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Minutes - 12/06/2004 Workshop COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES DECEMBER 6, 2004 TAPE READING Tape 1 - Side A J2l DATE. COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, CITY OF WOODBURN, COUNTY OF MARION, STATE OF OREGON, DECEMBER 6, 2004 CONVENED. Mayor Figley convened the work session at 6:30 p.m. for the purpose of meeting with the Planning Commission to continue discussion on proposed changes to the draft Transportation System Plan. ROLL CALL. Mayor Councilor Councilor Councilor Councilor Councilor Councilor Figley Bjelland Cox Lonergan McCallum Nichols Sifuentez Present Present (6:58 pm) Present Present Present Absent Absent Planning Commission Members Present: Patti Griegorieff, David Vancil Staff Present: City Administrator Brown, Community Development Director Mulder, City Attorney Shields, Public Works Director Tiwari, Public Works Manager Rohman, City Recorder Tennant Consultant: Steve Perone, CH2M Hill (TSP Project Manager) Also present: Terry Cole, ODOT 1.3 Mayor Figley stated that this is the third workshop to discuss proposed updates to the Transportation System Plan (TSP) which will then be forwarded to the Planning Commission and City Council for public hearings and further discussion. The staff memo focuses on the following four issues that were brought up at the last work session: 1) Need for sidewalks in Senior Estates; 2) Need to designate Settlemier Avenue as a historic corridor with modified street design standards; 3) Need for a new north-south collector street west of Settlemier Avenue; and 4) Prioritization of improvements within the Transportation System Plan. Sidewalks in Senior Estates. Steve Perone stated that this issue was further reviewed by City staff, Consultants, ODOT, and LCDC within the context of the transportation planning rule designation relative to the roadways where sidewalks are recommended. As a result of their review, they continue to recommend that the current draft Transportation System Plan be maintained to safely connect neighborhoods and provide access to commercial areas. Page I - Council Work Session Minutes, December 6, 2004 ... ,. COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES DECEMBER 6, 2004 TAPE READING Additionally, the Transportation Planning Rule requires sidewalks along arterial, collector, and most local streets and, even though Country Club, Astor Way, Oregon Way, and Cascade Drive are considered access streets they still have the primary function of connecting Senior Estates with adjacent arterial streets. Discussion was held regarding the right-of-way impact since there may be side yards and landscaping that need to be removed in order to accommodate the sidewalks. It was noted that along Astor Way, which is a street wider than the required standard, could have a sidewalk built from the existing curb into the street area and still have the standard size street width. Public Works Manager Rohman stated that the section of Country Club Road from Boones Ferry Road west to Astor Way will have sidewalks on both sides of the street when it is improved. On Oregon Way, there may be some difficulty in constructing a sidewalk since many homes are relatively close to the street while on Cascade Drive a portion of the street will have sidewalks on both sides in the commercial area but may have a sidewalk on only one side of the street in the residential area. He stated that the draft plan includes the sidewalks but it will be in later years (15 years or longer) and financial considerations playa part in when improvements are made. Councilor McCallum stated that sidewalks should be in neighborhoods for safety reasons, however, residents in established neighborhoods should not be responsible for paying the cost to construct sidewalks in their area. Mayor Figley expressed her opinion that unpaved streets should be paved with the limited funds that are available rather than constructing sidewalks in established neighborhoods. Additionally, the neighborhoods in Senior Estates do not want sidewalks in front of their homes and they are actively opposing this proposal. Councilor Cox disagreed with comments made by the consultants and LCDC in that his reading of the Division 12 DLCD rules are contrary to what the planners have put before the Council and Planning Commission regarding sidewalks. He referenced his memo to staff dated September 29,2004 addressing the sidewalk issue and access street designation. He agreed that Country Club Road east to Boones Ferry Road is an access street and needs to have sidewalks constructed when the road improvement takes place. Some of the streets have been reclassified from the 1996 TSP and he could not find any justification as to why the reclassification took place, in particular, Oregon Way was a local street and Cascade was an access street. The draft plan reverses the designation so that Oregon Way is an access street and Cascade is a local street. He stated that Senior Estates is a fully developed community and there should not be any substantial increase in traffic that would make it necessary to construct the sidewalks. He also stated that the DLCD rules require the City to adopt an ordinance to implement a plan and inclusion of the sidewalks in these areas would eventually require the City to provide finance for and install the sidewalks. The plan does require LCDC acknowledgment and he feels that a TSP without sidewalks would still get acknowledgment from LCDC since the City's Page 2 - Council Work Session Minutes, December 6, 2004 ... r COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES DECEMBER 6, 2004 TAPE READING 1996 plan did not include sidewalks in this area. He reviewed excerpts of the rules which also address the elements of a transportation plan and emphasized that the rules refer to layout standards for extension of existing streets and connections to existing or planned streets rather than already developed areas. The rules do state that the plan include a public transportation plan, a bicycle/pedestrian plan (both of which would apply to the City) and some other plans that would not apply to the City. He also referred to Section 35 of the rules that relate to the evaluation and selection of alternatives that can reasonably be expected to meet identified transportation needs in a safe manner at a reasonable cost with available technology. Section 40 pertains to financing which has not been addressed in the draft plan and Section 45 relates to plan implementation. He stated that the rule requires the City to implement the plan by adopting regulations and modifying development code, adopt land use or subdivision ordinance regulations to protect transportation facilities for their identified functions, and adopt land use or subdivision regulations for urban areas in newly developed areas. His interpretation of the rules do not require the sidewalks in Senior Estates as recommended in the draft plan and feels that the consultants have taken one small phrase out of the rule which does not apply to the situation being addressed to justify the reason as to why they feel it should be included in the draft plan. He stated that all rules need to have a statutory authority and the bicycle and pedestrian plan are under ORS 366.514 which contains exemption language if certain conditions exist. He reiterated his opinion that the City is not required by LCDC to construct sidewalks in Senior Estates even though the consultants recommend that the sidewalks should be constructed. The City should only include sidewalks in the plan for this area ifit makes sense and is a good expenditure and commitment of public funds. He is agreeable to sidewalks on Country Club Rd. from Boones Ferry Road to Astor Way. Sidewalks on Astor Way are more debatable because Astor Way is designated as an access street rather than a local street, however, it is a wide street. He stated that Astor Way has been in existence for 42 years and it has worked well without a sidewalk especially when you consider how much pedestrian traffic is on that roadway. In regards to Oregon Way, a sidewalk will impose a significant impact to the property owners and homeowners will object to the construction of a sidewalk in front of their homes. Side B Terry Cole stated that the TSP Technical Advisory Committee consisted of Jim Mulder, Randy Rohman, Steve Perone, himself, and a representative from LCDC. This Committee has brought forth a recommendation that is their best interpretation of the regulations and a decision can be made to change the recommendation. He is familiar with LCDC interpretation of rules and that is part ofthe reason as to why the Committee made the recommendation as presented in the draft plan. 4.5 Mayor Figley stated that the City's revised zoning ordinance made two exceptions in order to accommodate existing development in established areas. Those exceptions were Page 3 - Council Work Session Minutes, December 6, 2004 ... Y' COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES DECEMBER 6, 2004 TAPE READING Senior Estates and an overlay in the downtown historic district. Terry Cole stated that the Planning Commission and Council could determine that there may be other circumstances from a policy standpoint that would direct the Committee to change or modify their recommendation. He also provided some information on financial sources that may be available to fund proposed TSP improvements. 20.3 Councilor Cox stated that new developments would be required to make improvements consistent with the TSP however there are no funding mechanisms in place to make improvements in existing developments. He expressed his opinion that including something in a plan that the governmental body does not seriously feel that they will be able to accomplish is poor public policy and it can have unknown and unattended consequences that detract from the credibility of the local government. Discussion was held regarding redevelopment issues that would also impact the TSP in areas such as the urban renewal district. Steve Perone stated that the long range plan is a mix of needs and he feels that the recommendations as presented do present a fair mix of requirements, needs, and aspirations. In regards to the Senior Estates sidewalk recommendations, he felt that the sidewalk on Country Club Rd west of Astor Way towards Princeton Rd could be removed from the draft TSP and still meet the spirit and intent of the law. He also felt that their recommendations do go slightly above the bare minimum but does not feel that they are proposing a recommendation that is unrealistic. 30.6 Councilor Cox stated that this is the third time that the draft plan has been before the Council and Commission for review and to date no change has been made. He feels that the Committee needs clear direction from the Council and Commissioners in order to move forward with this project. The Mayor summarized the direction to the Committee to be that (1) the sidewalks on Country Club east of Astor Way are more than acceptable and to be included in the TSP, (2) all other sidewalks in Senior Estates are to be deleted from the TSP, and (3) establish the connection the sidewalk on the east side of Cascade to where river rock is in front of the mobile home park and the connection with the sidewalks on both sides of Hayes Street east of Cascade Drive are to be kept in the TSP. 32.8 Designation of SettIemier as a Historic Corridor: Mayor Figley stated that she lives on Settlemier Avenue and questioned why the corridor does not extend to another 2 blocks further south to Ben Brown Lane which is still 100% residential and just before the area that was improved at the Parr Road intersection. Terry Cole agreed that the extension could be made and stated that they would make the adjustment on the draft plan. Brief discussion was held regarding the need to adopt ordinance language that would address the historic designation thereby maintaining a narrower street width for this designated arterial street. Page 4 - Council Work Session Minutes, December 6, 2004 ... ,. COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES DECEMBER 6, 2004 TAPE READING 37.7 New North-South Collector West of Settlemier Avenue: Discussion was held regarding potential alternatives for a new north-south collector street which would help to reduce traffic flow on Settlemier Avenue. Included in the memo was a drawing of a new collector street network that would be constructed as land is developed in the area south of Hayes Street and east of Nellie Muir School. Tape 2 Mayor Figley stated that the proposed upgrades to Front Street will be very beneficial and will result in some reduction of traffic on Settlemier Avenue. She recognizes that there will continue to be high traffic volume on Settlemier but having streets available designed for higher capacity will make a difference. In summary, the direction given was to proceed based on the recommendations for the Settlemier historic district and for the other options listed in the memo. Some discussion was also held regarding the historic street district to also apply to the downtown historic overlay district. 24.4 Project Priorities: Mayor Figley questioned what traffic control device(s) will be needed at the Parr Road / Settlemier Avenue intersection within the next I 0-15 years. Terry Cole stated that the Committee will look into this question to see if a traffic control device should be included in the priority list and, if so, it may be added to the 15-20 year list. Commissioner Vancil suggested that Evergreen Road at Highway 214 be improved within the next few years since large trucks use Evergreen Road to get back to Wal-mart and the curb area at the intersection has been destroyed. It was noted that there is a STIP project proposed to reconstruct that area in as early as 2006. Another area of concern was the need to provide traffic signalization at the Meridian/Hwy 214/Fifth Street intersection within the next IO years rather than I 0-15 years since the traffic volume continues to increase at that intersection. Additionally, there has been some discussion regarding the opening of Fifth Street as a through street thereby increasing the traffic flow onto Highway 214. Administrator Brown also suggested that the traffic signal at Park Avenue and Highway 214 also be moved up from the next 15 - 20 years to the next 10 years to meet both traffic and pedestrian concerns in that area. Commissioner Vancil questioned if street lighting improvements on Settlemier A venue is included in the draft plan. Public Works Manager Rohman stated that street lighting is not included in the draft plan but staff will look into the issue. Page 5 - Council Work Session Minutes, December 6, 2004 ... ,. COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES DECEMBER 6, 2004 TAPE READING 39.6 The work session concluded at 8:35 p.m.. APP ATTEST /7/0.-( i--r~ ~~~ Mary TemUnt, Recorder City of Woodburn, Oregon Page 6 - Council Work Session Minutes, December 6,2004 ... f'