CC Minutes - 11/23/11 Work Session

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MINUTES Eugene City Council McNutt Room —City Hall 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon November 23, 2011 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Betty Taylor, George Brown, Andrea Ortiz, George Poling, Mike Clark, Chris Pryor, Alan Zelenka, Pat Farr. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the November 23, 2011, work session of the Eugene City Council to order. A. WORK SESSION: Envision Eugene – Land Need for Industrial The council was joined by Planning Director Lisa Gardner, Metropolitan Community Planning Manager Carolyn Weiss, and Associate Planner Jason Dedrick. Mr. Dedrick provided a PowerPoint presentation on Eugene's industrial land need. He highlighted a strategy from the Joint Elected Officials' Regional Prosperity Plan, Strengthen Key Industries, as a means to increase local wages and which also served as the basis for the need for more industrial land. Mr. Dedrick noted the key industries targeted in the plan: software and computer systems design, manufacturing, health care and social assistance, and scientific research and development. He suggested that, while not mentioned in the plan, the local food industry was growing and its land need also had to be considered. Mr. Dedrick noted the varying site requirements of each key industry. Mr. Dedrick shared State of Oregon employment growth forecasts for 2008 -2018 and anticipated the soon -to -be released growth rate for 2010 -2020 would be slightly higher. He shared data on industrial land consumption since 1990 as well as data on existing vacant industrial sites of varying sizes. He also shared a map of the existing vacant sites. Mr. Dedrick acknowledged limitations in the current inventory that precluded the State from referring companies that needed large sites to Eugene. He briefly noted examples of Eugene companies unable to expand at their current sites. Mr. Dedrick reminded the council of the Economic Prosperity Pillar of Envision Eugene, which called for implementation of the Regional Prosperity Plan, consolidation and redevelopment of vacant and developed industrial sites, and consideration of sites outside the urban growth boundary (UGB). Mr. Dedrick shared maps of potential expansion areas to accommodate industrial growth. He indicated staff would continue to monitor actual job growth, the consumption of large sites, existing companies' expansion efforts, the State's referrals to Eugene, and redevelopment of brownfields /land trusts. Mr. Dedrick noted next steps, which included additional public outreach and a council work session scheduled on December 14. Mayor Piercy solicited council comments and questions. MINUTES— Eugene City Council November 23, 2011 Page 1 Work Session