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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 06/08/11 Work SessionMINUTES Eugene City Council McNutt Room —City Hall 777 Pearl Street — Eugene, Oregon June 8, 2011 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Betty Taylor, George Brown, George Poling, Mike Clark, Chris Pryor, Alan Zelenka, Pat Farr. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Andrea Ortiz. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the June 8, 2011, work session of the Eugene City Council to order. A. ITEMS OF INTEREST AND COMMITTEE REPORTS Mr. Brown reported on a presentation made by Stuart Parmenter of the Springfield School District at the May McKenzie Watershed Council meeting. Mr. Parmenter led the Springfield middle school and high school student teams who monitored the water quality of Camp Creek, a tributary of the McKenzie River. The students sampled water chemistry and checked for dissolved oxygen, nitrate, and phosphate levels. In addition, they surveyed macro invertebrates, did habitat assessments for homeowners, and worked with homeowners to monitor well water quality. Mr. Brown said by the time the students graduated they had learned some very technical skills. The program was extremely popular at Thurston High School and attracted more students than the school's sports programs. Mr. Brown noted that the newly remodeled McKenzie Ranger Station would be dedicated on June 9. Mr. Pryor said several councilors had attended the recent Arts and Business Alliance BRAVA breakfast. He commended the alignment between the business and arts communities, and believed much could be accomplished through the synergy that alignment created. Mr. Pryor distributed copies of his committee report on the Housing Policy Board and highlighted the fact the board received three affordable housing proposals for a City -owned land bank site. He also highlighted the board's interest in the results of Envision Eugene as they related to housing. Mr. Clark reported that he spoke on behalf of Mayor Piercy at the Memorial Day tribute to Veterans and First Responders held at Lane Memorial Gardens. He had also toured the Eugene Water & Electric Board's Carmen Smith power generating facility and viewed amenities designed to facilitate fish passage. Mr. Clark noted that the Santa Clara Community Organization was meeting on June 9. Mr. Poling said Lane Transit District (LTD) was still working on the construction of the EmX route near Gateway. Mr. Poling reported that he and Mr. Clark attended the May 26 meeting of the Harlow Neighbors. He had also attended the May 31 Eugene Police Department awards ceremony along with Mayor Piercy and Mr. Clark. He congratulated those who received awards and noted the posthumous awards presented to the MINUTES — Eugene City Council June 8, 2011 Page 1 Work Session families of Sergeant Jerry Webber and Officer Chris Kilcullen. He reminded the council of the June 10 EMT graduation ceremony scheduled for 1 p.m. at 2 nd Avenue and Chambers Street. Mr. Poling reminded those watching that Coburg Road was undergoing major repairs. He asked residents to slow down, watch out for the workers, and seek out alternative routes. He was glad to see the safety cross walks installed on the road. Mr. Poling thanked City Engineer Mark Schoening and his staff for working with a citizen who had concerns about the placement of a safety cross walk. Mr. Farr reported that the "We are Bethel" celebration occurred the past weekend at Petersen Barn and the event was well - attended. He had split his time at the event between the City Council booth and Human Rights Commission booth. Mr. Farr recognized the retirement of Joe Ingram, the long -time Shasta Middle School Jazz Band instructor, and the retirement of long -time member Wayne Markham from the Bethel School Board. He thanked them for their service, saying both would be missed. Ms. Taylor reported that she recently attended a meeting of the National League of Cities' Human Development Committee, which she chaired, in Dodge City. The committee discussed the future of Social Security and ways to keep it healthy. Many good ideas were raised. She anticipated that the committee's recommendations on the topic would be finalized at its fall meeting and forwarded to the full league. Ms. Taylor said the Lane Workforce Partnership was in danger of losing its federal funding. She reminded the council of the agencies involved in the partnership and the work of the partnership, which included vocational rehabilitation. She commended the work of the partnership, noting it operated a one - stop center where all Lane County residents could receive assistance in looking for work. The partnership also helped businesses find workers and provided job training assistance. Ms. Taylor thought it would be a loss to the community if the partnership lost funding. Mayor Piercy reported that Human Rights Commissioner Ken Neubeck had represented the City of Eugene at the recent International Human Rights Conference and promised to share his report from the conference with the council. Mayor Piercy said she addressed the most recent Climate Masters Graduate Class and attended the Pedestrian Safety Summit. She had also attended the University of Oregon's Research Innovation Awards and heard more about the great work going on at the University and its contributions to the local economy. Mayor Piercy had attended the Business Commute Challenge and noted that the City of Eugene's Public Works Engineering Division won third place in its category. She also attended the Hope in Action Conference at Alton Baker Park, where students from around the community learned sustainable practices to use in their schools and homes, as well as the First Friday Art Walk on June 3. Mayor Piercy reported that the University of Oregon had partnered with the Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers Union, PCUN, to preserve the union's historic documents. Mayor Piercy noted her attendance at that morning's kick -off for the "Summer in the City" series. Mayor Piercy concluded by reporting that the City of Eugene had received the Department of Land Conservation and Development Star Award for citizen involvement for the Envision Eugene planning process. The City would receive the award at the next Land Conservation and Development Commission meeting in June. MINUTES — Eugene City Council June 8, 2011 Page 2 Work Session B. WORK SESSION: Envision Eugene City Manager Jon Ruiz introduced Sue Prichard and Richard Duncan of the Community Resource Group (CRG). Ms. Weiss and Ms. O'Donnell provided a PowerPoint presentation entitled Envision Eugene, City Council Update June 8, 2011. The presentation included information on the status of the Envision Eugene planning process, a brief review of the process being used to determine the housing land need, and introduction to a phased implementation concept. The presentation also included an overview of the work being done in regard to the housing mix recommendation that touched on the implications of the mix as well as the demographic factors and trends that affected the mix. The presentation concluded with a summary of the next steps in the process. Ms. O'Donnell emphasized that staff was not seeking council direction at this time, but wished to provide more context for the housing mix recommendation the council would see soon. Ms. Prichard reported the CRG formed a Technical Resource Group (TRG) to verify the assumptions in the Eugene Comprehensive Lands Assessment (ECLA). That review was going well. She said the range of opinions among TRG members was broad and meeting attendance had been good. She believed the council could be confident that whatever recommendation came from the TRG would have been thoroughly vetted. Mr. Duncan concurred with Ms. Prichard. He said that subcommittees had been formed to examine the capacity in partially vacant lands as well as opportunities for residential development inside commercial zones. Another subcommittee was creating a spreadsheet analysis of the ECLA conclusions to share with the community. Those subcommittees would complete their work soon. Mr. Zelenka joined the meeting via speakerphone. Mayor Piercy said the planning process was an iterative one that involved a large group of community volunteers who were working to give the council the best advice possible based on their study and expertise. She asked how the City could engage the larger public in the process. Ms. Weiss acknowledged that public involvement in the summer was a challenging thing to accomplish. The City had no major process deadlines scheduled for the summer and had time to hold some community information and input sessions focused on the housing mix in July. There would also be additional opportunities for workshops and open houses in August and September. Those unable to attend a workshop or open house could access a video on the web site ( www.envisioneu g ene.org ) to inform them of what they missed. In addition, the Planning Division produced a newsletter to keep people up to date. All major council decisions would be preceded by public hearings that would likely be scheduled in the fall. Ms. Taylor asked Ms. Weiss about the consulting stakeholders for the phased implementation. Ms. Weiss said they included Mia Nelson, Randy Hledik, Ed McMahon, and Kevin Matthews. They were helping staff to brainstorm concepts. Ms. Taylor asked if the conclusions of Envision Eugene would be subject to change depending on public input. Ms. Weiss said yes. Ms. Taylor asked how the City would implement any housing mix ratio. Ms. Weiss acknowledged that the City did not control all the factors that led to the mix. The City could only MINUTES— Eugene City Council June 8, 2011 Page 3 Work Session plan to accommodate the housing mix it wished to see through zoning and land use designations. She anticipated that the City would monitor the mix over time. Ms. Taylor posited that the City could identify a certain amount of acreage for single- family development and "when it's gone, it's gone." Ms. Weiss agreed. Responding to a request from Ms. Taylor, Ms. Weiss provided an update on planning efforts for the south Willamette area, reporting that the City was in the process of developing a vision for the area. The City applied for State funding to support study and design work along Willamette Street. She noted that a University architecture studio had spent the last term working on planning concepts for the area and studio members had recently presented their ideas to the community. Ms. Taylor restated her long- standing request for the names of the people involved in developing the reports that came to the council, as well as for minority reports. Responding to a question from Mr. Farr, Ms. Weiss reviewed the State requirement that the City maintain a 20 -year supply of residential land. She emphasized that the City needed to plan for the full 20 years. Staff was trying to determine what the community could do to maintain control over that expansion area so it could be phased in over time if the analysis indicated that the City needed to expand the UGB to accommodate that demand. The City did not know exactly what the market would do in the future, so continued monitoring could allow it to keep pace with the land demand. Mr. Farr suggested the City was making its "best guess" about the housing land need. Ms. Weiss concurred. Mr. Farr asked about the City's ability to correct any errors in its estimates. Ms. Weiss referred him to pillar of Envision Eugene that spoke to flexible implementation and suggested continued monitoring for factors such as demand for multi- and single - family homes would allow the City to correct such errors. Mr. Farr asked for more information about the work of the subcommittee reviewing partially vacant lands. Mr. Duncan reminded the council that ECLA had categorized parcels with improvements costing less than $1,000 as vacant lands. The subcommittee was looking at parcels with improvements valued above $1,000. The subcommittee had used aerial photographs to examine the largest parcels and had categorized all parcels of three acres of more in size; below that, the subcommittee had sampled different properties to determine their development potential. The subcommittee had recently completed a review of parcels below one - quarter acre in size to determine if they could be panhandled or further divided with the goal of determining a capacity percentage that could be used to satisfy some of the housing land demand inside the UGB. Mr. Farr was pleased to hear of the analysis and acknowledged the work involved. He determined from Mr. Duncan that the subcommittee was looking at all lots to better understand their current development and potential capacity. Mr. Farr said that there were property owners who owned large parcels with single dwellings who were not interested in subdividing their property. He asked if the subcommittee was looking at such parcels. Mr. Duncan said the TRG was looking at all such parcels; however, it not the TRG's role to determine if such property owners wanted to subdivide. Mr. Clark thanked Ms. Prichard, Mr. Duncan, and all the members of the TRG for their work. He asked if staff had revisited the subject of non -Goal 5 constraints to development. Ms. O'Donnell said the TRG was looking at that issue. With respect to bioswales and other forms of "green" infrastructure and the MINUTES— Eugene City Council June 8, 2011 Page 4 Work Session potential such approaches could be more widely used in the future, Ms. O'Donnell reported that Planning Division staff was working with Public Work on information to share with the TRG. She said the City would need to show the State there was a reason that lands affected by such green infrastructure could not be counted toward the inventory. She suggested it made sense to first consider what the impacts might be, followed by further detailed analysis when the City was aware of all the changes staff anticipated would be made to the stormwater standards associated with the City's National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Mr. Clark emphasized the importance of such infrastructure to neighborhood livability. He wanted to ensure the City considered those facilities so it did not create a situation that resulted in overbuilding in those areas. Mr. Clark recalled that ECLA identified a need for 1,800 acres for residential development, and asked if the City was legally bound to that assumption. City Attorney Emily Jerome said the City was not bound to that assumption. The council had accepted ECLA for purposes of further analysis, and had the ability to adjust the assumption in the future. Mr. Clark asked for an example of a phase trigger. Ms. Weiss suggested one example was monitoring the construction of single- family houses over a period of time. Mr. Clark asked if the council would decide the decision metrics related to such triggers. Ms. Weiss anticipated staff would work with the consulting stakeholders on those triggers and would return to the council with a recommendation. Mr. Clark suggested the marketplace, not the City, had control over the housing mix. He asked if the City would monitor the regional effects of its actions, pointing out decisions made by the City of Eugene could affect where growth occurred elsewhere in the region. He believed one could argue the City's actions over the past two decades had increased the percentage level of single- family development in nearby communities. Ms. Weiss believed the City could monitor that impact by providing base information about growth in those communities. Mr. Zelenka also thanked the TRG members for all their work. He believed the phased implementation process made sense because it did not leave the City with irrevocable 20 -year decisions. Mr. Zelenka reported that he was currently attending the Climate Leadership Academy in Washington, DC, and one of the speakers at the event was a real estate consultant who discussed shifts in the housing marketplace. The consultant averred that the marketplace was shifting away from a drivable, suburban context to a walkable, urban context. That shift was being driven by "The Millennials." The consultant had predicted that over the next 20 years the number of households with children would decrease from 25 percent to 9 percent and the percentage of households with singles and couples would rise from 75 to 84 percent. Mr. Zelenka said the market would respond to those demographics with denser urban environments dominated by multi- family housing. Continuing, Mr. Zelenka said the consultant suggested the best way to explain the shift was by pointing to the different programs watched by "The Millennials" as opposed to the "Baby Boomers." The "Baby Boomers" grew up watching programs such as "I Love Lucy," "The Dick Van Dyke Show," and "The Brady Bunch" placed in drivable suburban communities, but "The Millennials" grew up watching "Seinfeld," "Friends," and "Sex in the City," programs which were placed in walkable urban contexts. He said that was not an accident but was based on market research done by the programs' producers. Mr. Zelenka said the example helped him to think about "who's driving this train moving forward" in regard to the question of the housing mix. He suggested that "looking in the rear view mirror of where we were" MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 8, 2011 Page 5 Work Session made no sense but looking forward within the context of "The Millennials" driving the new market made a lot more sense. Mayor Piercy observed that "I Love Lucy" was initially set in an urban setting before being moved to a more suburban setting. Mr. Farr suggested that market trends as identified by writers of situation comedies writers did not necessary take Eugene into account. Mayor Piercy hoped the City planned to do targeted outreach to diverse populations. She also wanted to know how the community was situated in regard to housing for students, and what the University of Oregon was planning in regard to student housing so the City had more sense of whether there was a market for more multi- family housing. Mr. Duncan said his firm recently finished a study that indicated a demand for 2,000 to 2,500 more student housing units. His firm was also seeing more interest in housing near campus, and less demand for parking as students recognized that their cars could be a burden and left them at home. Mayor Piercy said she understood that the University intended to house all freshman and sophomores in campus housing. Mr. Duncan said the University hoped to increase the on- campus population to 25 percent of all students. At this point, the University housed only 21 percent of students on campus now. Ms. O'Donnell noted that the Portland State University population projections accounted for students. The City also worked with the University on the housing it planned to provide. She recalled that the University planned to keep up with the demand but did not plan on much expansion. Ms. Prichard suggested that Mr. Duncan's discussion of the partially vacant lands issue was an example of her statement that the council had the right to feel confident in the information provided by the TRG. Speaking to Mr. Clark's remarks about the value Santa Clara residents had for the neighborhood's swales and open drainage ways, Ms. Prichard suggested that was an example of the inherent conflict in the process. Neighborhood livability was "huge" for residents. Removal of the swales and drainage ways in Santa Clara would radically change the complexion of the neighborhood and not for the good. Such things caused the City to consider whether it had to grow out. She said it was important to remember that any discussion of expanding the UGB was not about land grabbing or greed, but about how to maintain a livable community while accommodating everyone's needs. Ms. Prichard concluded by reporting that much of the data available to the TRG was not particularly relevant to Eugene. The data was coming from communities such as Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Miami. She suggested it was important to remember that Eugene was Eugene and not Atlanta. Mayor Piercy adjourned the work session at 1:25 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ,&A lt�_A Beth Forrest City Recorder (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES— Eugene City Council June 8, 2011 Page 6 Work Session