HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/21/2014 Work SessionCity of Springfield
Work Session Meeting
MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF
THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD
MONDAY JULY 21, 2014
The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth
Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday July 21, 2014 at 6:03 p.m., with Mayor Lundberg presiding.
ATTENDANCE
Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors VanGordon, Wylie, Moore, Ralston, and Woodrow.
Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City Attorney
Mary Bridget Smith, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff.
1. Springfield 2030 Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) Amendment to Meet the City's Commercial
and Industrial Land Needs (Metro Plan Amendment File No. LRP 2009-00014).
Principal Planner, Linda Pauly, presented the staff report on this item.
The City Council is considering options for expanding the UGB to provide sites that will meet the
needs of Springfield's target industries — as identified in the 2009 Draft Commercial and Industrial
Buildable Lands Inventory and Economic Opportunity Analysis — for the planning period ending
2030. The City Council's 2030 Plan UGB proposal and the final UGB may include some or all land
as shown in Attachment 2 of the agenda packet or other lands identified through the 2030 Plan
process, consistent with the prioritization requirements of ORS 197.298 and the Oregon Land Use
Goal 14 Administrative Rule.
Since April, the Council has reviewed and discussed analysis provided by staff to compare economic,
environmental, social, and energy aspects of five study areas for potential inclusion in Springfield's
UGB. These discussions have been focused on deciding where the City will grow to provide
urbanizable sites for employment opportunities and target industries. The product of these discussions
will be the Council's consensus on which study areas to include in the City's UGB proposal and which
areas to exclude — consistent with the prioritization requirements of ORS 197.298. At the May 27`h
work session, Council directed staff to refine the proposed UGB to include portions of the College
View Industrial and North Gateway study areas. The results of this analysis are mapped in ATT2.
Selecting the location of future urban growth areas is just one of several key decisions the elected
officials will be asked to make concurrently as they consider adoption of Springfield 2030 Plan and
UGB Amendment. The Council also directed staff to conduct additional analysis focusing on how
many employment opportunity sites and how much urbanizable land to include in the UGB to provide
suitable sites for target industry sectors. This analysis requires updating and adding data about site
needs to the 2009 Draft Commercial and Industrial Buildable Lands Inventory and Economic
Opportunity Analysis (CIBL/EOA) to finalize the document for adoption. The final local decision on
the location and size of UGB amendment requires co -adoption by the Springfield City Council and
Lane County Board of Commissioners. The City's 2030 Plan proposal will be presented to the public
and to the Lane County Board of Commissioners for review later this calendar year.
Ms. Pauly referred to a packet of emails that had been received by the City since July 11, 2014.
Ms. Pauly said the two areas Council directed staff to look at further has changed since the last
proposal. ORS 198.297 and Goal 14 set the criteria for high priority lands. The City is required to
look to non -resource land first to see if our land needs can be met before considering agricultural land.
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Council Work Session Minutes
July 21, 2014
Page 2
If the City's needs cannot be met through the non -resource land, they can then consider resource land.
She referred to soil maps that were displayed and explained how the lines have been drawn to avoid
Class 2 soil areas. She referred to the map showing the College View site and why the lines were
drawn where they were. They removed parcels belonging to people who are opposed to being included
in the UGB and any farm land. The floodway portion of one property was included in the proposed
UGB expansion area. There would be restrictions on what they can do in the floodway regarding
development constraints. She described other parcels removed and those that remained.
Councilor Wylie asked where Charles Stewart's farm was located.
Ms. Pauly identified the location on the map. Ms. Pauly said it is part of the study area, but not as part
of the proposed UGB.
Mayor Lundberg confirmed that the properties in green were neutral or interested in being in the UGB.
Ms. Pauly said that is correct. The property owners of parcels not marked had not come forward to
notify the City of their preference.
Mayor Lundberg said there is a lot of concern around contaminating groundwater.
Ms. Pauly said the City's Environmental Services Division (ESD) staff are looking at stormwater
runoff in the proposed areas. The city does provide some environmental services in areas within the
UGB and outside city limits. If this area were to be included in our UGB, our environmental services
staff would provide some services.
Bill Hamann, Environmental Services Program Manager, said they City could absorb some of these
areas with current staff. Currently, stormwater protection is done through an intergovernmental
agreement (IGA) with Lane County in areas outside city limits and inside the UGB. That would
continue in this area.
Mayor Lundberg said the concern is that any industry could pollute the groundwater in the event of a
big storm or event, which would affect people's wells.
Mr. Hamann said it is more difficult to speak regarding groundwater contamination. His understanding
is that people want more protection for the groundwater. Bringing them into the UGB would give the
city the ability to look more closely at potential risks.
Mayor Lundberg said she wants to know the City's plan to deal with current and additional industry
that could potentially cause a problem with runoff that affects wells and disrupts their agricultural
soils.
Mr. Grimaldi said those type of issues would be captured through the permitting process. The City has
a good track record of protecting the environment.
Mr. Hamann said industries would be under the illicit discharge program that is currently in place in
the city for stormwater runoff. The permits go through the Department of Environmental Quality
(DEQ). If the City finds a problem, they would inform DEQ.
Mayor Lundberg asked if something can be written up to respond to people about what we do now to
protect groundwater and what the City would do in this area.
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Council Work Session Minutes
July 21, 2014
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Councilor Moore said another concern was the noise from Johnson Crushers. She asked if the City
would be able to impose more strict regulations on the noise if it was located inside the UGB.
Ms. Pauly said if Johnson Crusher expanded their existing plant and use, they would likely annex to
the City and be under our Code. Prior to annexing into the City, they would have little enforcement
services through Lane County.
Mr. Grimaldi said the City had a good track record of dealing with those issues, but industry does
make noise.
Mayor Lundberg said there were many mitigating things that could be done to reduce noise.
Councilor VanGordon said noise issues could be resolved, but it could take some time. He referred to
the correspondence from the public and the importance of the groundwater to them. He asked if we
would be protecting groundwater more if we put our basic city Groundwater Protection Plan into place
in that area.
Ms. Pauly said when new uses came in, they go through a review process which includes the Drinking
Water Protection Overlay District and Time of Travel Zones. They are not allowed to use certain
chemicals and there are containment regulations and other protections. Site design would include
stormwater management.
Ms. Smith said the City's program is more restrictive than the County's, but as part of the Metro Plan
moving the County was going to look into adding the City's Water Protection Plan in that area. She is
not sure where they are in that process. Once properties are annexed, the City's programs will go into
effect and is more protective.
Councilor VanGordon said when they talked with the County about the Metro Plan boundary and
UGB lines, College View was not included. As businesses come into the City, there would be more
protection. The City has a process to add more protections when there are concerns.
Mr. Hamann said there are drinking water protections, stormwater protections, and possibly sanitary
sewer for those that annex to the City. There are likely some that are using septic or other ways to
process wastewater that could affect groundwater. The best protection would be annexing and getting
a trunk sewer out there to allow them to discharge into the sanitary sewer lines. If the City expanded
the UGB, staff would be taking a closer look at their stormwater discharge and putting requirements
into place for systems to treat stormwater. The groundwater protection is done by Springfield Utility
Board (SUB).
Councilor Woodrow asked how the properties shown on the map for expansion related to those that
had submitted concerns.
Ms. Pauly said she is not sure the neighborhood had seen the latest version. The changes reflected in
tonight's maps are based on Council direction.
Councilor Woodrow said she wanted to be responsive and listen to the neighbor's concerns.
Councilor Moore said the neighbors were having a meeting tonight. She asked if the City's water
protection program is for both private (wells) and public (SUB wells).
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Council Work Session Minutes
July 21, 2014
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Ms. Pauly said the City's drinking water protection zones protected SUB and Rainbow Water
District's wells.
Councilor Moore said the neighbors are concerned with their private wells and the City didn't have
anything that would apply to private wells.
Development and Public Works Director Len Goodwin said the Drinking Water Protection we have is
by SUB and is restricted to utility wells. The Council could adopt a similar program to protect other
wells as long as we restrict our actions to within the UGB.
The County was only looking at extending their protections to public wells, so there is nothing
currently in place in the county to protect private wells.
Mayor Lundberg said Council needs the information about groundwater protections. They need to be
clear that the Council is trying to address the fact that this area is prime land for industrial use along
the freeway. They need to be cognizant that it is also near industry, farm and residential lands. The
key is how to protect and do it responsibly so people can be assured their water is safe. The City has a
strong drinking water protection plan, but they need to make it for private wells, too, inside the UGB.
Outside the UGB, the city doesn't have the ability to provide protections.
Councilor Moore said she appreciated hearing from people, but it appeared they are getting
misinformation so it is important to keep them timely informed.
Mayor Lundberg said they needed to define the boundaries better so they could be clear when talking
to citizens. They will need to make a decision at some point.
Ms. Pauly spoke regarding the North Gateway area and referred to the boundary lines for further
study. Some areas were removed because the property owners did not want to be included. She
explained why flood plain areas are under consideration.
Councilor Ralston asked if the flood plain acreage counted against the total number of acres needed.
Ms. Pauly said it would not count against it because it is not considered suitable. Staff is suggesting
restrictions on each study area, such as floodway constraint and drinking water protections.
Councilor Wylie said she didn't want industry near the river.
Mayor Lundberg said this could also be Campus Industrial (CI) rather than heavy industrial.
Ms. Paul said it would be zoned to address the targeted industries, such as medical facilities.
Councilor Wylie said rivers are for people.
Ms. Pauly said there is an opportunity for public use as well.
Councilor VanGordon said he is comfortable with the map of the Gateway area.
Councilor Ralston asked about the other areas they had been considering.
Mayor Lundberg said the Council had narrowed it down. They need 600+ acres and the proposal
tonight showed 300+ acres.
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Council Work Session Minutes
July 21, 2014
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Councilor Ralston said he wants to look at the other areas to fill in the rest of acreage. The maps
tonight only show two 50 -acre sites.
Mayor Lundberg said these were the two general sites with 320 usable acres. They can look at more
sites to reach the Commercial Industrial Buildable Land (CIBL) recommendation, or change their
strategy to fit the acreage.
Councilor Ralston said as much trouble as this is going to expand, he doesn't want to do it again. He
would prefer they bring in as much as possible now.
Ms. Pauly said the next steps would involve staff developing zoning concepts for these two areas
including planning, designation and zoning, as well as policies to address water quality, riparian areas
and floodway. All of the detailed zoning needs to be drafted. Further Council work sessions can be
scheduled to discuss options for meeting the City's CIBL need. If Council wants to bring in more land
than what is shown tonight, they will need more discussion. If no additional discussion is needed, they
can move forward with the public hearing. She reminded them there is 340 acres of public space
outside of the CIBL needs.
Councilor VanGordon agreed they should try to bring in more than what is shown tonight. He would
like to look near the Mill Race and 28th Street area.
Ms. Pauly said if Council chose to bring in less land than the CIBL outlined, they will need to set
policies outlining why less land is needed. They will need to review the CIBL either way to address
some of the legal issues.
Councilor Moore asked about the filbert farm on 52"d Street. Because it is Class 2 soil, she would
prefer not to add that to the UGB. She asked about the soil at 28t` Street.
Ms. Pauly said the 28`h Street land is also Class 2 soil, but is surrounded by urban development and is
near the railroad. SUB has access from that land via 5th Street giving it more potential for connectivity.
Councilor Ralston said he wants to see what 600 acres looks like. He wants to look at pieces of each of
the original five sites.
Councilor Woodrow said she would like to see what 600 acres would look like, but doesn't want this
process to go on for too long. If they look at all 600 acres, she would like at the next meeting so they
could have something to base their decision on.
Councilor Wylie said they have been looking at it for a long time, but now are looking more closely at
these and they haven't looked as closely at the others. This is very complicated.
Mayor Lundberg said she wanted to look at places people are most interested in developing. The
consultant who reviewed the Big Look for economic development, reviewed Gateway and Glenwood
and thought both were very good. The consultant didn't look at College View at that time, so the
Mayor would like to have her do that and come back with her analysis. Rather than looking at hitting
the number of acres, she wants to look at where they want the UGB to meet community needs.
Mr. Grimaldi said a work session could be scheduled in September with the consultant from TADZO
after she has analyzed the College View area. With her input plus staff applying the same concepts to
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Council Work Session Minutes
July 21, 2014
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South 28"' Street as were applied to the College View and Gateway areas, they may be able to get to a
higher number of acres closer to that in the CIBL. If not, they could look at other areas.
Mayor Lundberg said she would like to move forward with that work session and have a timeline. She
wants to give people more certainty.
Mr. Grimaldi said if they move too quickly, they get criticism, and if they move methodically it causes
anxiety.
Mayor Lundberg said Council is fine with the two areas presented, but would like to look further at the
28th Street area. Staff will contact the consultant to attend a work session in September with
information on the College View area.
Councilor Moore said she appreciated what Goal 9 requires and thought it might be helpful to get that
information out to the public to alleviate some of their concerns.
Mayor Lundberg said we are a land use state and we have to live within certain parameters. There are
a variety of levels of understanding about what that means.
Mr. Grimaldi said based on Council's decisions tonight, staff will be doing more communication with
people in the areas discussed to address some of the concerns.
Councilor Ralston said he wanted to see what 600 acres looked like, including parts of all five sites.
Mr. Grimaldi said they could start by looking at the South 28`h Street area. If Council wanted staff to
look at another area after that, they would need that direction.
Mayor Lundberg said they either need to look at the amount listed in the CIBL, or which acreages
make the most sense. The latter could mean fewer acres.
Councilor Ralston said he definitely wants to look at the South 28th Street area, but would still like to
look at the Weyerhaeuser property and Mahogany Lane near Jasper.
Mr. Grimaldi said staff was working under the assumption that some areas had been taken off the list.
Mayor Lundberg said she is not comfortable doing that, but would rather work with the properties
discussed tonight and the South 28th Street property.
Councilor Woodrow said thought they had already discussed those sites and decided to narrow it down
to the few areas to focus. She is comfortable with the sites under consideration.
Councilor Wylie said she understood, but she didn't realize they were taking areas off the board
completely. She felt they were leaning towards the three because they made sense, but didn't realize
the others were no longer being considered.
Councilor Moore said since they had cut back on the amount of property in College View, she is
interested in looking at the South 28`'' area. She is not interested in looking at lands that are not
developable.
Mayor Lundberg said she would like Council to make a decision on which sites to look at and which
to remove if any.
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Council Work Session Minutes
July 21, 2014
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Councilor VanGordon said he is comfortable looking at South 28th, and remove 52"d Street north and
Mahogany Lane. It makes sense to look at the three areas because of where they want to develop, and
the other two are a stretch.
Councilor Ralston said 28th Street looks good, but the only way in is from 28th Street and is not a good
transportation route. He felt it didn't make as much sense as the Mahogany Lane site.
The two sites came to 320 acres, and adding the 28th Street acreage would bring it to about 450 acres.
Ms. Pauly said it is important to look at the number of sites at the specific sizes based on the CIBL.
She referred to a yield table in the agenda packet. The economic development staff felt the 28th Street
area would be a great tech park. Because of the nearby wellfields, it would need to be the cleanest and
greenest development possible.
Councilor Woodrow said she comfortable with the two and would like just one more work session to
discuss the South 28th Street site. At that time, she would like to see them make a decision.
Mayor Lundberg asked if Council was comfortable with that. Once they hear from the consultant in
September, they could be ready to move forward. If they didn't come up with the full acreage, they
will look within the current UGB to see what is available and possibly reconfigure and change their
strategy.
Councilor Ralston said the CIBL said we need 600 acres so we are selling ourselves short if we don't
take that full amount.
Ms. Pauly said since they had direction on the two areas, staff could prepare the zoning for College
View and Gateway.
Mayor Lundberg said staff would be looking at all the issues to address concerns of the people in the
College View area, including water protection. The next work session will be in September with the
consultant from TADZO to discuss 28th Street.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 6:56 p.m.
Minutes Recorder — Amy Sowa
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