CITY OF LAFAYETTE
FOR SEPTEMBER 5, 2002
Call to Order: Bob Cullen called the
meeting to order 7:03
Roll Call:
Council Present: Bob Cullen, Marianne
Mitchell,
Absent: Mayor Hanks
Planning Present: Nate Ramer, Stan Hill, Dave Breneman, and Rick Herrmann
Absent: Gary Baldwin (Excused)
Staff Present: Richard Van Orman and,
Others: Mike Hanks, Kim and Ken Schweiger.
Work Session Discussion: Bob Cullen asked the planning commission if they could give the Council an overview of what the Transportation System Plan Status is and where we are in regard to that plan. Stan Hill stated that it had been months since the Planning Commission has discussed the issue and that Skip probably had a final draft. Richard Van Orman noted that Skip did have a final report and that the next step would be to have both the Council and the Planning Commission look at the report informally before having the formal hearing.
Discussion ensued.
Council and Planning discussed opinions about issues in the transportation system plan.
Nate Ramer stated that he thought that pedestrian bulbs would be a good asset for the community Bob Cullen noted that ODOT is willing to fund a lot of private companies to come in and do study’s for the city. Mike Hanks stated that the city did not have very much for SDC’S under transportation, if at all. He understood that if it was for capacity improving funds or projects, you could use your SDC’S revenue. He stated that we might want to look at that for the TSP.
Dave Breneman stated that one of the keys to the Transportation System Plan is not just the development of Third Street, but also the entire commercial district, which includes the street’s parallel. A lot of that comes down to Urban Renewal. We need to take a lot of the existing downtown commercial and redevelop it into something more prosperous, otherwise we are going to remain a bedroom community and it is going to decrease the livability. Marianne Mitchell asked how he would encourage people to come into this town. Dave answered that most of the people that live here work out of town and he is not sure how they can get to people and that is an issue that is trying to be resolved.
Discussion Ensued.
Bob brought up the issue of the Zone Change that had passed for Green Heights. He questioned why we were allowing such small lots. Bob stated that there were a lot of loopholes that needed to be mended and that Planning and Council needed to communicate better about these issues.
Marianne stated that Planning Commission had the chance not to downsize. The council did pass the zone change, but she felt that the city was getting smaller lots, which caused lower priced home’s. She felt that the town needed diversity.
Rick Herrmann stated that they have been getting tougher on developers. He noted that the Planning Commission did care about the city and it’s standards and what it was going to look like in the long run. He also stated that we were also bound by State Wide Land Use Goals and with that the state has it’s own plan of how much land and density should be in the area and they try to spread that out amongst communities. The good thing about the Green Heights subdivision is that it is close to the school and the downtown area. The Planning Commission made a good decision with having to choose between outskirts and in-town for higher density.
Discussion Ensued.
Stan Hill stated that there are very little to no multifamily dwellings other than Abbey Heights. The State says that you have to have a percentage of high-density areas in town. We have large and comfortable lots throughout town. Marianne noted that the new development is where the real change in town is going to come as far as bringing in higher income people and business. She stated that all the R-1 housing in the old part of town is moderate to low priced. So that does not help to change the town might develop to give us more diversity.
Dave Breneman stated that no developer was going to come
in to town and build large lots, there is no profit in it.
Marianne stated that someone had wanted to purchase the 20-acre piece at the end of Bridge Street and put in a retirement home. She thought that this would save a lot of problems for the population figure for the Sewer Plant. She noted that they had gone to a couple of City Council meetings but had not gone to the Planning Commission. She stated that the City was not willing to talk with them. She felt that the retirement home was preferable to the apartment buildings.
Stan asked City Council, if and when something like that issue comes before them, to send it to the Planning Commission.
Richard Van Orman stated that the only thing that the city needs to show the state is that you have enabled that type of housing to come to the community. There is no way that you can guarantee that it will come. If you have an area that allows apartments to be build and a good portion of that is underdeveloped or undeveloped, you can show that you have property set aside appropriately that could be used for multifamily housing. This is the same scenario with manufactured homes. They cannot be ruled out. When the state talks about housing mix, they are talking about the low end of the scale housing mix. They care only that there are ordinary single family homes, multifamily homes, and manufactured homes. That is the diversity.
Stan noted that what the City needed to attract higher income people to come to town, is a stable government, and sewer and water system. People are going to be looking to see if it is a stable enough system to last 40 years from now.
Discussion Ensued.
Mike Hanks stated that there is not enough land in Lafayette to support the projected population growth. The smaller lots will cause a smaller expansion. Rick Herrmann asked Mike why developers don’t want to build higher priced homes here. Mike answered that they would not sell. You can build bigger lots around the smaller ones but you cannot make them to big or they will not sell.
Discussion Ensued.
Bob asked if anyone had any questions or comments.
Richard Jewell questioned when the hearing for the ordinance amendment was. He was assured that the meeting was going to be on September 19, 2002.
Marianne stated that she thought it was important to open the planning commission’s seats to the public.
Richard Van Orman thought that meeting together was a good idea and it should probably occur every 3 months.
Dave Breneman stated that, as a land surveyor he works with Land Use planning everyday and being on planning commission was his contribution to the community in his field of expertise. He felt that the Planning Commission accomplished goals successfully, was a benefit to the community, and it would be great to have seven or even nine people on the Commission.
Nate noted that if there were enough people showing consistent interest in the Planning Commission that they could expand.
Stan stated that he had thought that the state offered some kind a visioning class. There was some interest voiced about getting involved with that. He had thought that at one point there was some grant money to enhance vision on a small city level. He felt that a couple of members from Council and Planning should attend these classes.
Bob stated that Planning and Council should meet again before the year is out and set both long-term and short-term goals.
Bob Cullen closed joint meeting at 8:20pm.
CITY OF LAFAYETTE
FOR SEPTEMBER 5, 2002
Approval of Minutes: Dave Breneman made a motion that the minutes from the June 6, 2002 meeting be approved. Rick Herrmann second the motion. Motion passed unanimously.
Work Session: The Commission discussed the ordinance amendment for the hearing on 9/19/02. Commission decided to go through the proposed ordinance amendments at the hearing during the work session
New
Business: none
Old
Business: none
Correspondence:
none
Adjourn: Dave made motion to adjourn. Nate second the motion. Meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m.
