Planning Commission

SUMMARY MINUTES Regular Meeting Eugene Planning Commission Sloat Room—The Atrium—99 West 10th Avenue January 22, 2007 11:30 a.m. PRESENT: Rick Duncan, Vice President; Jon Belcher, Phillip Carroll, Randy Hledik, Ann Kneeland, John Lawless, Anthony McCown, members; Lisa Gardner, Allen Lowe, Susan Muir, Ann Siegenthaler, Kurt Yeiter, Planning and Development Department; Rob Inerfeld, Peggy Keppler, Tom Larsen, Gary McNeel, Public Works Department; Michael Bauer, David Knowles, Marcy McInelly, project consultants; Mary Weber, Erik Myrmo, Terry Connolly, Calvin Hall, Chris Ramey, Charles Biggs, Eric Gunderson, Thomas Brennar, Carla Castano, Mark Gillem, Kristen Taylor, Jeanne Wagenknecht, Rob Handy, Zach Vishnoff, guests. ABSENT: Mike Sullivan, ex officio. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approval of minutes of June 26, August 28, October 24, 30, November 13, December 11 and 12, 2006. Mr. Hledik, seconded by Mr. Belcher, moved to adopt the minutes from June 26, August 28, October 24, 30, November 13, December 11 and 12, 2006 as amended. The motion passed unanimously. II. WORK SESSION: WALNUT STATION—FRANKLIN BOULEVARD REDESIGN Staff: Allen Lowe, 682-5113 III. ITEMS FROM COMMISSION AND STAFF A. Other Items from Staff B. Other Items from Commission MINUTES—Eugene Planning Commission January 22, 2007 Page 1  MINUTES Regular Meeting Eugene Planning Commission Sloat Room—The Atrium—99 West 10th Avenue January 22, 2007 11:30 a.m. PRESENT: Rick Duncan, Vice President; Jon Belcher, Phillip Carroll, Randy Hledik, Ann Kneeland, John Lawless, Anthony McCown, members; Lisa Gardner, Allen Lowe, Susan Muir, Ann Siegenthaler, Kurt Yeiter, Planning and Development Department; Rob Inerfeld, Peggy Keppler, Tom Larsen, Gary McNeel, Public Works Department; Michael Bauer, David Knowles, Marcy McInelly, project consultants; Mary Weber, Erik Myrmo, Terry Connolly, Calvin Hall, Chris Ramey, Charles Biggs, Eric Gunderson, Thomas Brennar, Carla Castano, Mark Gillem, Kristen Taylor, Jeanne Wagenknecht, Rob Handy, Zach Vishnoff, guests. ABSENT: Mike Sullivan, ex officio. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS Mark Gillem, 1799 Fairmont Boulevard, identified himself as a faculty member at the University of Oregon (UO) School of Architecture and Allied Arts and a practicing architect. He explained the work performed by the UO student urban design studio and asked for time at a future meeting to present the model developed by the students for the Walnut Mixed Use Center. Terry Connolly, 1401 Willamette Street, represented the Eugene Chamber of Commerce. Although the requirements for the buildable land supply had met the State of Oregon requirements he asked if they were complete enough for Eugene. He suggested that the Planning Commission have a work session on the findings considered by the City Council last week. Kristen Taylor, 1648 East Twenty-third Avenue. She said the neighborhood association supported the multi-way boulevard in that it provided elements that were important to the neighborhood including safe access to EmX, the river and pedestrian sidewalks. Rob Handy, 455 ½ River Road, addressed annexation issues in the River Road/Santa Clara area. He asked for a special area plan for the area. Jeanne Wagenknecht, 1380 Villard, represented the Fairmont Neighborhood Association, distributed a memorandum dated January 22, 2007, to the Commissioners. She and her husband own a building on Villard which they wish to improve and expand, and were concerned about eminent domain issues Eric Gunderson, 72 West Broadway, represented the American Institute of Architects (AIA). He distributed a handout entitled, FRANKLIN CORRIDOR STUDY Architects Bridging Communities that described AIA 150 year anniversary project The American Institute of Architects Explores What United Our Communities and workshops scheduled for February 2 and MINUTES—Eugene Planning Commission January 22, 2007 Page 1 3, 2007. I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approval of minutes of June 26, August 28, October 24, 30, November 13, December 11 and 12, 2006. June 26, 2006—no corrections. August 28, 2006 Mr. Belcher offered the following correction: Page 5, paragraph 1: Mr. Belcher remarked that if development was going to happen differently in Eugene it would be necessary to work with both neighbors and developers to identify what should be done differently in order for the project to succeed; that went beyond picking a site both parties liked. October 24, 2006—no corrections. October 30, 2006 Mr. Belcher offered the following correction: Page 3, paragraph 1, sentence 1: Mr. Belcher said he recently attended a presentation on mass transit by Ms. Potchia that had been very informative. November 13, 2006 Mr. Belcher offered the following correction: Page 4, paragraph 11, sentence 1: He said if the expanding the UGB was considered, opportunities to address affordable housing could be taken into consideration. November 30, 2006—no corrections. December 11, 2006—no corrections. December 12, 2006—no corrections. Mr. Hledik, seconded by Mr. Belcher, moved to adopt the minutes from June 26, August 28, October 24, 30, November 13, December 11 and 12, 2006 as amended. The motion passed unanimously. II. WORK SESSION: WALNUT STATION—FRANKLIN BOULEVARD REDESIGN Mr. Lowe provided the staff presentation. He said recent planning efforts have been undertaken in several significant areas served by Franklin Boulevard including downtown, courthouse and East Campus areas. Additionally, TransPlan, nodal development policies and maps, the Entrance Beautification Study, and Central Area Transportation Study (CATS), collectively describe an MINUTES—Eugene Planning Commission January 22, 2007 Page 2 intention to transform Franklin Boulevard into a landscaped boulevard functioning as a gateway to the city and providing for development opportunities for transit-supportive uses around station areas with an attractive pedestrian environment. In 2005 the City initiated site specific planning effort for the Walnut Station Mixed Use Area in partnership with the State of Oregon (the state) and the UO. The study area encompassed the commercially zoned land along both sides of Franklin Boulevard and Garden Avenue to the north and east of the university. The study was divided into two phases: Phase 1 focused on developing a vision for the area and the planning framework. Phase 2, which is currently under way, focuses on plan development and implementation. Ms. Muir reviewed recent planning activities. She introduced project consultant David Knowles.. Planning Commissioners and members of the consultant team introduced themselves. Mr. Knowles reviewed the agenda for the meeting. He presented the charge and challenge of the project: • The impact of the UO, Lane Transit District (LTD) and other businesses on the project. • Impacts of rapid changes in technology. • Demographic trends that effect Eugene. • Changes to the urban growth boundary (UGB) to accommodate changes. • How to take certain and uncertain information and decide on how to configure streets for the next fifteen years and beyond. Ms. Knowles reviewed the background of the project from its inception in 2005, as outlined in the Agenda Item Summary (AIS). He said Phase I was intended to address the emerging vision and concept. Phase II was intended to address conceptual design. Preliminary and final design would be address in future phases of the project. Mr. Knowles and Ms. McInelly offered a PowerPoint presentation that reviewed the project to date and illustrated the proposed timeline. Mr. Lawless identified critical issues: • How does this project influence future decisions related to expansion of the UGB. • Design versus political decisions, and their interconnectedness. • Earlier process had several concepts, rather than a single concept. • Agreement on a cross-section of the street—keep discussion broad enough to consider multiple options. Mr. Belcher had several concerns about the process: • Phase I did not reach consensus on where to go with the project—how would process preclude options. • How the public would be kept informed. Mr. Knowles said there was an Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) contract that conditioned continued funding for the balance of the Walnut Street project on a determination by the Planning Commission of a configuration for Franklin Boulevard. If the determination is not reached, the funding could end, jeopardizing future work on the project. He asserted there have MINUTES—Eugene Planning Commission January 22, 2007 Page 3 been significant changes on the street as a result of the recent Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) construction. He added that the public’s investment in the BRT system would not be maximized unless an environment that supports additional density and different uses iss created. Such a plan would better accommodate transit riders, pedestrians, and local access to various uses in the area. The public could and should begin to rely on the conceptual design for investment decisions. In response to Mr. Belcher, Mr. Lowe said staff was seeking guidance rather than a final decision on the ultimate design of Franklin Boulevard. He stressed the importance of keeping detailed design options open to be able to react to future modeling results. No truly final decision would be made until the City Council adopts a plan for the area. Mr. Lowe suggested the Planning Commission look at Mark Gillem’s proposal outside of the three meetings scheduled to consider the consultant’s work due to state funding constraints. In response to Mr. Carroll, Mr. Lowe said there was no flexibility in the contract to add additional meetings, adding the contract called for a decision by the Planning Commission by the end of February. He said that he would contact ODOT representatives to discuss contract flexibility. Responding to Mr. McCown, Ms. Gardner asserted that a robust public involvement process had been used for Phase 1 and Phase 2. She encouraged Mr. Gillem to be part of the City’s process rather than running a different process in the community. She added that although Mr. Gillem’s vision may have more detail, it was not a detailed plan. Mr. Lowe added that a more detailed plan would be developed based upon Planning Commission direction. He agreed to explore arranging a presentation for the Commissioners by UO architecture students. In response to Mr. Hledik, Mr. Lowe said continued attempts had been made to meet with property owners and other interested parties, resulting in numerous meetings with those parties over the previous 8 months. He said progress on ten of twelve issues had occurred, Franklin Boulevard being one of the unresolved issues. Mr. Knowles noted general consensus from Commissioners that the process he had outlined was acceptable. He sought consensus for a balanced transportation system that was impacted by the following: • Arterial and Collector Street Plan • Central Area Transportation Study • Substantial BRT investment. • TransPlan 2002 update. • Growth Management Study and GMS policies Ms. McInelly continued with the PowerPoint presentation that illustrated a multi-modal, transit- oriented mixed-use street. She distributed the following handouts of PowerPoint slides and facilitated a discussion of the survey results. • Decision Making Process. • Survey Results—Part One—Franklin Boulevard Today. • Survey Results—Part Two—Franklin Boulevard in the Future. In response to a question, Mr. McNeel said that LCOG data indicated that a great many trips along the Franklin Boulevard corridor were through trips rather than local trips. MINUTES—Eugene Planning Commission January 22, 2007 Page 4 Mr. McInelly said the following vital questions had been identified from the survey: • Can the street be a vital link between downtown as well as a specific place? • Can the street move traffic while being a node? The Commission reviewed an example of a successful boulevard design on Octavia Street in San Francisco, and discussed the positive and negative attributes of the design. Commissioners were asked to respond to questions on the handout in the agenda packet entitled Attachment C—Community Questions on Street Design Components and submit those responses to Mr. Lowe. Responding to Mr. Belcher, Mr. Lowe said the Walnut Street/Franklin Boulevard intersection would continue to be under control of the state, while jurisdiction of Franklin Boulevard between Walnut Street and the Washington/Jefferson Street bridge had been transferred to the City of Eugene. Mr. Belcher asked if the intent of the guidance the Commission was being asked to provide would reduce the capacity of Franklin Boulevard to carry through traffic. Ms. McInelly responded that it would not affect the capacity but it might add travel time for cars. She added there were other benefits that pedestrians and cyclists would realize. She added travel time would diminish over time if no action was taken resulting from growth and the current street design. Mr. Lowe said the possibility of extending a major street through the Riverfront Research Park and in conjunction with redesign of Franklin Boulevard was off the table due declining support for the idea and the probability that research park construction would physically block a potential alignment. He added that Garden Avenue is still within the study area and that some design suggestions would be made for Garden, but not as a parallel arterial street. Responding to Mr. Knowles, there was consensus by the Commissioners that they agreed with the decision making process. Mr. Lowe asserted that the existing policies did not mandate that the capacity of the transportation system be diminished; rather the policies encourage us to explore what level of service was acceptable to the community, to determine how level of service would be measured for non-auto modes, and to understand the tradeoffs involved. Mr. Knowles stated the street designs could not be monolithic; rather each block was different and would need to be considered individually within the adopted set of principles. He noted no strong objections to the direction the Commission was taking in the policy direction conversation. There was consensus to extend the time of the February 12 meeting. Mr. Lowe outlined an assignment for Commissioners before the next meeting, asking them to observe traffic, sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes, center turn lanes, medians, building placement and other features on an exploration of three streets. He suggested the following activity to be pursued independently by each Commissioner: MINUTES—Eugene Planning Commission January 22, 2007 Page 5  • Ride the EmX from the Eugene downtown station to the Agate Street station; then walk the length of Franklin Boulevard from Walnut Street to Agate Street. • Walk Coburg Road between the Interstate 105 overpass and the Oakmont Way intersection. • Walk from West Eleventh Avenue and Garfield Street to West Eleventh Avenue and City View Street. III. ITEMS FROM COMMISSION AND STAFF A. Other Items from Staff Ms. Gardner said staff was working on pairing the Planning Commission leadership with the City Council leadership in a meeting with City Manager Dennis Taylor and Mayor Kitty Piercy to discuss the Walnut Station—Franklin Boulevard Redesign project. She encouraged Commissioners to remain in contact with their Council Buddies. Mr. Knowles said he would soliciting feedback via e-mail on how today’s meeting went, and how it could be improved. B. Other Items from Commission Mr. Duncan said Council Buddy assignments would be discussed at Friday’s Planning Commission retreat. Mr. Duncan adjourned the Planning Commission meeting at 1:40 p.m. (Recorded by Linda Henry) m:\2007\planning and development department\planning division\planning commission\pc070122.doc MINUTES—Eugene Planning Commission January 22, 2007 Page 6