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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/02/2018 Regular City of Springfield Regular Meeting MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL MELD MONDAY APRIL 2,2018 The City of Springfield Council met in regular session in the Council Chambers,225 Fifth Street, Springfield,Oregon,on Monday April 2, 2018 at 7:06 p.m.,with Mayor Lundberg presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors VanGordon, Moore, Stoehr,Woodrow and Pishioneri. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi,City Attorney Mary Bridget Smith,City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. Councilor Wylie tried to participate by phone from 7:06-7.11 pm,but the connection was too poor to continue,therefore she was considered absent. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was led.by Mayor Lundberg. SPRINGFIELD UPBEAT 1. Mayor's Recognition. a. Purple Heart City Proclamation. Mayor Lundberg read from the proclamation and proclaimed Springfield as a Purple Heart City. Keith Wittnebel Jr.Vice Commander,Gary Grange Department Adjutant and Larry Rupp Department Commander came forward to accept the proclamation.They presented a plaque to the Mayor and Council acknowledging the City of Springfield as a Purple Heart City. Lapel pins were also provided to each member of the Council. One of the members noted that this is the second year the Order of the Purple Hearts will be holding their annual convention in Springfield. b. Library Week Proclamation. Mayor Lundberg read from the proclamation and proclaimed April 8-15, 2018 as Library Week in the City of Springfield. CONSENT CALENDAR 1. Claims 2. Minutes a. March 5,2018—Regular Meeting b. March 19, 2018—Regular Meeting 3. Resolutions City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 2,2018 Page 2 a. RESOLUTION NO. 2018-09—A RESOLUTION INITIATING ANNEXATION OF CERTAIN TERRITORY FOR FUTURE FRANKLIN BLVD RIGHT-OF-WAY TO TIE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD PURSUANT TO SECTION 5.7 OF THE SPRINGFIELD DEVELOPMENT CODE. 4. Ordinances 5. Other Routine Matters a. Approval of Liquor License Application for George&Violet's Steakhouse,Located at 305 Main Street, Springfield,OR. b. Approve the Mayor to Sign the City Attorney's Employment Agreement. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR VANGORDON WITH.A SECOND BY COUNCILOR PISHIONERI TO APPROVE THE CONSENT CALENDAR. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF S FOR AND 0 AGAINST(1 ABSENT—WYLIE). ITEMS REMOVED FROM TBE CONSENT CALENDAR PUBLIC HEARINGS -Please limit comments to 3 minutes. Request to speak cards are available at both entrances. Please present cards to City Recorder. Speakers may not yield their time to others. 1. A Resolution to Establish a Fee for Accessory Dwelling Units Reviewed Under a Type II Process. RESOLUTION NO. 2018-10—A RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD ADDING A FEE FOR A TYPE II ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT TO THE MASTER SCHEDULE OF FEES AND CHARGES. Senior Community Development Manager Sandy Belson presented the staff report on this item. On March 5,the City Council adopted Ordinance 6376 which amended the Springfield Development Code to make it easier to add accessory dwelling units. These amendments allowed accessory dwelling units in the Washburne Historic Overlay District when reviewed under a Type II process. The amendments also provided property owners an option to 1)meet alternative design standards and 2)determine availability of on-street parking based on a parking utilization study. In both of those instances,the code requires a Type II review process. Previously, all accessory dwelling units were reviewed under a Type I process, so no fee was established for a Type II process. The review of the accessory dwelling units under a Type II process will not be significantly different than that of a Type I process. Therefore staff proposes utilization of the same base fee which currently is$811.00 plus a 5%technology fee for a total of$851.55. However,with a Type 11 process,the City mails a notice to property owners and occupants within 300 feet of the property being reviewed and to the applicable neighborhood association. This notice provides a two-week long opportunity for written comment. Therefore, staff recommends inclusion of the postage fee for a Type 11 decision which is currently $174.00. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 2,2018 Page 3 Thus,the grand total would be$1025.5 5 to cover the mailing costs and a portion of staff time to review and process the application. Councilor Woodrow asked for clarification on some of the figures. Ms. Belson explained. Mayor Lundberg opened the public hearing. 1. Kris McAllister, Springfield, OR. Mr.McAllister thanked the Council for the work done on Accessory Dwelling Units(ADUs). He is not in favor of this fee due to excessive charges that might come into play for those building an ADU that is ADA accessible, etc. Ms. Belson said there is a provision allowing the applicant to apply for an exemption or reduction for development fees of any kind. Mayor Lundberg closed the public hearing. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR VANGORDON WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR PISHIONERI TO ADOPT RESOLUTION NO.2018- 0. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 4 FOR AND 0 AGAINST (I RECUSED—PISHIONERI AND I ABSENT—WYLIE). BUSINESS FROM THE AUDIENCE Mayor Lundberg read the following: "Now is the time in the agenda for the Council to hear business from the audience. If you have signed up to speak to the Council regarding Roy Gray's application for a Metro Plan amendment and zone change to property on Fifth Street which is an agenda item for this evening,the Public Hearing and Record in that matter have been closed. While you may speak to the City Council at this time,the Council cannot consider any public comments made this evening in our decision to approve or deny this application. The Council will make its decision only based on information that is already in the record,which includes all public testimony provided.to the City Council during the public hearing on May 15, MIT" 1. Dan West,Eugene, OR Mr. West said he was one of the founding members of Raising the Bar Pole Vault Club. Having an indoor track would be a great thing for the community. Unfortunately, their club will be losing their ability to vault at Willamalane, so their club will be looking for another place to vault.He was at Montana State University when they had indoor track, and he felt it was a wonderful sport.Raising the Bar has helped nearly 100 kids in the local area learn how to pole vault. He recommended the Council find a way to get an indoor track. 2. Dan Umenhofer,Sprin f'eld, OR Mr. Umenhofer said he also coaches at Raising the Bar.There are a tremendous amount of people that do track and field in this area and there is no indoor track facility other than the University of Oregon,which no longer allows outside groups to use their facility. They have up to 40 members of their club that need a place to train,but there are also many other athletes looking for a place to train indoors.An indoor track could bring in many people and would be a great asset for the City. 3. Bill Carpenter.S Kin field OR Mr. Carpenter spoke regarding general zoning and planning and neighborhoods. He referred to a packet of material he provided to the Council. Over tine last 15 City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 2,2018 Page 4 years or so, fie has become discouraged about the lack of concern by the Council for preserving established and existing neighborhoods, and their lack of consideration for established zoning code against spot zoning. The City no longer has the friendly, small town feel it had 25 years ago when he served on the Bicycle Committee and Planning Commission. One of his greatest accomplishments while serving the City was the St.Vincent DePaul first-time buyer's housing development west of Rainbow Drive on Fairview. He referred to photos of that development as well as photos of a development in Cottage Grove with small houses that are rentals. He asked the Council that as they consider future zoning,they think about a buffer between existing neighborhoods and medium residential. He asked if the Council was denying petitioners the ability to present a rebuttal on the staff report. City Attorney Mary Bridget Smith said they will address that when the item is discussed by the Council later on the agenda. 4. Rex Meisenheimer Springfield, OR Mr. Meisenheimer said when reading through the information for tonight it mentioned apartment across the street, but he noted that the subject area was never zoned that way, and those areas with apartments were always zoned that way.He is upset because last year, all of the residents of the area came in with 99% of them objecting and willing to negotiate.They got no comments or acknowledgement from the Council and received no support. 5. Laughton Elliott-DeAngelis.Eugene, OR Mr. Elliott-DeAngelis serves as the Safe Routes Coordinator for the Springfield School District.He referred to a memo he submitted to the Council last week. He highlighted some events in May including bike/pedestrian safety classes and encouragement events.He thanked the City for their continued partnership and efforts from the engineering and planning staff in action planning and some important engineering projects such as Virginia-Daisy and Filling in the Gaps project which will connect neighborhoods. Their program encourages students to walk and bike to school safely by trying to make walking and biking more accessible. He explained some of the ways they do that with events and education. It starts with open engagement with parents,teachers, school, and city engineers to identify how to most effectively make things safer. They are trying to find creative ways to leverage funding locally.He hopes the Council will join in some of these events. Councilor Pisbioneri asked if the chaperones for the walks were paid staff or volunteers. Mr. Elliott-DeAngelis said the event at Two Rivers Los Dias Elementary was all staffed by volunteers.Two of the other elementary schools,Maple and Centennial, include a combination of himself and interns establishing routes.They then engage volunteers and parents.The interns are volunteers. They would like to see a private and public partnership. 6. Sue Scott, Springficld,OR Ms. Scott said she moved back to Springfield after being away for 6 years and had always defended Springfield.Recently,she has been disappointed,embarrassed and surprised about the rezoning on Sth Street. She would like the Council to consider in the future retaining neighborhoods as established and looking at the bigger picture and not just dollars it could bring into city government, Sheasked that they not have zoning intrusions in the future that impact livability. She also encouraged a much more transparent process and a feeling of working with citizens. She feels decisions have been made for her without the citizens being heard. She also asked that the neighbors could receive more notice about meetings such as this. She urged them to pay attention to what neighbors are saying. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 2,2018 Page S T Tota Hinkle, Springfield, OR Mr.Hinkle said he was out of town and was surprised to hear that this item was happening tonight. He received no notification from the City and just heard about it through the grapevine. He is also surprised no comments are allowed and they can't address directly the decision from LUBA. Reading through the staff report,he didn't see that they addressed everything LUBA said about meeting the criteria for rezoning. He didn't feel that had been answered.The citizens of this neighborhood spent a lot of money on attorney fees as this was important to them. What clearly applies is what the developer wants.He feels like they haven't been heard. 8. Kris McAllister, Springfield,OR Mr.McAllister spoke on Council assignments. As a member of the Poverty and Homeless Board(PITS)there is something valuable about having electedofficials at some of these meetings such as the Housing Policy Board(HPB),which the City has not been present at for the past two years.The HPB established a plan and some of the things they are considering are things the City of Springfield is already ahead on. He wouldlike to encourage the Council to have a representative return to the HPB. COUNCIL RESPONSE CORRESPONDENCE AND PETITIONS BIDS ORDINANCES ORDINANCES BUSINESS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL 1. Committee Appointments a. Planning Commission Appointment. Planning Supervisor Greg Mott presented the staff report on this item. Nick Nelson resigned his seat on the Planning Commission via email on December 28,2017, The City received two applications for one vacancy during a 7-week recruitment period. At the March 26,2018 Work Session the Council interviewed two candidates. At the conclusion of this interview process the Council unanimously supported appointing Grace Bergen to fulfill Nick Nelson term on the Planning Commission. Formal appointment is requested. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR VANGORDON WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR PISHTONERI TO APPOINT GRACE BERGEN TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION WITH A TERM EXPIRING ON.IULY l3,2021.THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 5 FOR AND 0 AGAINST(I. ABSENT—WYLIE). 2. Business from Council a. Committee Reports i City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 2,2018 Page b b. Council Operating Policies and Procedures Amendments. City Manager Gino Grimaldi presented this item. At the Mayor's request, additional language was added to Section IX Council Boards,Commissions, Committees and Task Forces,adding subsection(2.4)to address councilors serving on committees as a City representative: 2A) If a City Councilor would like to serve on a committee as a representative of the City that is not appointed through the process established in Section 2.3,they must present their request and be approved by the full Council. if appointed,the City Councilor will provide regular communication regarding the committee. Council is asked to review the additional language and approve, amend or not approve the proposed amendments. Councilor Moore asked if this applied to League of Oregon Cities(LOC)and if the Council wantedher to go through the formal process for her current LOC appointments. Mayor Lundberg said there is no need to do anything this year,but she would like them to use this process for future appointments. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR VANGORDON WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR PISHIONERI TO APPROVE THE AMENDED COUNCIL OPERATING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 5 FOR AND 0 AGAINST(I ABSENT WYLIE). c. Mayor/Council Committee Assignments. City Recorder Amy Sowa noted that the only change was moving Councilor VanGordon off of the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency(LRAPA) and moving Councilor Pishioneri to LRAPA to take his place; and adding the Mayor to the newly formed.Museum Committee. Mayor Lundberg acknowledged those changes. BUSINESS FROM THE CITY MANAGER I. Request for Room Tax Funds to Support the Initial Evaluation of an Indoor Track Facility in Springfield.. City Manager Gino Grimaldi presented.this item. The need for an indoor track facility that would serve as a venue for collegiate, high school and middle school events has been a topic of discussion in the track community for a number of years. Such a facility could also serve as a venue for other sporting events when it is not in use as a track facility in addition to providing space for a variety of meetings and other non-sports related events.Travel Lane County is requesting$130,000 in Room Tax Funds to assist with an initial evaluation and conceptual design of an indoor track facility. An indoor track facility would bring visitors to Springfield and the metropolitan area. The use of Room Tax Funds for this project would be an appropriate use of those funds. Funds are available in the Room Tax Fund. Should the City Council grant the request,a contract between the City of Springfield and Travel Lane County would be established creating a payment mechanism and scope of the work to be performed. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 2,201 S Page 7 Councilor Moore asked if staff could clarify for the audience what transient room tax funds can be used for. Mr. Grimaldi said transient taxes are generated when someone stays at one of our overnight facilities. The focus of use of those funds is to generate additional room nights in those facilities and improve the overall economy of the area. It is tourist related. Councilor Woodrow said she is very excited about this idea and wondered about a timeline. Mayor Lundberg asked Kari Westlund and Janis Ross from Travel Lane County(TLC)to come forward. Ms. Westlund said the study should be completed within 90 days. It will be an initial scoping. They may need additional feasibility analysis. Councilor Pishioneri asked if they would look at proximity to services in this study. Ms. Westlund said they would. She did note that sports facilities are not as dependent on immediately proximate amenities as conference centers. Councilor Pishioneri said he would like to see documentation on that. Ms. Westlund said she would provide that information. She noted that the indoor track is generating a lot of interest. Mayor Lundberg said she appreciated TLC and their willingness to step up and assist with this project. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR VANGORDON WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR PISHIONERI AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A CONTRACT WITH TRAVEL LANE COUNTY FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING $130,000 TO BE USED FOR THE EVALUATION AND CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF AN INDOOR TRACK FACILITY IN SPRINGFIELD. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 5 FOR AND 0 AGAINST. BUSINESS FROM THC CITY ATTORNEY 2. Adoption of Amended Findings and Amended Ordinance for a Metro Plan Diagram Amendment and Zone Change for a 3.35 Acre Property on 5`h Street, Cases TYP417-00002 and TYP317- 00004. ORDINANCE NO. 1 —AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE EUGENE-SPRINGFIELD METROPOLITAN AREA GENERAL PLAN METRO PLAN DIAGRAM BY REDESIGNATING APPROXIMATELY 1..96 ACRES OF LAND FROM LOW DENSITY RESIDENTIAL(LDR)TO MEDIUM DENSITY RESIDENTIAL MDR ; CONCURRENTLY AMENDING THE SPRINGFIELD ZONING MAI'BY REZONING THE SAME APPROXIMATELY 1.96 ACRES OF LAND FROM LDR TO MDR;AMENDING THE METRO PLAN DIAGRAM BY REDESIGNATING APPROXIMATELY 1.39 ACRES OF LAND FROM LOW DENSITY RESIDENTIAL(LDR)TO HIGH DENSITY RESIDENTIAL HDR • CONCURRENTLY AMENDING THE SPRINGFIELD ZONING MAP BY REZONING City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 2,2018 Mage 8 THE SAME APPROXIMATELY 1 39 ACRES OF LAND FROM LDR TO HDR;ADOPTING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE FIRST READING Assistant City Attorney Kristina Kraaz said at this time, members of the Council should declare whether or not they have any potential or actual conflict of interest, and disclose any bias or ex parte contact that has occurred.between June of 2017 and present. That ex parte contact would include the letter they received from the petitioners last Friday. Ms.Kraaz said the Council conducted the public hearing on this matter on May 15,2017 and the hearing and the record were closed at that time. The decision was appealed by three petitioners who are residents of the adjacent neighborhood,to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals(LUBA). LURA remanded the decision to the City Council on the basis of inadequate findings,specifically requiring the City to adopt a better explanation for its decision and interpretations of the Q Street Refinement Plan in the decision that were not there.This basis for remanding the decision does not require the City Council to obtain any new evidence that the Council did not have at the May 15 public hearing and was provided into the public record before the public record was closed last spring. For that reason,the Council does not need to re-open the public hearing or record to take additional testimony to adopt the findings they have in the ordinance that is proposed at this time.They cannot take additional public testimony under consideration unless they wish to re-open the record.Now would be an appropriate time to specify whether they are rejecting any public testimony received earlier or if they will be re-opening the record. Ms. Kraaz clarified that if the Council rejects tonight's testimony,they would just excluding it from the record,but not discounting its value. Councilor Stoehr asked if it would be appropriate to comment on the testimony from earlier tonight before they detennine whether or not to exclude the comments from the record. Mayor Lundberg said this is not an actual public Dearing but is a State appeal and action so there are very strict rules on what they can and can't do. Ms. Smith said the decision before the Council is whether or not to exclude the testimony heard tonight as testimony in the record. They need to keep their discussion to that only. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR VANGORDON WITH A SECOND BY MAYOR MOORE TO EXCLUDE THE TESTIMONY THAT WAS HEARD TONIGHT UNDER BUSINESS FROM THE AUDIENCE FROM THE RECORD FOR THIS ORDINANCE. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 4 FOR AND 1 AGAINST(PISHIONERI). 1 ABSENT-WYLIE Ms. Kraaz asked Council to declare ex parte contact since June 2017. She explained what that would include. Councilor Stoehr said he had none. Councilor Woodrow said beyond receiving the correspondence last Friday, she had.none. Councilor Pishioneri said beyond receiving the correspondence last Friday, he had none. Councilor VanGordon said be also received the correspondence from last Friday. He also noted that although he serves on the LRAPA Board with Mr. Carpenter,they have not discussed this subject. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 2,2018 Mage 9 Councilor Moore said she received the correspondence last Friday and also an email from Ken Schmidt. W. Schmidt's email stated that he didn't understand the Council decision and felt the questions were not addressed. Ms.Kraaz said there is no need to open the hearing to provide the applicant an opportunity to rebut the question about the zoning as that fact was already entered into the record. A question brought up during public testimony was whether or not those opposed to the application could rebut or provide evidence against the new findings.Under Oregon land use law,there is sometimes a requirement that the record is re-opened when they adopt a new interpretation of a code that didn't exist before. That has to be an interpretation that was not foreseeable or reasonable based on the evidence they had in the record for their prior decision. In this case,the interpretation that is proposed in the amended staff report and ordinance is an interpretation that was contemplated and reasonable based on evidence and facts that are already in the record so does not dramatically depart from what a reasonable person would have expected. For that reason,there is no legal requirement to provide an opportunity to rebut that interpretation and evidence since it was already provided last spring. Mayor Lundberg beyond receiving the correspondence last Friday, she had no ex parte contact. Councilor Moore said her understanding was that when they received.the LUBA report,they were asking for clarification. Ms. Kraaz said that is correct. LURA wanted additional findings to better explain the Council's decision. Mayor Lundberg said that is the basis for what the Council is doing this evening. There was nothing wrong with the reasoning, it just needed clarification. NO ACTION REQUESTED.FIRST READING ONLY. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned 8:03 p.m. Minutes Recorder Amy Sowa ChristieLLundberg Mayor Attest: City Wecorcic