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HomeMy WebLinkAbout180418 WSMINUTES Eugene City Council Harris Hall, 125 East 8 th Avenue Eugene, Oregon 97401 April 18, 2 018 12:00 p.m. Councilors Present: Emily Semple, Betty Taylor, Alan Zelenka, Jennifer Yeh, Mike Clark, Claire Syrett, Chris Pryor Councilors Absent: Greg Evans Mayor Vinis opened the April 18, 2018, Work Session of the Eugene City Council. 1. WORK SESSION: MovingAhead Project Update Senior Planner Zach Galloway, Transportation Planning Engineer Chris Henry and Lane Transit District Transit Development Planner Sasha Luftig provided an update to Council on the MovingAhead project before it enters the public involvement phase. Council Discussion • Clarification requested about how Council and LTD make joint decisions and what would happen if the separate bodies disagree. • Summary of NEPA results requested, including footprint outside of right-of-way, air and water quality, trees, transportation impacts. • More information is needed about completion, availability, and funding for these routes because the first set was mainly funded by federal dollars. • Look into whether road bond money could be used to help develop the bus routes and concrete pavement lanes. • The final cost of West 11 th EmX project was roughly $100 million. Request information about how much is investment was made for additional infrastructure improvements. • Need to start working on funding strategies; talking about large numbers. • Concern expressed that pursuing a faster and/or cheaper strategy will result in the wrong decisions that don't serve the community well. • It is critically important to consider pedestrians and cyclists when transportation planning. • Each corridor has a different package of transportation options and investments, make strategic investments in each area. 2. WORK SESSION: 1,000-Foot Marijuana Buffer Zone Land Use Analyst Mike McKerrow provided background on two previous City Council work sessions to discuss a 1,000 foot buffer between retail marijuana businesses, and provided information about similar marijuana buffer policies in other Oregon cities. Council Discussion • Many residents have been asking for a buffer between marijuana businesses as part of the effort to revitalize downtown. • Concern expressed that the process to implement a buffer zone would take six to nine months. Land Use code amendments to Chapter 9 first have to go through a Planning Commission public hearing process and then City Council public hearing process. MINUTES -Eugene City Council Work Session April 18, 2018 Page I • Consider other options to inco rporate the buffer zone into a diffe r e nt chapter of th e code, s uch as the business license code. • Support gra nd fa thering in existi ng businesses, but e n cou r age a faster a pp roach to impl e m enting the bu ffe r z one. • More information requ ested about how many applications ha ve been received within the pas t s ix month s and h ow many marijuana bus iness have closed within t h e last six months. • More information requ ested about whether it's possible to limit the numbe r of applicants for a m a rijuana busin ess lic ense each year. • Request made for a m ap of a ll operati ng marijuana bu sines ses, no t ju st all licensed bus inesses that may include o nes that a re not c u r r e ntly operating. • No further reg u lation is necessary; th e market will allow the marijuana industry t o evolve ap propriately. • Marijuana businesses a re already treated differently as they are subject to a business tax. • Ma ny constituents and businesses are asking for this new regulation a nd th e co u n cil should ad dress their concerns. • If there has been a higher num ber of incidents or arrests rel ated to m a rijua na stor es, t hen the council s hould consider the hea lth and safety aspects of the proposal. • Constant attenti on and care needs to be given to the downtown if it is expected to succeed. • The Red Caps a n d othe r publi c safety personnel both fee l th a t it's not healthy to have so many marijuana business downtown. It co ncentrates the problem in a small a r ea. • Other cit ies have enacted buffer zo nes ; it is w o r th pu rsu ing. • The proposed motion as written initia t es a land use code amendment. It can be a lte r ed to a s impl er code a mendment if that is Cou ncil's desire. MOTION: Councilor Clark, seconded by Cou nci lor Semple, moved to di r ect the City Manager to schedul e a public hearing on an ordi nance th a t requ i res new reta i l recreation marijuana bus inesses to locate at least 1,000 fe et from existing r etail r ecreatio n m arijua na businesses. Council Di scussion • Support the motion because it allows individua ls a nd businesses t o have another opportunity to s peak to t he issu es. VOTE: PASSED 4:2, Councilors Taylor and Zelenka opposed. Th e m eetin g adjo urn ed at 1 :27 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Ele n a Dom i ngo Deputy City Recorder MINUTES -Euge ne C ity Counc il Work Session Ap ril 18,20 18 Page 2