Planning Commission

AGENDA Meeting Location: Sloat Room—Atrium Building Phone: 541‐682‐5481 99 W. 10th Avenue www.eugene‐or.gov/pc Eugene, OR 97401 The Eugene Planning Commission welcomes your interest in these agenda items. Feel free to come and go as you please at any of the meetings. This meeting location is wheelchair‐accessible. For the hearing impaired, FM assistive‐listening devices are available or an interpreter can be provided with 48 hours notice prior to the meeting. Spanish‐language interpretation will also be provided with 48 hours notice. To arrange for these services, contact the Planning Division at 541‐682‐5675. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013 – REGULAR MEETING (11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.) 11:30 a.m. I. PUBLIC COMMENT The Planning Commission reserves 10 minutes at the beginning of this meeting for public comment. The public may comment on any matter, except for items scheduled for public hearing or public hearing items for which the record has already closed. Generally, the time limit for public comment is three minutes; however, the Planning Commission reserves the option to reduce the time allowed each speaker based on the number of people requesting to speak. 11:40 a.m. II. EWEB RIVERFRONT MASTER PLAN DELIBERATION Staff: Gabe Flock, 541‐682‐5697 1:15 p.m. III. ITEMS FROM COMMISSION AND STAFF A. Other Items from Staff B. Other Items from Commission C. Learning: How are we doing? Commissioners: Steven Baker; Jonathan Belcher; Rick Duncan; Randy Hledik, Chair; John Jaworski; Jeffery Mills; William Randall, Vice Chair  AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY February 19, 2013 To: Eugene Planning Commission From: Gabe Flock, Senior Planner Subject: Deliberations on EWEB’s “Downtown Riverfront” Land Use Applications ACTION REQUESTED: To deliberate and begin to develop the Planning Commission’s recommendation to City Council on the adoption of EWEB’s land use application package, as proposed to implement the EWEB Riverfront Master Plan. BRIEFING STATEMENT: At the Planning Commission’s public hearing held on February 5, 2013, EWEB’s consultant team presented their land use application package and we received testimony from 18 individuals in support of the request. There were 4 individuals that testified in opposition. If commissioners or any interested party wishes to review the televised recording of that hearing, it is available on the City’s website at: http://ceapps.eugene‐or.gov/PCWEBCAST/WEBCAST/Play.aspx?mid=550 Following the close of the public hearing, the open record period was extended at the applicant’s request until Tuesday, February 12, 2013 to allow additional written testimony and any new evidence, with a rebuttal period ending on Friday, February 11, 2013. The applicant also agreed to provide any final written comments no later than Monday, February 18, 2013 in order to make it available to the Planning Commission prior to starting deliberations. To facilitate deliberations, staff has provided commissioners with an index of record materials to date, for convenient access to all the application materials, staff correspondence, notice documentation and written public testimony. The applicant’s written responses to your questions and other background materials have also been added, including the full EWEB Riverfront Master Plan document with Appendix. The full record of materials is also publicly available at: http://www.eugene‐ or.gov/index.aspx?NID=2358. It will be updated as additional materials become available, including the applicant’s rebuttal comments and any final written comments. The subject of deliberations at your upcoming meeting will be to discuss any initial concerns or questions on EWEB’s land use application package, as we begin to formulate a recommendation to City Council. Staff proposes that we begin with an overview of any questions or specific concerns that the public testimony may have raised for commissioners, particularly the opposing testimony. Staff is available to assist the deliberations by responding with further explanation of the issues raised in the testimony and questions from the commissioners, such as Willamette Greenway requirements, Water Resource overlay provisions, and height standards. We can also address several topic areas that may warrant a more detailed discussion such as the design review process, street standards, the proposed riverfront park, and parking. In advance of the meeting, commissioners are encouraged to review the 1 PC Agenda - Page 1 applicant’s written response to your questions following the public hearing, and any rebuttal comments, which staff expects will respond to much of these concerns. As a reminder, the land use application package proposed by EWEB is subject to quasi‐judicial procedures and includes the following components (briefly summarized below): Metro Plan Amendment (MA 12‐1): amends the Metro Plan diagram to reflect the master plan vision for mixed‐use redevelopment; changes land use designation from primarily heavy industrial to mixed use. Refinement Plan Adoption & Related Amendments (RA 12‐1): adopts the EWEB Downtown Riverfront Specific Area Plan; also amends the Downtown Plan and Riverfront Park Study to remove obsolete sections and ensure consistency. Code Amendments (CA 12‐4): amends the Eugene Code to establish a new Downtown Riverfront Special Area Zone including form‐based standards for future redevelopment; also includes related code amendments to integrate the new zoning with existing code sections. Zone Change (Z 12‐6): rezones the site from primarily industrial and public land zones to the new Downtown Riverfront Special Area Zone. Willamette Greenway Permit (WG 12‐4): approves a Willamette Greenway Permit for future development that is consistent with the new plan and zone. As we’ve discussed, these land use applications proposed to implement the EWEB Riverfront Master Plan will ultimately come before the City Council for adoption. To assist in this process, your primary role in making a recommendation to Council will be to review these implementing tools, to ensure the conceptual master plan’s vision can be carried out through the proposed land use regulations. To that end, we encourage commissioners to identify any significant concerns they believe may affect compliance with the approval criteria for these applications, at the outset of deliberations. Ideally, we would hope to develop the Planning Commission’s recommendation at the following meeting on March 4, 2013. Following your recommendation, the request will be heard before the Council in a second public hearing process, where the record will be re‐opened to consider your recommendation and accept any new evidence and testimony before a final decision is made. ATTACHMENTS: As noted above, the full record of materials has been provided separately, and is posted on the City’s website at: http://www.eugene‐or.gov/index.aspx?NID=2358. The index provides a hyper‐linked, paginated list of all the record materials received to date, for convenient access. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please contact Gabe Flock, Senior Planner, at (541) 682‐5697, or gabriel.flock@ci.eugene.or.us. 2 PC Agenda - Page 2