Planning Commission

SUMMARY MINUTES Regular Meeting Eugene Planning Commission Sloat Room—Atrium Building—99 West 10th Avenue September 10, 2007 11:30 a.m. PRESENT: Rick Duncan, President; Randy Hledik, Vice President; Jon Belcher, member; Phillip Carroll, Ann Kneeland, Anthony McCown, members; Bill Almquist, Lisa Gardner, Ken Guzowski, Steve Ochs, Steve Nystrom, Kurt Yeiter, Planning and Development Department; Gary McNeel, Therese Walch, Public Works Department; Tim Bingham, LCOG; Peter Ruffier, Susie Smith, Carleen Reilly, Terry Connolly, guests. ABSENT: John Lawless, member; Mike Sullivan, ex officio. PUBLIC COMMENT I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES—April 30, May 7 and 14, June 11, 2007 Mr. Hledik, seconded by Mr. Lawless, moved to approve the minutes of April 30, May 7 and June 11, 2007, as written; and to approve the minutes of May 14, 2007, as amended. Mr. Duncan offered a friendly amendment that Mr. Belcher, who was not present at today’s meeting, be able to offer amendments to the minutes at the next meeting at which he was present. The friendly amendment was accepted by Mr. Hledik and Mr. Belcher. The motion passed unanimously, 6:0. II. INTRODUCTION: WATER QUALITY PROTECTED WATERWAYS Staff: Therese Walch, 682-8647 III. PREPARATION FOR JOINT MEETING WITH CITY COUNCIL: PLANNING COMMISSION WORK PROGRAM Staff: Lisa Gardner, 682-5208 IV. ITEMS FROM COMMISSION AND STAFF A. Other Items from Staff SUMMARY MINUTES Eugene Planning Commission September 10, 2007 Page 1  B. Other Items from Commission SUMMARY MINUTES Eugene Planning Commission September 10, 2007 Page 2  MINUTES Regular Meeting Eugene Planning Commission Sloat Room—Atrium Building—99 West 10th Avenue September 10, 2007 11:30 a.m. PRESENT: Rick Duncan, President; Randy Hledik, Vice President; Jon Belcher, member; Phillip Carroll, Ann Kneeland, Anthony McCown, members; Bill Almquist, Lisa Gardner, Ken Guzowski, Steve Ochs, Steve Nystrom, Kurt Yeiter, Planning and Development Department; Gary McNeel, Therese Walch, Public Works Department; Tim Bingham, LCOG; Peter Ruffier, Susie Smith, Carleen Reilly, Terry Connolly, guests. ABSENT: John Lawless, member; Mike Sullivan, ex officio. Mr. Duncan convened the meeting of the Eugene Planning Commission. PUBLIC COMMENT There was no one wishing to offer public comment. I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES—April 30, May 7 and 14, June 11, 2007 April 30, 2007—no corrections. May 7, 2007—no corrections. May 14, 2007— Ms. Kneeland offered the following corrections: Page 5, paragraph 4: Ms. Kneeland shared Mr. Carroll’s concern about safe access for children, but was not certain that imposing a condition with no foreseeable end was the right approach. Page 6, paragraph 1, sentence 2: Mr. Flock cited the Hearings Official’s decision that stated the neighboring parks were not safely accessible for bicyclists and pedestrians; however, accessible vehicular travel was available through the existing street system. June 11, 2007—no corrections. Mr. Hledik, seconded by Belcher, moved to approve the minutes of April 30, May 7 and June 11, 2007, as written; and to approve the minutes of May 14, 2007, as amended. MINUTES--Eugene Planning Commission September 10, 2007 Page 1  Mr. Duncan offered a friendly amendment that Mr. Lawless, who was not present at today’s meeting, be able to offer amendments to the minutes at the next meeting at which he was present. The friendly amendment was accepted by Mr. Hledik and Mr. Belcher. The motion passed unanimously, 6:0. II. INTRODUCTION: WATER QUALITY PROTECTED WATERWAYS Ms. Walch provided an introduction to the proposal for water quality protections which was part of the City of Eugene’s overall plan for reducing urban stormwater pollution. She offered background into why protections were needed, which waterways were being recommended for protection, the basic elements of the proposal, and how the proposal fit within the context of other existing stormwater program activities and other existing waterway protections including Goal 5. Ms. Walch offered a PowerPoint presentation and distributed the following maps: • 2006 Water Quality Protected Waterways Proposal—2006 Water Quality Protection Criteria—303(d) Stream. • 2006 Water Quality Protected Waterways Proposal—2006 Water Quality Protection Criteria—303(d) Stream and Tributary Directly Drains to 303(d) Stream. • 2006 Water Quality Protected Waterways Proposal—2006 Water Quality Protection Criteria—303(d) Stream, Headwater Stream, and Tributary Directly Drains to 303(d) Stream. • Status of Original WQ Waterways—WQ GAP Waterways Not Currently Protected and WQ Waterways Already Protected. • Waterways Recommended for WQ Protection—WQ GAP Waterways Not Currently Protected. Ms. Walch reviewed the public process to date. She said the Planning Commission would hold a work session and public hearing on the draft ordinance in the October or November to develop a recommendation to the City Council, after which the Council would conduct a work session and public hearing, followed by adoption of an ordinance in early 2008. Responding to a question from Ms. Kneeland, Ms. Walch explained the setback was changed from 75 feet to 25 feet based on concerns expressed by property owners and to be in line with Goal 5. She said provisions for the flow controls for head water streams were now in the City code. Mr. Bingham added that the proposed language was an attempt to assess the level of risk for water quality against complex and sometimes conflicting requirements of Goal 5 and water quality regulations. Responding to a question from Mr. Duncan regarding citizen involvement for the project, Ms. Walch stated fact sheets were mailed to 3,300 property owners and interested parties, 60 people had attended an open house, and there were numerous one-on-one conversations with individuals. Relatively little interest was generated by mailed postcards. Mr. Belcher noted that the Planning Commission had not been involved in developing the outreach process for this land use decision, with which Mr. Duncan concurred. Responding to a question from Mr. Belcher, Ms. Walch said the process was responsive to MINUTES--Eugene Planning Commission September 10, 2007 Page 2 the arsenic problem as a compliment to other stormwater management control programs such as the erosion control program. Responding to a question from Mr. Carroll, Ms. Walch stated the source of arsenic, dichloroethylene, trichloroethylene, and tetrachloroethylene was likely industry but was unsure of the particular industry. There was no Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for those pollutants because the State Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) did not have sufficient information to allocate loads. Responding to a question from Mr. Duncan, Ms. Walch said although the City of Eugene had not teamed with City of Springfield or Lane County on this project, but she was awaiting a response from Lane County staff regarding the county’s intent on adoption of a setback ordinance outside of the city limits and the urban growth boundary (UGB). Mr. Duncan opined a point of major pollution was a large culvert on the bike path leading to Valley River Center that dumped stormwater from the streets into the river, and asked what was planned to address this concern. Ms. Walch stated that stormwater development standards that the Planning Commission recommended to the City Council applied to new development and redevelopment. The downtown area was very thoroughly developed, and the recently adopted development standards would not impact Mr. Duncan’s concern except through redevelopment. She added the compliment to the development standards in an area like downtown was to address it through the stormwater basin planning several years ago, and to look at opportunities for retrofitting the system to treat stormwater runoff. There was a capital project that would provide off-line water quality treatment for stormwater runoff during low-flow conditions, other than flood events, that would redirect stormwater to a facility that provided off-line treatment and rerouting back into the system. Mr. Duncan suggested not waiting for redevelopment particularly in the core area, but use available funds to manage a collection process closer to the river. Mr. Bingham stated bids would be solicited in February 2008 to look at the City of Eugene’s stormwater drainage basins in terms of flood control and water quality through the Capital Improvement Program (CIP). Responding to Mr. Hledik, Ms. Walch said the pollution standards and TMDL were established by the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and DEQ Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR). She added that the City of Eugene, as well as industries such as Hynix, were required to conduct water quality monitoring under their stormwater permits, and the Long Tom Watershed Council conducted monitoring. DEQ collected and reviewed data semi- annually, and factored this information in listings and delistings. The City of Eugene had between four and six monitoring stations. Responding to a question from Mr. Carroll, Ms. Walch stated the Stormwater Management Plan adopted in 1993 was still in use. The Stormwater Policy Team, consisting of the Public Works Director and division managers, reviewed the policy in the context of the stormwater management program review and determined that it was still a valid guiding policy document. At Ms. Gardner’s suggestion, the Planning Commission revised the agenda. III. ITEMS FROM COMMISSION AND STAFF MINUTES--Eugene Planning Commission September 10, 2007 Page 3  A. Other Items from Staff Ms. Gardner said House Bill (H.B.) 417 that abolished the Boundary Commission was now state law. A City ordinance needed to be in place by January 1, 2008, and the City of Eugene would begin processing annexation applications after that date. A staff group was drafting language that would require a Planning Commission work session and public hearing prior forwarding to the City Council in November 2007, for Council approval before the end of the year. She explained the timeline for the transition. Under the new state law, the City Council would be responsible for processing the 25 to 45 annual annexation requests and the Planning Commission would be bypassed entirely. Ms. Gardner announced Neighborhood Services was now housed in the Planning Division. As part of the Neighborhood Empowerment Initiative, a strategy had been developed to ensure the neighborhood associations were provided services they needed. A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) would be extended to hire a consultant to conduct a best management practices audit. City Manager Angel Jones had appointed Isaac Markehe and Michelle Mortensen to staff the program on an interim basis. An Assistant Planner would be hired to provide continuity through to the new structure. Ms. Gardner reported the minor code update was scheduled to go to the City Council on October 10, 2007. Mr. Duncan left the meeting at 12:40 p.m. and turned the meeting over to Mr. Hledik. B. Other Items from Commission There were no additional items from the Commission. IV. PREPARATION FOR JOINT MEETING WITH CITY COUNCIL: PLANNING COMMISSION WORK PROGRAM Ms. Gardner reviewed the process to date for the upcoming joint meeting scheduled with the City Council. She introduced Ken Guzowski as the staff lead on the project. Mr. Guzowski facilitated a Commission discussion on the draft work program. Mr. Hledik adjourned the meeting at 1:20 p.m. (Recorded by Linda Henry) m:\2007\planning and development department\planning division\planning commission\pc070910.doc MINUTES--Eugene Planning Commission September 10, 2007 Page 4