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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/11/1999 Work Session . MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, JANUARY 11,1999 The City of Springfield Council met in Work Session in the Jesse Maine Room, 225 Fifth Street, . Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, January 11, 1999 at 6:05 p.ffi. with Mayor Maine presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Maine and Councilors Ballew, Fitch, Hatfield, Leiken, Lundberg and Simmons. Also present were City Manager Mike Kelly, Assistant City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Senior Management Analyst Rosie Pryor, Administrative Aide Shari Higgins, Development Service Director Susan Daluddung, Senior Management Analyst Cynthia Pappas, Public Works Director Dan Brown, Transportation Planning Engineer Masood Mirza and members of staff. 1. Bus Rapid Transit and Springfield Transit Station. Senior Management Analyst Cynthia Pappas said Councilor Fitch represented council on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Committee and Councilor Ballew represented council on the Transit Station Siting Committee. Ms. Pappas introduced Dave Kleger, Cindy Watson, Sean Wilson, Dan Egan, and Don Lutes present from the BRT Committee. She introduced Virginia Lauritsen who serves on the Transit Station Siting Committee, and Hillary Wylie, Springfield's representative on the Lane Transit District (L TD) Board of Directors. . Ms. Wylie spoke about items regarding the station relocation and how hard L TD is working for Springfield. Although there is much interest, there are still many questions to answer. Ms. Wylie said either herself or Ms. Lauritsen, would assist Councilor Ballew in providing updates and new information to the City Council when appropriate. She shared some ofthe committee's goals. Ms. Wylie said Springfield had three appointed representatives on the BRT Steering Committee, Councilor Fitch, Dave Jewett, and John Lively. She then introduced Planning and Development Manager Stefano Viggiano. Mr. Viggiano made a presentation on the current BRT process and public involvement It included elements of the project planning for the pilot corridor with a segment-by-segment concept. He provided a summary of the decision process and the public involvement techniques used for each of the segments. Mr. Viggiano used visuals including the elements ofBRT, maps of routes and planning areas. He explained mailings which residents in the BRT area received and detailed a recent open house and interactive workshop. He provided an explanation of the BR T pilot corridor areas, which at the end of Phase I would tie Springfield and Eugene's downtown areas. Mr. Viggiano introduced Graham Carey, Project Engineer from LTD. He spoke of the local opportunities which BRT presents. He reviewed the results from the Franklin/UO and Glenwood segments. He showed photo's and visuals which enable corridor needs to be met, such as greenery, trees, track sharing, opportunities for running BRT in the middle of streets, a median station, neighborhood connections, etc. Mr. Carey explained both the existing and proposed conditions of the Glenwood area. . City of Springfield Work Session Meeting - 1/11/99 Page 2 . Mr. Carey reviewed BRT "seed" ideas for the downtown Springfield segment. He said downtown Springfield would be the third BR T pilot corridor segment to be worked on, per their planning phases. He showed council the preliminary options and planned public process concept. The seed ideas included: flowing with bus lanes which take over one lane; single lane guide ways with buses operating in two directions; and two lane bus ways with one lane in one direction with curb guide ways. Mr. Graham said these seed ideas are just the beginning of the process and that L TD is trying to draw input and opinions from community members. Councilor Fi~ch provided information on BRT the from Steering Committee standpoint She said they are concerned with some seed ideas that would cut off access to businesses in commercial areas. Although the committee likes the process for creating ideas, they are concerned over both technical issues and service at intersections. Councilor Simmons said discussion needs to occur regarding the flow off of Main Street versus onto it He discussed the railroad property and the shift from Main Street onto the old trolley route, which would create avenues for change and growth, as well as dynamic transportation options. Councilor Simmons challenged L TD to look at both options for critical fit, moving forward very cautiously. Councilor Hatfield said there is still much planning to do and felt L TD should consider review of other options also. He said he is supportive ofBRT, but felt the community should look at tying it in with a new transit station. . Councilor Leiken said L TD should continue listen to local businesses..Jt is important to the project to be aggressive, but he cautioned L TD to carefully weigh all options. Councilor Lundberg felt the concept should move forward, but she said she was not comfortable in giving her consent without looking at all the components as one large project She said L TD should continue to plan and seek input, but she would like to be presented with more information. Councilor Ballew said she heard consistent comments from the council and agreed L TD should continue with the planning phases, but not rush the project. She suggested L TD survey non-riders also, and keep council abreast of the process as it continues. Mayor Maine encouraged council to make staff aware of the city's concerns as the process continues. She felt staff must continue to be aware of the different needs between the two cities (Springfield and Eugene) within the same corridor. She shared her concern over moving from concept to design. She asked questions regarding reduction of travel time, expense, and park and ride. Councilor Fitch thanked city staff member Masood Mirza for working on technical issues with L TD staff. She said she felt the council's comfort level would increase as some issues recently presented are dealt with and the answers are provided. . Mr. Viggiano then presented an update on the Springfield Station Study. He shared the vision statement, which included more than transit needs, but overall community needs. He showed a map of the station relocation site, including reconstruction ofthe current station site. City of Springfield Work Session Meeting - 1/11/99 Page 3 . Mr. Viggiano explained the sites being reviewed in detail, and the tie for the station relocation to BRT. Mr. Viggiano closed his presentation with the project evaluation criteria and timelines, shown using visuals. Mayor Maine asked if funding for BR T is tied the funding for the Springfield Station. Mr. Viggiano replied no, as there is currently no identified funding for the station siting or relocation project What is occurring now is the study, to help further define and guide the project. He explained how L TD was previously successful in obtaining federal funding for the new Eugene Transit Station. Councilor Simmons suggested L TD review an inter-model concept, as there is more to surface transportation issues in the community, other than BRT. Councilor Ballew provided her compliments to staff on both the project study and the committees work She said it is responsive to the community comments. Councilor Ballew explained how the siting list was determined and how the current eight options became viable options. Ms. Pappas closed by thanking the council, L TD staff, and committee members present She said future updates would be brought back to council after the scheduled February public comment sessions. Mayor Maine agreed and asked staff to continue to meld in with other transportation.: plans, planning issues and city concerns, to come up with the best solution for our transportation system. . Councilor Simmons asked if BR T would be tied to changes occurring inthe Glenwood Refinement' Plan. Ms. Pappas said changes to the refinement plan are not currently budgeted, only the transfer conforming Eugene's zoning to Springfield's zoning. 2. Mohawk Boulevard Specific Development Plan. Ms. Pappas said in 1996, the city received a transportation land growth grant to look at the revitalization of Mohawk area. The development plan is intended to facilitate development of a vibrant, mixed-use area along the segment of Mohawk Boulevard bounded by the Eugene,.. Springfield Highway on the north, E Street to the south, 21st Street to the east, and 12th Street, Willamalane Park and 10th Street to the west. Ms. Pappas said the plan emphasizes the pedestrian .. . design, enhanced transit service and integration of the hospital and the park, with existing commercial uses. Ms. Pappas explained the membership of the Citizen Advisory Committee consisting of property owners, residents and business owners, as well as ex-officio representatives from the Planning Commission and City Council. Councilor Ballew is the council liaison and Don Lutes is the Planning Commission representative to the committee. . Ms. Pappas said after the draft plan was developed, that public workshops were held through an extensive public review process. Many good ideas from community members and area residents were considered in the final plan. She referred council to page two of the development plan and reviewed the key principals, and pages 19 and 20, which explain the Metro Plan and Springfield Development Code (SDC) amendments recommended. City of Springfield Work Session Meeting - 1/11/99 Page 4 . Councilor Hatfield explained the amount of work which had gone into the process, including discussions on the level of adequate parking and the' specificity of design concepts (proposed alignment of streets and pedestrian access). He referenced page 12, and the need to see small- tenant redevelopment and for major anchors to make the concept feasible. He also explained the parking section of the development plan, per page 22. He said the city can not reduce parking below a certain level without it becoming a deterrent to business. Councilor Hatfield spoke of two additional ideas: 1) retail rejuvenation, and 2) providing zone changes to mixed use. He felt both would provide redevelopment opportunities in the area. Councilor Leiken supported Councilor Hatfield's input and said he agreed with the concept of the plan. He felt commercial development should be given additional options, such as mixed use zoning, and that the city needs to improve the area as an alternative to the Gateway area. Planning Commission member Don Lutes provided comments which included access issues and the element of splitting property to provide pedestrian access. He felt there is enormous potential in keeping commercial business in the area. Although it may take some time and effort, there are still many businesses in the Mohawk area that are doing well and thriving, and there is room for more to come also. . Mayor Maine discussed options which would assist developers, including mixed use zoning. There was a discussion on whether mixed use zoning would apply only to the Mohawk development plan area or for the entire city. Ms. Pappas said the zoning would allow developers options that are not available today and could easily be applied to other areas of the city through an overlay. Councilor Fitch supported the concept of mixed use and felt it could benefit other areas of the city also. Councilor Ballew said the committee looked at area demographics, but that an age component was not included. Although there is currently no funding allocated for the redevelopment of the area, she felt the plan had a good outcome and was critical to. future revitalization of the city. Councilor Simmons felt is was a good plan also, as it assists the development community with options to improve the quality of the Mohawk area. Successes are market driven and it provides for the market economy. Mayor Maine felt the city should not limit planning views and development revitalization efforts only to the downtown area, that all city areas should be studied, and offered her support for the Mohawk plan. Questions were answered regarding the recommended public improvements, as described on page 16. A discussion continued concerning a continuous center median, traffic mitigation and street projects. Mayor Maine said she agreed with the Metro Plan Amendments as proposed, but had concerns with the SDC amendments dealing with parking and landscaping requirements. Ms. Pappas said the language concerning parking could be changed and that the enhanced entryway landscaping was not a development expense, but a city expense (when on city property). Mr. Lutes commented during the development of the model for mixed-use zoning that many aspects will again be reviewed and considered by both the Planning Commission and the City Council. . . . . City of Springfield Work Session Meeting - 1/11/99 Page 5 Councilor Hatfield said the development plan is consistent with the committees desires for mixed use design standards and that it will take new ordinance adoption for mixing residential and office versus commercial. He said there should be a level of flexibility for development while maintaining clear and understandable standards for the developers. Development Services Director Susan Daluddung said a mixed use zoning draft would be worked on by staff in the Spring, after the planning work subsides on the Glenwood Jurisdictional Transfer. Ms. Pappas said a public hearing would be held on January 19, at which further community input would be collected. A discussion occurred on the desired language concerning parking and landscaping of the SDC Amendments. Ms. Daluddung, Ms. Pappas, and City Attorney Joe Leahy agreed to provide alternative language at the time of the public hearing. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.ffi. Minutes Recorder - Shari Higgins ~1vl~ Maureen Maine, Mayor ATTEST: LU~