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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/16/2009 Work Session City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD cny COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16,2009 I I The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, November 16, 2009 lat 6:00 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ' AITENDANCE Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Ralston, Lundberg, Wylie, Leezer, Simmons, and Pishioneri. 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. Historic Commission Annual Report to Council. City Planner and Historic Commission staff liaison Molly Markarian presented the staff report on this item. City Council Operating Procedures Section IV 6.4 stated that Commission member liaisons were responsible for making an annual report of the Commission's activities to the City Council. This meeting fulfilled that requirement. At the May 4, 2009 Council Work Session, the Historic Commission and City Council established a new schedule for Commission communication with t1\.e Council to ensure that Commission activities aligned with the Council goals and were coordinated with other City initiatives. The Historic Commission applied for grant funding from the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) to support its activities. The Commission would apply for funding from SHPO for the 2010 - 2012 grant cycle in February 2010. The Commission and Council were meeting annually in November; starting this year so that the Commission could present its proposed activities for the upcoming year to Council for review and feedback prior to submitting a grant application to SHPO to help fund those activities. The Commission would also present its annual report to Council on the projects it had completed since the last joint meeting. Mayor Leiken said this was one of the most talented commissions that served the City. Member Kuri Gill thanked the Council for having the Board here this evening. She noted the change in the schedule as noted in the staff report. She asked the other members of the commission to introduce themselves. Historic Commission Chair, Ted Corbin, said he had served on the commission for about seven years. The newest member, Judy Williams, had been on board for ,!-bout one month. Member Kerry Barbaro had served on the commission for about a year, and:Kuri Gill had served on the commission for about three years. ' City qf Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 16,2009 Page 2 Ms. Gill noted that members Paula Guthrie, John Tuttle and Sean Van Gordon were not present at the work session. She thanked Molly Markarian and Tara Jones for their assistance in helping the Historic Commission members understand development and permit issues faced by staff. Ms. Gill presented a power point presentation. She discussed the Historic Commission Goals and reviewed the accomplishments of the Historic Commission since May 2009, both of which were outlined in the agenda packet. One of the accomplishments was supporting the SHPO survey of the Mohawk neighborhood. She discussed the benefits of this survey for this and other neighborhoods in Springfield. Cara Kaser from SHPO would be presenting the report from that survey to the Historic COIhmission in February. Ms. Gill discussed the demolition of a historic barn on South 57th Street and the documentation that had been made to preserve its history. The Historic Commission would provide input to the City for the 125th Anniversary celebration. The commission continued to look at what buildings could be considered for the National Register, such as the old Goodwill Building. Work was also ongoing for a website for the Historic Commission by member Paula Guthrie. Ms. Gill said the Commission would like to ask for more grant fumfs in the coming year. The full amount was $12,000. With the additional funds, they hoped to continue survey work in the City to create more accurate information on what the City had before it changed. That information could then be provided to the public. She noted the many other benefits of surveying the buildings in Springfield. The funds could also be used to provide resource materials, which staff would help to create. Ms. Gill noted that the projects on the power point and in the agenda packet were from 2010 through 2012 as that was the cycle of the grant funding. Ms. Gill continued to discuss the proposed projects for 2010 to 2012. She said they would be hosting the Preservation Month event, the wood window workshop, and Mill Race events associated with the City's l25th anniversary. She discussed code revisions bemg proposed by the Historic Commission through staff. Commission members hoped to attend workshops throughout the year. The commission had three buildings under consideration for a National Register nomination. She discussed the grant funds that could be provided to homeowners in historic homes for rehabilitation projects. Mayor Leiken asked if there was a University of Oregon (UofD) connection with the Historic Commission regarding the l25th Anniversary. He felt there were golden opportunities for redevelopment in downtown and the connection between the UofD, G1enwood, downtown, Pioneer Parkway and Gateway. The connection gave the flavor of how Springfield started (downtown) and how the newer part of Springfield was looking (Gateway). Ms. Gill said there was a working relationship between the UofD and the Historic Commission. She explained. I I Mayor Leiken asked if we could capitalize more because universities had ways to get grants and that could benefit the community. He hoped different standards wou,ld be set for downtown, and he thought it would be interesting to capture how Springfield started, then traveling out to the new area in Gateway. It was a natural connection, especially with th~ EmX. He would be interested in working with Historic Commission on that relationship: with the UofD. I I : , City of Springfield . Council Work Session Minutes November 16, 2009 Page 3 Mr. Corbin said the Commission could work further on strengthening the relationship with the UofO staff. Staff had been involved with the internships, but he would like the commissioners to work more with the UofO on the other aspects of their relationship.: They had a member currently on the Commission that had a lot of energy in that direction and he 'thought they could tap into those resources to strengthen that connection. ! I , Mayor Leiken said the Historic Commission's proposed projects were aggressive, but could be done. Councilor Leezer asked what percentage of homes in the Washbume Districtwere owner occupied and how many were rentals. She asked if the homes needed to be owner occupied to receive the incentive funding. The Historic Commission did not have information regarding hom10wnershiP versus renters available. Ms. Gill said the rules for the grant program had not yet been developed. She asked Council if they had a preference. I Councilor Pishioneri said as a landlord, he would want input on any grant funding provided for a home he owned. If the Historic Commission came across a rental property that was interested, they could contact the owner. Councilor Ralston asked if the Commission inventoried houses tha~ had been moved. His house had originally been built in 1901 at the location of the old police bU;i1ding and was moved in 1940. Ms. Gill said they had inventoried houses that had been moved and,those would be included in surveys. Following the survey of G1enwood, the Commission was looking at a geographic and chronological way to survey properties. Anyone who had a property that had interest in being on the local landmark list or the national register could look at the rules to determine if their home met them. Mr. Corbin said the Commission debated how to approach the inventories and how to get that information out to the public. There might be a group of homeowners that the Commission was not aware of that had historic homes. If the Historic Commission could provide more information on the website, people could access that and contact the Commission. He discussed the outreach to the Mohawk area neighbors. Mayor Leiken thanked the Commission members for their presentation. They had an excellent set of goals for the coming two years. Councilor Pishioneri asked if the location of the historic barn was the location of a future ftre station. Yes. Councilor Simmons noted that as a boy scout, he had attended events at that barn many years ago. He met a couple from Maine that had met at that barn. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 16, 2009 Page 4 2. Springfield Residential Land and Housing Needs Analvsis (Case Number LRP2007-00030) Planning Manager Greg Mott, Planning Supervisor Linda Pauly, and Bob Parker from ECONorthwest presented the staff report on this item. The City completed a Residential Lands Study (RLS) to determine the sufficiency ofland available for residential uses. The study concluded, preliminarily, that, based on current policies and trends, the available supply of residential buildable land in Springfield and the urban growth boundary (UGB) east ofI-5 would not provide a 20-year supply ofland needed to meet Springfield's housing needs. Robert Parker of ECONorthwest, the consulting fIrm for the study, would present an overview and summary of the key findings of the Springfield Residential Land and Housing Needs Analysis. Staff would provide a summary of the RLS process to date and discuss how the fmdings and conclusions of the Springfield Residential Land and Housing Needs Analysis would be addressed in subsequent actions. Adoption of the Springfield Residential Land and Housing Needs Analysis by the City Council would fulfill one of the City's obligations under lIB3337, which required that a determination of housing need be made by December 31, 2009. Adoption of the findings of the baseline RLS study was the City's first step towards planning for residential growth and needed housing for the plan period 2010-2030. The Springfield Residential Land and Housing Needs Analysis, and any future amendments to this document as approved by Council, would serve as a significant component of the factual basis for subsequent amendments to the Metro Plan involving the creation of separate UGBs and separate land inventories for Springfield and Eugene. Mr. Mott said Council would be complying with ORS 197.304, which required the City to make a determination in respect to residential buildable lands in the inventory and whether or not the City had enough to provide for the next twenty years. The City didn't have to expand the urban growth boundary (UGB) or adopt efficiency measures at this time. That could be done subsequently to this first step. Accepting this study was not under the law a land use decision. Council was not amending the Metropolitan Area Plan (Metro Plan) or Refmement Plan, and they were not adopting a subset of the Metro Plan. The Council would be doing that next year when they adopted Springfield's own UGB and independent inventories. Tonight and possibly December 7, Council would be providing a service to the community by allowing testimony. The Planning Commission also held a public hearing to provide that opportunity to the community. Mayor Leiken thanked Mr. Mott for the clarification. Ms. Pauly referred to Attachment 2, page 1 in the agenda packet. On this page was a summary of the Residential Lands study process to date. She reviewed the events that had occurred since Council asked staff to initiate this project in December 2005. ECONorthwest was hired in 2006 to finish the inventory and needs analysis. The analysis would provide an estimate of the number, type and density of new dwellings that would be required over the next twenty years. It was important to establish this determination in order to perform the subsequent planning work. She gave an example. Staff was still in the process of refining some of the data that was part of this study and would come back to Council with a draft policy recommendation in January 2010. Mr. Parker said some things had changed since the last time he was: before Council based on refinement of the information. He presented a power point presentation "Springfield Residential Lands Study: Results and Findings". A hard copy ofthe presentati~n was included in the agenda City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 16, 2009 Page 5 packet as Attachment 1. This project was in response to lIB3337, in order for Springfield to establish a separate UGB and complete the inventory, analysis and determination of housing needs. He noted the other Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR) and Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) this addressed. Mr. Parker reviewed the process and the key requirements of this project. The steps in the key requirements were defined by statute. He discussed the fmdings of the coordinated population forecast, which showed an increase of approximately twenty-two percent by 2030. He explained the residential land inventory and the type ofland excluded from that inventory. The City had the authority to remove constrained land pursuant to OAR 660-008-0005(2). Staff and ECONorthwest were reviewing the constraint data and were in the process of a more detailed review. There could be some modifications in this report based on that review. Mr. Parker said about 2,485 acres were classified as vacant or partially~vacant residential. Of that, 63% was developed or constrained leaving 935 buildable acres of residential land. That figure did not include redevelopment potential. He referred to the map in the packet showing the constraint status of the City. After calculating the amount of buildable land, they calculated the amount of residential capacity, which were about 6,920 dwelling units. The City needed land for those dwelling units in that planning horizon. Within the study, they made a determination about the needed mix in density of housing. The conclusion was about sixty percent single family type and about forty percent mu1ti~family type. The overall land need for the City was about 750 gross acres. Councilor Pishioneri asked what would be considered optimum regarding density. Mr. Parker said the optimum was based on the housing needs assessment. There was land needed for other uses, such as parks, government, schools, churches, etc. When they compared the capacity and needs, they found a need of about 463 gross acres. This report didn't consider any effect of acre refmements, or efficiency measures the City could adopt to increase the footprint. This was a preliminary number, but not final. The study met the intent oflIB3337, including the residential lands inventory, but didn't address the provisions ofORS 197.296 regarding how to address deficiency. Councilor Ralston noted that item # 4 on page 5 of Attachment 1, read "Determine the types of housing that are likely to be affordable to the projected households based on household income". He asked if affordable housing was one of the criteria the City was allowed to use. Mr. Parker said it was one of the criteria that the City was required to use. The Goal 10 rules were aimed at making cities plan to accommodate a variety of housing. The land was designated for different densities of housing, which affected affordability. Councilor Ralston discussed the types of land that were under the exclusion. He asked if areas that were expensive to develop could be excluded since they would not promote affordable housing. Mr. Parker said other cities had not done that, and it may be challenging. The next phase ofthis study would address those issues. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 16, 2009 Page 6 Mayor Leiken said part of this discussion was for later meetings. He felt it was a great time for those on the Planning Commission to be serving. They had the opportunity to help decide what the City would look like in the future. There would be different types of housing that would attract young families or retirees. The Planning Commission was going to need to look at it from that standpoint. He commended ECONorthwest for a great job. The numbers were realistic and he thanked Mr. Parker and City staff. The City needed to get other commissions on our side and the realistic numbers could be helpful. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned 6:55 p.m. Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa - Attest: ~