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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 05/16/12 Work SessionMINUTES Eugene City Council McNutt Room —City Hall 777 Pearl Street — Eugene, Oregon May 16, 2012 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: George Brown, Pat Farr, Betty Taylor, Andrea Ortiz, George Poling, Mike Clark, Chris Pryor, Alan Zelenka. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the May 16, 2012, work session of the Eugene City Council to order. A. WORK SESSION: Trude Kaufman Center Recreation Division Manager Craig Smith reminded the council that the Trude Kaufman building had been mothballed since January 2011. In July 2011 the council had been asked to provide input on the future use of the facility and councilors expressed interest in maintaining the building as a community resource. Staff had received input from many parties, including the Jefferson - Westside Neighbors, who requested that the site be used for activities that created a sense of community and increased neighborhood livability, with priority on services for youth and seniors. The use should not diminish from neighborhood safety and livability. Mr. Smith reviewed some of the uses proposed by interested parties, which included transitional living quarters for returning female veterans, youth mentorship services, breast cancer recovery program, domestic violence legal assistance, halfway house, park guild, community education center, Extension Services headquarters, low- income housing for seniors, wet bed facility, Lions Club headquarters, and a bed and breakfast. Mr. Smith said the building cost approximately $20,000 /year to maintain, with funds coming from the Kaufman Trust. He reported that the property was appraised in 2010 for $495,000. The facility's condition was fair and needed work would cost about $150,000 to $200,000. It was in a special zone that required compliance with historic guidelines. Mr. Smith reviewed three options for the future use of the building: 1) dispose of the property by selling it at market value; 2) retain the property and create a Request for Proposals (RPF) process that met the criteria identified by the Jefferson - Westside Neighbors and determined the most effective use of the property as a community resource via a lease agreement that eliminated ongoing maintenance costs for the City; and 3) retain the property and create an RFP process that considered the criteria identified by the Jefferson - Westside Neighbors but did not limit the criteria to those standards and determined the most effective use of the property as a community resource via a lease agreement that eliminated the ongoing maintenance costs to the City of Eugene. Mr. Smith reported that City Manager Jon Ruiz recommended Option 3. Councilors asked questions clarifying the details of each option. The council was generally supportive of the staff recommendation. Mr. Brown supported keeping the building in community use. Mr. Zelenka supported using the criteria offered by the Jefferson - Westside Neighbors but did not want the Request for Proposals to be limited to them. Mr. Poling agreed with Mr. Zelenka because he feared the criteria would limit the number of responses, and suggested that the term "community resource" be more clearly defined. Ms. Taylor expressed concern that the structure would no longer be in the use intended by the MINUTES— Eugene City Council May 16, 2012 Page 1 Work Session donor and suggested that might discourage others who wished to donate property to the City for a particular use. City Attorney Emily Jerome indicated that donors could take legal steps to stipulate their donations remained in the intended use but that had not happened in this case. Ms. Ortiz said if the City received no viable responses to the RPF she would support further examination of the site's limitations and other potential uses. Mayor Piercy pointed out the agency that formerly provided senior programming at the center did not find it suitable for that use in the long -term. She suggested many uses would qualify as a community resource. Mr. Brown, seconded by Mr. Farr, moved to direct the City Manager to create a Request for Proposals process that considers the criteria as identified by the Jefferson- Westside Neighborhood, but does not limit the criteria to those standards, and determine the most effective use of the property as a community resource via a lease agreement that eliminates the ongoing maintenance costs to the City of Eugene. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. B. WORK SESSION: Envision Eugene Draft Recommendations Planning Director Lisa Gardner led the council through a PowerPoint presentation regarding the public response to Envision Eugene's draft recommendations. She summarized the response as strong support for the proposed economic development strategies, for investments in downtown, key transit corridors, and core commercial areas, and for the addition of land for parks and schools; there was moderate support for the recommended housing mix and single - family expansion areas. Next steps included formal adoption of the recommendations, scheduled for May 30, and a Goal 5 inventory of potential urban growth boundary (UGB) expansion areas. Councilors asked questions to clarify the details of the presentation and generally commended the public involvement effort. Mayor Piercy observed that the Clear Lake Road area felt closer when approached through Bethel, where housing already existed. She suggested the proposed school and housing were more appropriate in the Golden Gardens area. She believed that was an improvement over industrial. She was concerned about the environmental impact of industrial uses in that area and asked what parameters the community could place on such uses. She said there were residents who did not mind living near industry but did not want to suffer from toxins. Mr. Poling requested a brief summary of how bringing the airport inside the UGB affected the City's ability to bring other adjacent lands inside the boundary. Mr. Clark left the meeting. Ms. Ortiz requested more information about Creswell's plans as they related to the Goshen area. Ms. Ortiz referred to the City -owned property in the Golden Gardens area and asked what the City planned to do with it. She suggested the possibility it could be used as affordable housing. Metropolitan/Community Planning Manager Carolyn Burke indicated that the Planning Commission had discussed the potential of master planning for that area. She cautioned that if the City brought Golden Gardens Park into the city as parkland, it could not redesignate it for housing unless it could demonstrate a need. MINUTES— Eugene City Council May 16, 2012 Page 2 Work Session Ms. Ortiz noted the proximity of industry to the Golden Gardens area and said if the City decided to locate housing in that area she would like to see a trigger for annexing the industrial properties to the city so they could be include in the City's Toxics Right -to -Know program. Mr. Zelenka continued to support inclusion of the airport inside the UGB to give the City more control over the airport. He requested a list of the soil types in the Lane Community College basin and Gimpl Hill areas as well as the land types that would be brought inside the UGB. He asked staff to consider how the City could ensure the industrial parcels brought inside the UGB were not divided. Mr. Brown opposed any expansion onto farmlands, such as those found in the Clear Lake Road area. He believed the existence of agricultural and hydric soils argued against development of the area. His concerns extended to the nearby Willow Creek area. He advocated for including the Russell Creek basin inside the UGB with the Dillard Road area "thrown in." Mr. Pryor was interested in further discussion of the City-owned property at Golden Gardens. He recalled the City originally purchased the property with the intent of exchanging it for the current fairgrounds location, a possibility that continued to be of interest to him. He did not want to constrain that property if there was any life left to that discussion. He was interested in further examination of the development potential of the Lane Community College and Russell Creek basins and wanted to ensure that the college's policy makers participated in that process. He agreed with Mr. Zelenka about the airport. Mayor Piercy reminded the council that its decisions regarding the housing ratio would impact the amount of acreage the City needed. Ms. Taylor did not support expansion of the UGB. She said the City would not have to expand the UGB if it adopted a lower single - family housing percentage. She did not think the City needed to expand the UGB for industrial uses because she did not think the type of jobs the community desired required large sites. She expressed concern that placing housing near the airport would lead to noise complaints. Ms. Taylor agreed with Mr. Brown about importance of protecting farmland from development. Mr. Zelenka shared Ms. Ortiz's concerns about locating industrial uses proximate to residential uses. He supported further examination of the development potential of the Lane Community College basin. Mr. Zelenka also supported a lower single- family housing percentage and suggested a split of 50:50. He asked staff to investigate the impact of that ratio on the UGB. Mr. Farr agreed that further examination of the Lane Community College basin was in order and asked staff to coordinate with Lane County in that effort. Mr. Zelenka requested an explanation of the rationale behind the industrial acreage need. He also requested a timeline for the council's decision - making process. Mr. Brown wanted the council to have more choices in regard to the residential expansion areas. Mayor Piercy adjourned the meeting at 1:26 p.m. Respectfully submitted, S ;t� 1 "."A Beth Forrest City Recorder (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES— Eugene City Council May 16, 2012 Page 3 Work Session