing work projects which addressed aspects of Part 4 recommendations. She said the commission felt that the majority of the recommendations would best be addressed by the CLS. She also reported that the Citizen Involvement Committee (CIC) had approved a plan to set up a CLS task force to consider certain issues pertaining to the CLS during the summer months. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 10, 1991 Page 4 e Ms. Childs said either the council itself or a separate committee would be needed to review implementation of the RTF recommendations. She said a re- view committee could consist of two councilors, two members of the Planning Commission, and two members of the Downtown Commission. In response to a question from Mr. Robinette, Mr. Boles said Part 4 of the RTF recommendations was intended as a concept which would apply to all parts of the city within the UGB. He said the point of this section was to ensure the densest possible development of the downtown area, but that this necessi- tated a review of the entire area within the UGB because a great deal of development was occurring outside the downtown area. He said the downtown area in this context included the Urban Renewal District and the DDD. In response to a question from Mr. Nicholson, Ms. Childs said the Planning Commission would address all aspects of Part 4 except those considered more appropriate for another study to consider. Mr. Boles added that the council would make the final decision about whether the recommendations were imple- mented, but the specifics of the recommendations would be handled by the commission. Mr. Boles suggested that assessment and taxation methods should be studied by the Planning Commission. He said it was not appropriate to ask staff alone to work on this subject while citizen groups studied the rest of the RTF recommendations. e Mr. Boles asked if the Central Area Transportation Study (CATS) would review guiding principles for transportation. Mr. Reinhard said this would probably occur to some extent. Mr. Boles said he liked the idea of a cross-jurisdictional body to review Part 4 of the RTF recommendations. In response to a question from Mayor Miller, Mr. Boles said he felt taxation should be reviewed separately from the Eugene Decisions process. Ms. Ehrman asked how the recommendations of the CLS Task Force could be in- corporated into the already-published CLS document. Ms. Childs said the CLS could include an addendum or be revised. In response to a question from Mr. Boles, Ken Tollenaar, president of the Planning Commission, said Part 4 recommendations would be reviewed by the CLS Task Force, CATS, and the Planning Commission. He said all recommendations would be reviewed by the commission at the end of the summer. Mayor Miller asked how the Part 4 review would affect Eugene Decisions. Mr. Gleason said the review would not have an adverse effect on Eugene Decisions if it were carried out in conjunction with other work plans. In response to a question from the Mayor, Mr. Farkas said those taxing mecha- nisms which were feasible to address the goals of the RTF could be studied. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 10, 1991 Page 5 e Mr. Boles suggested that the council review the CLS Task Force recommenda- tions in September. II. ITEMS FROM THE COUNCIL Ms. Bascom asked about a recent cleanup effort at Walnut Grove. Pat Decker, POD, who participated in the project, said many people from the neighborhood had attended the cleanup, as had Public Works staff. Ms. Bascom suggested that councilors attend the Washington Park dedication. A signup sheet for the event was circulated. Ms. Bascom said 38 families in the Maple Wood Meadows low income housing project had participated in a dedi- cation of their facility and two residents opened their units to tours. Mr. Nicholson said he had received several calls from people about tying up dogs outside businesses and the need to permit dog runs in parks. Linda Norris, Acting Assistant City Manager, said the Joint Parks Committee would discuss the issue of dog runs in public parks. Mr. Nicholson said he had gotten two calls that week from people accusing animal control officers of gratuitous ticketing. Mr. Gleason said he would review this matter and the issue of tying up dogs outside businesses. Mr. Nicholson suggested that the council show its gratitude to Alice Soderwall for her many years of work recycling glass. The council agreed ~ that a plaque and letter of appreciation would be prepared. Mr. Boles said CATS scoping sessions had been poorly attended and the CIC would review the City's citizen involvement process for this kind of event. He said he planned to attend a Lane County Home Builders Association meeting that Thursday. He said a bike bill celebration would be held June 13 at EWEB Plaza. Mr. Boles said a transportation bill would go before Congress that week and suggested that Intergovernmental Relations staff write a letter expressing the City's concerns in this regard. Mr. Green said he had spoken to Dave Whitlow, Director of the Department of Public Safety (DPS), about a perceived lack of police response in his neigh- borhood. He said Mr. Whitlow had invited him to visit the 9-1-1 System of- fice in order to witness first-hand the difficulties that officers have re- sponding to calls. He said he planned to do this. Ms. Ehrman said she would attend a ODD meeting on June 12 in place of Coun- cilor Roger Rutan. She said a subcommittee formed to followup the council's charge to DPS about the social services component of its long-range plan had completed its task after several meetings, and its recommendations would go to the Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) and then to the council. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 10, 1991 Page 6 e e e Mayor Miller said areawide leaders had met to discuss human rights issues. He said a Friday night Oregon Mayors meeting on human rights would be held. He said the Coalition Against Hate Crimes would hold a conference in Eugene to which the mayors of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Utah would be invited, as well as college presidents from those jurisdictions. He said they would discuss how to create a hate-crime-free region. The meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m. (Recorded by Kris Bloch) mncc 061091-530 MINUTES--Eugene City Council Page 7 June 10, 1991