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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/11/1999 Work Session . . . . ~ ' : :. MINUTES OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING HELD MONDAY, OCTOBER 11,1999 The Springfield City Council met in Work Session at Springfield City Hall, Jesse Maine Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, October 11, 1999, at 5:10 p.m. with Mayor Maine presiding. 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, City Attorney Joe Leahy, Senior Management Analyst Rosie Pryor, Administrative Aide Shari Higgins, Planner II Gary Karp, Planner II Robin Johnson and members of staff. Guests present were State Representative Al King and State Senator Tony Corcoran. 1. Legislative Update. Senior Management Analyst Rosie Pryor welcomed the representatives of state government. She introduced State Representative Al King and State Senator Tony Corcoran. Mayor Maine said she hoped this would not be the only chance that Springfield would have to discuss legislative efforts with our state leaders, and encouraged future discussions. Representative King said the legislative report prepared by Springfield was very good and thorough. He spoke regarding gas tax issues and additional work to be done in that area. Representative King said he enjoyed working on the Mill Race water access project. Springfield did a good job both on the legislation and their negotiations with the property owners. Mayor Maine asked Representative King what he thought his priorities would be for the next session or in the interim time frame. He replied, education, income tax/revenue shortfall, and the Department of Environment Quality (DEQ). Council Ballew asked about the influence of our lobbyists. Representative King spoke regarding the number of freshman and the changes to term limits that are affecting state government. Senator Corcoran said he felt the city, as part of the League of Oregon Cities (LOC) lobbying group, had less influence than private groups. This is due to the amount of dollars behind government, but the LOC did have a good forum for building consensus. Mayor Maine asked Senator Corcoran what he thought his priorities would be for the next session or in the interim time frame. He replied, rural school districts, law enforcement, and economic development. There was a discussion regarding county-wide, metro-wide and regional focus support, and issues that are driven at the federal, state and local levels. Councilor Leiken asked about E-Commerce and intangibles. Representative King responded by talking about telecommunications and what type of a bill he will introduce regarding resources and revenue. Senator Corcoran said if Oregon continues to keep our government running without a sales tax, then we should have an increase in economic development, due to a lower tax structure. He discussed System Development Charges (SDC) and the real cost of growth to cities and counties. . . . i. Springfield City Council Work Session - 10/11/99 Page 2 Senator Corcoran said Springfield did a good job of providing city staff to work on legislation, as well as to support the LOC. 2. Review of Proposed Multi-Unit Design Standards. Councilor Hatfield introduced the item. He said the City of Springfield was selected in the Spring of 1998, by the Transportation Growth Management (TGM) Program of the State of Oregon, to receive assistance through their SMART Development Code Assistance Program. The Mayor's Housing Task Force was given the assignment to review the project and provided a favorable recommendation. The project would assist in developing specific code language that would revise the Springfield Development Code (SDC) to include design standards for multiple family housing in Springfield. Councilor Hatfield said a Citizen Advisory Committee (CAe) was appointed to provide the citizen participation component to complete the work on the project. The CAC worked with both city staff and OT AK, a consulting firm hired to assist, and project work was completed in the Spring. The Springfield Planning Commission is requesting comments from the City Council on the project, before they take further action. Planner II Robin Johnson introduced Gloria Gardiner, Transportation Code Assistance Planner from the Oregon Transportation and Growth Management Program. Ms. Gardiner put the project into context and said Oregon is encouraging cities to have SMART Development and urban growth. She explained this program is not isolated in Oregon, but we are progressive in areas of land use. Ms. Gardiner explained the five concepts of SMART Development: efficient use of land; full use of services; mixing uses; enhancing transportation; and detailed human scale urban design. Other factors are considered when design standards are created, including: market conditions, existing financial practices, cost of development and review processes, and antiquated development practices. Ms. Johnson introduced Joe Dills, representing OTAK. Mr. Dills gave an overhead presentation titled, Springfield Multi-Unit Design Standards. He discussed review procedures for the multi- unit standards, which begin with a Type II process for the base case, with an additional review to occur after a limited time period. The design elements reviewed were: Building Orientation; Open Space and Landscaping; Circulation and Parking; Building Form; and Compatibility and Transition. Each element was reviewed and discussed. Councilor Simmons asked if there was anything in the document that asks developers to work with Lane Transit District regarding a transit stop. He felt the standards should include the outside environment of a development. Councilor Simmons said the report was good and would allow for a more livable community for families in the future. Councilor Fitch asked if an increased cost of one to two percent is an overall building cost or just a permit cost. Mr. Dills replied that it would on both building and site development costs. They are considered up-front capital costs. Councilor Hatfield said the costs were reviewed by a focus group and determined to be acceptable for that type of development. . . . i Springfield City Council Work Session - 10/11/99 Page 3 Mayor Maine said the city should provide nice higher price alternatives for multi-family occupancy. She believed there is a demand for high-quality multi-family residential uses in Springfield and a balanced should be achieved when planning for the community. Mayor Maine cautioned staff to be careful not to narrowly define medium density residential as low-income only. Councilor Lundberg agreed with Mayor Maine. She said the standards provide good direction for the community to obtain overall livability. She shared a safety concern with units and the proposed landscaping. Mr. Dills responded that the landscaping was designed through orientation design, which reviews safety and crime. Councilor Lundberg asked about the data for low-income or elderly using a smaller number of parking spaces. She suggested the use of transit and recalculating alternative transportation modes. Mr. Dills responded to the transit, parking ratios. The project and the CAC discussed the ratios in detail. Councilor Leiken supported the concept of an increasing market for upper-end housing for the communities aging population. The need for condominiums and multi-family units will continue to increase. Councilor Hatfield said the CAC did focus on low-income, but the standards would also allow for upper-end housing units. Councilor Ballew asked if the new standards affect the square footage of the living areas. Mr. Dills replied no. According to number of units and living areas, there would be no difference due to the design standards. There was a discussion of the percentage of both livable space and open space in context of total design space. Mayor Maine asked how the future process would include public and community input, including neighborhood associations and the development community. Ms. Johnson said two public events have been held, one in June 1998 and one in June 1999. The Springfield neighborhood association leaders, homebuilders association, and Chamber of Commerce were all notified of both open houses. Ms. Johnson said staff would continue to follow-up. Mayor Maine suggested a large number of copies of the standards be distributed to the above groups. Ms. Johnson said the Planning Commission would review this item at their Work Session scheduled on December 7th. Additional copies would be distributed prior to that meeting. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:27 p.m. Minutes Recorder - Shari Higgins ~~ aureen Maine, Mayor ATTEST: ,~