Planning Commission

SUMMARY MINUTES Regular Meeting Eugene Planning Commission Sloat Room—The Atrium—99 West 10th Avenue May 7, 2007 11:30 a.m. PRESENT: Rick Duncan, President; Randy Hledik, Vice President; Jon Belcher, Phillip Carroll, Ann Kneeland, John Lawless, Anthony McCown, members; Neil Björklund, Jason Dedrick, Kurt Yeiter, Planning and Development Department; Sue Diciple, project consultant. ABSENT: Jon Belcher, member; Mike Sullivan, ex officio. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS I. SOUTH RIDGELINE HABITAT STUDY—FACILITATED DISCUSSION Staff: Neil Björklund, 682-5507 II. ITEMS FROM COMMISSION AND STAFF A. Other Items from Staff B. Other Items from Commission MINUTES—Eugene Planning Commission May 7, 2007 Page 1  MINUTES Regular Meeting Eugene Planning Commission Sloat Room—The Atrium—99 West 10th Avenue May 7, 2007 11:30 a.m. PRESENT: Rick Duncan, President; Randy Hledik, Vice President; Jon Belcher, Phillip Carroll, Ann Kneeland, John Lawless, Anthony McCown, members; Neil Björklund, Jason Dedrick, Kurt Yeiter, Planning and Development Department; Sue Diciple, project consultant. ABSENT: Jon Belcher, member; Mike Sullivan, ex officio. Mr. Duncan convened the Planning Commission meeting. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS There was no one wishing to offer public comment. I. SOUTH RIDGELINE HABITAT STUDY (SRHS) —FACILITATED DISCUSSION Mr. Björklund introduced the project team, Jason Dedrick, Associate Planner, Planning and Development and Sue Diciple, Sue Diciple Group, Project Consulting Facilitator. Mr. Björklund explained the process for the project, noting that changes were made to the citizen involvement plan following the November 24, 2006 public workshop on the draft SRHS. The City hired a facilitator to engage the community in discussing the issues. Six facilitated community meetings were held between March 7, 2007 and April 26, 2007, to gather in put about possible outcomes for the SHRS in four neighborhood areas, at the Eugene Public Library for interested parties and at the Red Lion Inn for business and development interests. Findings included strong community support for conservation of additional valuable habitats in the South Ridgeline area, and concerns about impacts of conservation measures on property owners. In response to Mr. Duncan regarding attendance at the public workshops, Mr. Björklund said an extensive public notice process including consulting with neighborhood associations, direct mailings, and e-mail was used to notify people about the workshops. The goals were to bring out the issues from a range of interests and to engage people in a conversation in which they were informed enough to make informed comments. Mr. Björklund said staff was seeking agreement from the Planning Commission on the proposed work plan for a citizen Task Group. The Planning Commission would deliberate on every aspect of the proposal, the criteria, and the protection measures prior to making a recommendation to the City Council. MINUTES—Eugene Planning Commission May 7, 2007 Page 1 Mr. Duncan expressed concern that the process would be dominated by one or two people. Mr. Björklund said in selection of the Task Group members, staff would want to ensure that participants were willing to take a broad view while representing their interest areas. Ms. Diciple suggested seeking input from credible groups on potential Task Group members. Responding to Mr. Hledik, Ms. Diciple said it would be beneficial to have one Task Group member own property in the subject SRHS area. She said the work of the Task Group would be to develop criteria for identifying sites for protection by acquisition, education and/or financial incentive measures, and regulation (if supported by the group). Upon completion of these tasks, the work of the Task Group would be completed. Mr. Duncan said it was important to emphasize to the community that this was a community wide process that could impact people in several ways, including reducing the buildable land supply and impacting housing values when sites were protected. He wanted to ensure that a wide range of views were considered. In response to Ms. Kneeland, Mr. Björklund said participants at an additional public workshop would review both the criteria and identified sites as drafted by the Task Group. Mr. McCown suggested using an open application process including the youth and college age people rather than limiting representation by demographics. Ms. Diciple explained an open application process would add a level of complexity to the process. She acknowledged the importance of including the youth demographic in the process. Mr. McCown said it was not necessary to have a youth designated seat on the Task Group but encouraged soliciting the youth participation. Responding to Mr. Carroll, Mr. Björklund said his goal was to reach informed consent on a proposal that all Task Group participants could live with , noting it was unlikely that everyone would be enthusiastic about one proposal given the range of interests. In response to Mr. Duncan, Mr. Björklund said no random sample or telephone survey was planned for the project. He said there had been nine community meetings, several mailings and a website providing information on the project. Based on what staff heard from the City Council, the Council did not want the process to go on forever. Mr. Björklund said he was attempting to balance an contained timeline with getting the best possible information from an engaged citizenry. He opined more outreach had been done in one year on the SRHS project than in fifteen years of the previous Goal 5 process. Mr. McCown said he was comfortable with the process, and iterated his preference for an open application process for the at large positions. Ms. Diciple said an open process would require action by either the City Council or Planning Commission. She added contacting groups such as the City Club, League of Women Voters, or the student body organizations at UO or LCC would be credible groups that could provide good candidates. At the conclusion of the discussion, Mr. Duncan noted consensus to accept Mr. Björklund’s Task Group proposal as presented in the Agenda Item Summary (AIS). MINUTES—Eugene Planning Commission May 7, 2007 Page 2 Mr. Yeiter stated staff would send the Task Group names to commissioners via e-mail. Mr. Björklund offered a PowerPoint presentation entitled South Ridgeline Habitat Study, which was also presented at each of the six community meetings. Ms. Diciple reviewed the South Ridgeline Study Public Involvement Workshops—Summary Results—April 2007 document included as a attachment to the AIS. Mr. Duncan said it would be interesting to see how the responses from residents from outside the SRHS area differed from those who lived within the study area. It was important to hear how the community at large felt about the SRHS. Mr. Björklund said the SRHS had not been evaluated against the planned park acquisitions identified in the Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) plan, in response to a question from Mr. Hledik. Mr. Hledik suggested overlaying the PROS acquisition areas over the SRHS areas to illustrate publicly owned sites. Mr. Hledik added it would be helpful to know if there were federal or state mandates on protected species. Mr. Duncan would like more input on how we were doing educating people in the study area; and, how the questions raised here fit with the community as a whole. Mr. Lawless said it was important to find a way to get people to look beyond their special interests and acknowledge that everyone was part of the big picture, and therefore necessary for everyone to contribute in the decision making process. Ms. Diciple said it was a challenge to get people to participate and focus on public issues. Mr. Björklund acknowledged the importance of putting the views into a larger context. He noted that the staff proposal included the citizen Task Group along with a community wide meeting to review the products of the Task Group. Mr. Hledik stated Task Group members should not be randomly selected from the voter pool. The membership should be made up of experienced, knowledgeable people who were interested in the project and had demonstrated ability to sort through complex issues and offer unbiased opinions. Mr. Yeiter said the best timing to access broad community acceptance would be after the Task Group recommendations were made to the Planning Commission. He noted frequently there was not much public comment until there was something specific to comment on. Mr. Carroll concurred it would be beneficial for the Task Group to develop a proposal to which the public could react. Mr. McCown and Mr. Carroll left at 1:45 p.m. Mr. Björklund summarized the discussion: MINUTES—Eugene Planning Commission May 7, 2007 Page 3  • Consider an extra meeting. • Carry on with the plan as proposed. • Make every effort to ensure there was outreach to all neighborhoods. II. ITEMS FROM COMMISSION AND STAFF A. Other Items from Staff There were no other items from staff. B. Other Items from Commission There were no other items from the commission. Mr. Duncan adjourned the Planning Commission meeting at 1:50 p.m. (Recorded by Linda Henry) m:\2007\planning and development department\planning division\planning commission\pc070507.doc MINUTES—Eugene Planning Commission May 7, 2007 Page 4