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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 09/23/98 Work Session MINUTES Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall September 23, 1998 11:30 a.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Pat Farr, Tim Laue, Bobby Lee, Scott Meisner, Nancy Nathanson, Laurie Swanson Gribskov, Betty Taylor Betty Taylor, Ken Tollenaar. I. CALL TO ORDER The adjourned September 14, 1998, Eugene City Council meeting was called to order at 11:30 a.m.; His Honor Mayor James D. Torrey presiding. II. ITEMS FROM MAYOR, COUNCIL, AND CITY MANAGER A. Meadow View Schools Opening Mr. Farr reported on the grand opening of the Meadow View Schools in the Bethel-Danebo area on the evening of September 21, which was also attended by councilors Meisner and Nathanson, City Manager Jim Johnson, and Les Lyle, Public Works Department. He expressed appreciation for the City's support, saying the schools would "not have happened without the City of Eugene." B. Contingency Fund Request Mr. Farr asked the council to consider entertaining a request for funding up to $10,000 for a Middle School Mentoring Program in Bethel School District. The council agreed to consider the request. C. Council Resolution Ms. Taylor asked the council to consider issuing a resolution in opposition to Ballot Measure 65. Mr. Johnson said that staff could not prepare a resolution for something that was already put on the ballot; however, staff could provide samples should the council wish to prepare one. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 23, 1998 Page 1 11:30 a.m. D. Peddler's Express Ms. Taylor asked staffto consider using the courier services of Peddler's Express, which is consistent with the council's transportation goals. Mr. Johnson indicated that the service was already used by the City whenever possible. E. Community Cable Television Ms. Taylor said she hoped the council will approve the request from Community Cable Television which was recently distributed to counselors. F. Sister City Program Ms. Swanson Gribskov indicated that the City's delegation to Eugene's sister city of Irkutsk, Russia, was canceled due to the current turmoil in that part of the world. She noted that this is the 10th anniversary of the City's sister city relationship with Irkutsk. Mr. Lee said he wished the council would revisit the issue of funding for the Sister Cities Program. He noted that he and the Mayor entertained a delegation from Eugene's sister city in Korea last week. G. Ascot Park Work Party Ms. Swanson Gribskov thanked the US Marines and the Church of the Latter Day Saints for their work party at Ascot Park. H. Wetlands Funding Ms. Swanson Gribskov announced a $500,000 appropriation from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to fund the City's Wetlands Plan. II. Planning and Development Department (PDD) Director Candidates Social Mr. Johnson reminded the council of the social reception that evening for the PDD Director candidates, noting the event was moved from the Hilton Hotel mezzanine to the 12th floor reception area. J. West University Area Alleys Mr. Lee said he has asked staff to arrange for meetings of interested parties to address development of alleys in the west university area. K. Youth Summer Program Report MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 23, 1998 Page 2 11:30 a.m. Mr. Lee asked staff to reconvene the committee to review the report on the Youth Summer Program before it comes before the council. Mr. Johnson said that was the intent. Mayor Torrey noted that he has been invited to discuss youth issues at a conference in Salt Lake City. L. Accessibility Report Mr. Lee said the Human Rights Commission was in the process of developing an annual report card to analyze social inequity in the community. M. Tree City, USA Flags Ms. Nathanson thanked staff for displaying "Tree City, USA" flags at the Eugene Celebration Parade, adding that she was proud that the City has received this award for 19 consecutive years. N. Sister City Memorabilia Display Ms. Nathanson said she has suggested to staff a permanent public display at the airport or some other public place of the Sister City Program memorabilia collection. O. Nodal Development Ms. Nathanson expressed disappointment that the vicinity of Churchill High School (the intersection of 18th Avenue and Bailey Hill Road) was not included in the TransPlan update as a designated mode. She said the area has promising characteristics and could be a true node and asked staff to rethink the development in the area. P. Sidewalk Program Ms. Nathanson said a constituent has reported an incomplete sidewalk on Roosevelt Boulevard and asked for an update of the City's Sidewalk Completion Program. Q. Use of Contingency Fund Mr. Tollenaar reminded the council that it had asked for a work session to develop policy for use of the Contingency Fund. Mr. Johnson said the item was scheduled for council discussion on October 21. R. Legal Services Mr. Tollenaar said he is still interested in discussing establishing a small in-house legal staff to manage a small "basket of services" and provide oversight of the legal services contracted out. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 23, 1998 Page 3 11:30 a.m. S. Eugene Celebration Mr. Lee said the City's transfer of the Eugene Celebration event to private management was a great success, particularly the Breakfast held at Skinner Butte. Mayor Torrey added that a report from Downtown Eugene, Inc., was forthcoming. U. Gilham Grade School Project Mayor Torrey thanked the Marines for their extensive work in replacing a drainage ditch at Gilham Grade School, complimenting staff as well for arranging the timely issuance of permits. V. National Council of Mayors Mayor Torrey said he has been invited to participate in a discussion at the National Council of Mayors about programs for kids from the time period of 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.--the major time period when criminal activities by youth take place. The event was scheduled for September 24 in Salt Lake City. W. Library Area Design Mayor Torrey asked if there was any interest on the part of the council to review design suggestions from the public for the area around a new library. The information was gathered by local architects at the Eugene Celebration. The council expressed interest. II. ACTION: INITIATION OF METRO PLAN AMENDMENT PROCEEDINGS, GLENWOOD JURISDICTION Mayor Torrey declared a potential conflict of interest, turned the meeting over to Council President Pat Farr, and removed himself from the discussion. Mr. Farr noted that the Springfield City Council last week initiated the Metro Plan amendment proceeding and asked if it were necessary for the City of Eugene to do likewise. Jan Childs, Planning Division Manager, said it was not legally necessary for the council to take action to initiate the plan amendment, but it was doing so at the Springfield City Council's request. Mr. Farr moved, seconded by Mr. Tollenaar, to initiate a Type ! amendment to the Metropolitan Area General Plan to transfer Glenwood from the City of Eugene to the City of Springfield. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 23, 1998 Page 4 11:30 a.m. Mr. Meisner expressed support the motion but added that it had nothing to do with the amendment itself, explaining that approving the motion initiated a public process before consideration. Ms. Taylor said she could not support the motion because she not convinced that the residents of the area had sufficient opportunity to express themselves, adding that the citizens should be allowed to vote on the issue. She questioned Springfield's motives in wanting the area. Ms. Childs indicated that all property owners and residents of Glenwood would be mailed individual notices announcing the joint Planning Commissions' and Joint Elected Officials' public hearings on the actual merits of the transfer of jurisdictions. Addressing Ms. Taylor's interest in holding a vote on the issue, Mr. Johnson asked City Attorney Glenn Klein to prepare a memorandum outlining the variety of ways in which an election could Occur. Mr. Lee said he hoped the discussion would not be impeded by disagreement over methodology. Mr. Tollenaar said the committee addressed Ms. Taylor's initial concern by developing a mail survey to include area residents not previously reached. He explained that 20 out of 80 surveys were returned and the results were distributed to the council in last week's packet. He noted that in all the surveys conducted transfer of planning jurisdiction to Springfield was the most favored option. Mr. Tollenaar said there was no provision for a vote on a Metro Plan amendment; although an advisory vote could be held, that would be costly to both cities and he was not so sure the results would be different. Ms. Swanson Gribskov said she was satisfied with the work of council representatives Tim Laue and Ken Tollenaar. Ms. Nathanson said she also supported the motion as it provided for a process of review, analysis, and public involvement. She said the discussion will likely focus around the following themes: 1) provision of services; 2) the long-term costs and revenues to the cities; 3) how the metro area is planned and developed as a whole; and 4) what is in the hearts and minds of the people affected. Mr. Farr defended the use of telephone surveys and noted that those against Springfield jurisdiction seemed to be recent residents of the area. Ms. Taylor said she was struck by the two different views of the people appearing before the two different councils. She said she was also concerned about pressure on the urban growth boundary and the pressure to set aside more industrial land. The motion passed, 7:1; with Ms. Taylor opposed. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 23, 1998 Page 5 11:30 a.m. Mr. Farr turned the meeting back over to Mayor Torrey. Mayor Torrey acknowledged Ms. Nathanson's upcoming birthday and the group sang "Happy Birthday." IV. WORK SESSION: SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS Les Lyle, Public Works, reviewed the meeting packet material and distributed a map depicting the area's unimproved arterial/collector street system, including those that are substandard and those slated for construction and improvement. He indicated that streets are financed in two ways: through SDCs (systems development charges) or assessments to property owners. Mr. Lyle defined "special benefit," as used here, as adding "convenience, accessability, and use of the property." He reviewed "irrevocable petitions" describing it as an "in-lieu-of" approach where improvements are made after a number of properties have developed in an area. It is not practical, in most cases, to improve a roadway when a single development occurs since it may only represent a small percentage of the project. Mr. Lyle listed the following among the policy issues for the council: irrevocable petitions; double frontage assessments; and alley assessments. He said the council may want to consider within this context whether the ongoing adoption of the TransPlan Update, the Arterial/Collector Street Plan, and the Land Use Code Update process will influence the policies council is considering. On double frontage properties, Mr. Lyle said, the council may wish to retain the current policy, expand the local improvement district (LID) boundaries, consider an interim approach, or consider an access approach based on a primary access unless the owner choses to take a secondary access off the adjoining street. He said the council's action on access approach could potentially affect arterials, collectors, and local streets. He noted that the latter approach reduced the assessable share so the gap in funding would have to be addressed. Addressing a question from Mayor Torrey about spreading the costs of corner lots and double frontage lots over more properties, Mr. Lyle said that was possible but it would drive the cost up per front foot. He said another option would be to expand the boundaries of the LID to include all the parcels within both an existing and a new subdivision, which would take into account the special benefit derived for a subdivision. Mr. Lyle further described an in-lieu-of approach and increasing the SDCs as additional approaches, including one that might be a mix of the options. He noted that corner lots were similar to double frontage lots, except that some already have primary access to the adjoining street. On alleys, he said, the primary issue is density, and whether zoning best represents density or some other factor should be used. Mr. Lyle said the meeting packet included a staff recommendation that if the council choose an increase in SDCs, it wait until the Public Works Department's Rates Advisory Committee has had a chance to discuss a transportation SDC (currently scheduled to begin in July 1999). He concluded his report by saying that any change to the assessment code requires a two-thirds majority vote on the council and takes six months to implement. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 23, 1998 Page 6 11:30 a.m. Mr. Tollenaar noted that the memorandums prepared by both the hearings officials, Lane Council of Government's (LCOG) Jim Carlson, and City Attorney Glenn Klein came to similar conclusions: "you can construct almost any kind of assessment system you want; it's up to the council to set the basic policy as to what kind of cost should be borne by what kind of property." Mr. Tollenaar said he has come to the conclusion that the only fair thing is to make every property responsible for the cost of the street that provides the direct access to that property. If that access is provided by an arterial or collector, the current practice should be applied, but in most cases, the cost of that direct access through an internal street network will have been paid initially by the developer and will be reflected in the price people pay for their homes. Mr. Tollenaar said he disagreed with staff that there is an assessable benefit for a subdivision in the arterial or collector street. His view, he said, is that the cost of that arterial or collector are costs associated with new development and property owners should not be assessed for a potential second access. He said property owners should be responsible for the appropriate portion of the cost of the street that provides direct access to their property. Mr. Tollenaar concluded that the City should assess only those properties that take actual direct access from an improved arterial or collector street, and that the non-assessable costs should be paid from the Systems Development Charge Fund. Assuming, he added, that half of the costs of arterials and collectors would have to be shifted from abutting property to the SDC Fund, that would result in a 21 percent increase in the transportation portion of the SDC but only a 5 percent increase to the total SDC for an average home and higher for commercial property and multiple units. Ms. Nathanson agreed with Mr. Tollenaar's view and said the basic question was: Is it fair for a homeowner to pay for two streets? She said it just did not seem fair. She noted a sentiment expressed at the public hearing that there is no special benefit from having two streets, and in fact the opposite might be true. Ms. Nathanson said she hoped to find a way of spreading the cost of the arterial to the entire subdivision. She add that the current system was unfair and she did not wish to have to defend it. Ms. Swanson Gribskov said there must be a better way of spreading the assessment beyond the "raw, front footage." She asked what the City's role was in addressing substandard streets in the Santa Clara/River Road area. Mr. Lyle said the area was within the urban growth boundary (UGB) and the City would become involved when that area was annexed. He added that Lane County has addressed some of those substandard roads, recently improving Irvington Road and already having improved River Road and Maxwell Street. Ms. Taylor said she has lots of sympathy for people in modest homes who suddenly find they owe $10,000 in street assessments and cannot possibly afford it. She said she strongly supports distributing the cost of street assessments to the entire subdivision and that new development should pay the cost of development. Ms. Taylor urged relief for property owners as soon as possible and asked staff to bring draft ordinances for a public hearing. She said the current practice on alleys was unfair as single dwellings were charged the same as apartment buildings, given the disproportionate use of the alley. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 23, 1998 Page 7 11:30 a.m. Mr. Farr said he agreed with Mr. Tollenaar that people should only be liable for the streets that provide direct access to their properties. But, he added, spreading the costs across the subdivision is not necessarily equitable because more than those properties benefit from arterials and collectors. He expressed support for a citywide SDC system to pay for arterials and collectors. Mr. Meisner said he hoped there were better terms to discuss street improvements to distinguish between improvements to bring streets up to City standards and those aimed at "filling potholes," which is what the public understood by the phrase. He said he was concerned with retroactivity, but also concerned in continuing to permit development that was designed in such a way as to spread the cost burden citywide. He expressed support for the in-lieu-of proposal, adding that the actual benefit was a good approach and should include people who have two accesses and actually use them. That is why, he said, he wished to look at something other than zoning in the alley situation. Mr. Lee pointed out that "benefit" is subjective and difficult to apply/assess, resulting in a value- driven process here. Generally, he said, he favored the in-lieu-of approach over an increase in SDCs. He argued that people living locally will use a local road and should bear more of the cost burden. Mr. Lee said property owners should be more involved at the front-end of the process. He recommended a scoping report to assess the ramifications of the different approaches to give the council a better sense of the policy impacts. Mr. Tollenaar acknowledged the difficulty of the issue, noting that this was one of the few cases where the higher court delegated the problem back to local governments. He reiterated his view that aterials and collectors were more generally used and the costs should be spread more broadly. He said staff was recommending the council move in the direction of expanding the assessment for adjacent arterials an collectors from abutting property to whole subdivisions. He said the in- lieu approach would only be useful in the case of new subdivisions so something was needed to deal with existing development. He concluded that staff's recommendation was better than the current practice but believed there must be a better way. Mr. Tollenaar noted a problem with maintaining a front footage approach: the amount collected depend on the subdivision's configuration. He said he sensed support on the council for direct access costs so staff should prepare ordinance changes that might be considered and brought before the future council. In the meantime, he suggested, developers and other stakeholders should be included in the discussion. Mayor Torrey asked Mr. Lyle to work with Ms. Nathanson and Mr. Tollenaar to develop suggestions to bring before the new council. Addressing a question from Mr. Laue, Mr. Klein reiterated that the Supreme Court has opined that it was a question of equity and local governments are in the best position to assess equity. Mr. Lyle asked staff to schedule another council work session. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 23, 1998 Page 8 11:30 a.m. Ms. Nathanson suggested a straw vote to settle the threshold question of fairness before continuing; if the majority agreed improvements in the system can be made, then more work is required. She added that if the issue will be decided by a different council it may be a waste of this council's time to discuss the topic further. Mayor Torrey said he is most concerned about addressing the inequities now. Ms. Taylor addressed postponement for the new council, saying interested councilors-elect were welcome to participate in the council discussions. In response to a question from Ms. Nathanson, Mr. Lyle said he hoped to discuss the access concept further in the next work session and work through some of the financial and associated constraints. Ms. Nathanson said it may be beneficial to convene a departmental advisory committee to develop recommendations for the council to review. Mr. Lyle said the existing rates advisory committee, may be the appropriate group but timing is an issue as the committee has about a year's worth of work before it. Mr. Meisner said an advisory committee was a good idea and he is not interested in basing assessment on potential development, which may lead to reassessments. Mr. Lee said the council was talking about vehicular access and wondered if it were not more equitable to tax vehicles. Mayor Torrey suggested the topic was better suited for discussion in TransPlan. Mr. Farr left the meeting. Ms. Taylor said she favored a second work session. Mr. Johnson said it may be more efficient for a council subcommittee to work with staff in developing recommendations, given the work that has already been done. The council chose instead to hold another work session. V. WORK SESSION: FACILITY CONDITION REPORT This item was postponed due to time constraints. VI. WORK SESSION: REPORT ON YEAR 2000 PROBLEM MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 23, 1998 Page 9 11:30 a.m. Mayor Torrey asked for the council's approval to appoint Mr. Lee as council liaison for the Year 2000 question. Further discussion on this item was postponed due to time constraints. VI. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, James R. Johnson City Manager Pro Tem (Recorded by Yolanda Paule) MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 23, 1998 Page 10 11:30 a.m.