MINUTES OF THE METRO COUNCIL MEETING
October 12, 1999
Milwaukie City Hall Chamber
Councilors Present: Rod Monroe (Presiding Officer), Susan McLain, Ed Washington, Rod Park, Bill Atherton, David Bragdon, Jon Kvistad
Presiding Officer Monroe convened the Regular Council Meeting at 5:02 p.m.
Councilor Bragdon introduced Milwaukie Mayor Carolyn Tomei. He expressed his appreciation for the effort she has contributed towards improvements in the area.
Mayor Tomei welcomed the Metro Council to the City, and the students of LaSalle High School. She thanked Metro and all of its staff for the contributions made on behalf of the communities it served, as well as Metro projects such as its Greenspaces Program, and its Transportation Improvement Program.
Mayor Tomei expressed appreciation for Metro’s Growth Management Committee’s support of 2040 local goals and the City’s request to redesignate Milwaukie as a town center.
Mayor Tomei introduced Jack Elder, Executive Director of Milwaukie’s Downtown Development Association, who was to make a presentation explaining the vision and projected plan of the Milwaukie Town Center Concept.
Mr. Elder welcomed the Councilors to Milwaukie. He stated that the departure of traditional businesses from the Milwaukie downtown area have contributed to its decline. The City was working hard to bring business back and to support the remaining businesses. The City had a 1% vacancy rate, but the current business mix did not attract shoppers. The new town center concept would bring their 97 Regional Center Plan to fruition. New development supporting a mixed use of downtown as the center of development, new residences, efficient transportation and a place where people want to live, work, shop, and play were part of the plan. One hundred and fifty new jobs would be brought into the City by means of the new Reliable Credit building currently under construction. The South Corridor Transportation Plan, including a new transit center for Milwaukie at the former Safeway location, would open streets and provide parking. The summer Farmer’s Market proved to be a great success. Since February, Milwaukie had been working on a new framework plan for downtown and the riverfront. The hope was to return the community to the river despite the McLoughlin Boulevard barrier. Crandall Arambula had been working on the design of the downtown plan, to be completed by the end of the year.
Mr. Elder added that Metro’s continued support and assistance were needed on the framework plan; with critical transportation projects, such as the reconstruction of McLoughlin Boulevard and the relocation of the current transit center; reclamation of the riverfront, and protection of Kellogg and Johnson Creeks. Mr. Elder pointed to a design plan to access the river and redesign the downtown core area, which could take between 10 and 30 years to complete.
Councilor Atherton applauded Mr. Elder for the vision and plan that was under development. He stated that Milwaukie was a transportation hub and had an opportunity to develop by means of the railroad line. Had any plans for the railroad right-of-way been considered? There were vehicles that could utilize the existing lines that were less expensive than light rail, quiet, efficient and diesel powered.
Mr. Elder said that he would like to further discuss this with Councilor Atherton.
Councilor Atherton said that Metro was currently working on a regional transportation plan. Implementation and funding of roadway infrastructure in the region could be paid by the user and by growth’s paying its own way. Large retailers have negatively impacted the downtown area. He suggested that Milwaukie look at a regional transportation plan where growth paid its own way, so flexible federal government funding could be used for rail, bikeway and non-auto kinds of transportation needs.
Mayor Tomei said that the Milwaukie Council had discussed that issue, and it was very committed to having growth pay its own way.
Councilor Atherton said he had prepared some proposals on that topic, and regional transportation plan decisions would be made this year.
Mayor Tomei said that the City of Milwaukie was very interested in system development charges being increased to meet the actual cost of growth.
Presiding Officer Monroe introduced Mark Turpel, Manager, Metro Growth Management Services.
Mr. Turpel began his presentation with a slide show. (A hard copy of Mr. Turpel’s slide presentation is attached to the meeting record.) He reviewed the Urban Growth Report, which was intended to verify state Goal 14 that deals with urbanization issues and how the need for new jobs and housing within the region would be met. He said that the urban growth boundary might need to be amended, in addition to changes being made inside the urban growth boundary.
He said this analysis was being done to comply with state law to maintain a 20-year land supply. The Metro Code requires the analysis be revisited every five years. In 1998, one-half of the land need had been identified, and the balance would be identified by the end of 1999, barring a good-cause extension. Additional capacity needs could be met by amending the urban growth boundary or adopting regulations to increase capacity. There were 3,527 acres added last year by ordinance, and 1,831 acres were proposed to be added to the boundary by resolutions of intent. The current status of the technical work that the staff had accomplished based on assumptions directed by the Growth Management Committee conclude with a 200 residential dwelling unit surplus within the urban growth boundary, and a 270-acre job surplus. The state’s regional Goal 5 requirements and the federal government’s Endangered Species Act might alter that picture. The urban growth boundary might need to be moved to accommodate nearly 15,000 additional dwelling units and about 700 acres of land for jobs.
Mr. Turpel said in 1997 the Council did an initial analysis which determined a 32,370 dwelling unit and 2,900 jobs surplus. With the added urban growth boundary areas, there was an increase of about 200 dwelling units. The 1997 urban growth report differs from the current update. The differences relate to the amount of growth that has occurred during that amount of time; the urban growth boundary amendments of almost 18,000 units developed; new policy assumptions like Title 3 and reduced upzoning; and GIS mapping refinements. Gross vacant buildable lands (exempt lands, platted lots, streets, schools, parks) were set aside to clearly reflect the net buildable acres of approximately 22,000 acres. There remained about 13,000 acres of residential lands and about 8,600 acres of non-residential (commercial and industrial) lands. The total dwelling unit capacity of about 187,500 could be accommodated within the current urban growth boundary. That figure, added to the urban growth boundary amendment areas, totaled an estimate of 205,400 dwelling units. However, in anticipation of regulations yet complete, staff has estimated there could be a deficit of 14,800 dwelling units.
Mr. Turpel also reviewed the employment analysis. He said the bottom line employment statistics are 270 net acres of current urban growth boundary surplus; 8,634 net acres of employment land supply; and 8,364 net acres of employment land demand. A computer model, dubbed “Zelda,” computed the employment land demand using individual employee forecasting information, and industrial, retail, office and other commercial demands by county/subarea. The employment land supply conclusion was 270 acres of current urban growth boundary surplus land, with 964 acres held for protected areas, leaving a deficit of about 700 acres needing to be added to the urban growth boundary if the streamside regulations were enacted.
Mr. Turpel said that this information would be reviewed again in five years.
Councilor Atherton asked whether the 700-acre deficit due to the environmental protection issues included Clark County.
Mr. Turpel said it did not.
Councilor Atherton asked for an estimate of how many people a day commute from Washington to Oregon to work.
Councilor Kvistad said there are about 50,000 commuter trips each way, and about 250,000 total trips across the two bridges each day.
Councilor Atherton cited a recent report done by a study group on industrial land supply, and its conclusion was that about half of the industrial land in the region was located in Clark County. How did that affect Metro’s planning and jobs/housing balance?
Mr. Turpel said that in the last 20 years, the amount of residential growth in the four-county area within the Metro jurisdictional boundary had been about 70%, but the job rate was about 82%. Therefore, the region had achieved more jobs than housing, which could account for the impacts on the transportation system.
Councilor Atherton asked why there was an imbalance in housing development in this region.
Mr. Turpel said that he understood the land prices to be higher here than in Clark County. In some cases, a job expertise in a certain area would attract specialized individuals (for example, Intel), whereas Clark County had more diversity and less pronounced specialties.
Councilor Atherton asked about the density per acre that the fields of warehousing and trucking demand.
Mr. Turpel said that much of the warehousing had been improved with inventory control techniques, so the building could be very large but actually have a small number of employees.
1. PUBLIC HEARING ON URBAN GROWTH BOUNDARY ISSUES
Mr. George Van Bergen, 12366 SE Gilford Drive, Milwaukie, said he has been a long-time resident. He said he appreciated Mr. Turpel’s presentation. He was interested in more specific Milwaukie information. Milwaukie has a huge transportation problem. Milwaukie had complied as much as it could with the 2040 Growth Concept Plan. He questioned how the redevelopment plan for Milwaukie could be effected with so many non-city voters. He stated the need for a major, public funding source, and also private funding sources.
Mr. Van Bergen said Milwaukie had gone along with the mixed use residential and employment units of the 2040 Growth Concept Plan. Mr. Van Bergen asked where the jobs would come from. With regard to transportation, using the rail lines is a good idea, but nothing ever comes from the suggestions made regarding developing it for public transportation. He summed up by stating that Milwaukie would support a good, viable plan, but for Metro to guard against forcing a policy on Milwaukie. He expressed his appreciation for the Metro Council’s public meeting in Milwaukie.
Presiding Officer Monroe said that when the funding for the Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin, and Wilsonville commuter line was completed, it would be time to look at a Milwaukie commuter line. It would enable people from Milwaukie to get by rail to Washington County.
Councilor McLain commented on the jobs issue raised by Mr. Van Bergen. She said that the Clackamas County Commission and the MPAC members had discussed it and were aware of the imbalance. The problem is to figure out where the jobs can be created, because the land to support the jobs has not been identified.
Presiding Officer Monroe said that another part of that issue was transportation.
Councilor Atherton asked the La Salle students how many thought the future would be better, and how many thought the future would be worse. The vote was about even. He said it typified his previous public surveys.
2. COUNCILOR COMMUNICATION
Councilor Washington thanked Mr. Van Bergen and the students for attending the evening meeting.
Councilor Kvistad thanked the City of Milwaukie for making their Council Chambers available.
Councilor McLain said Metro would have its regular Council Meetings on Thursday, October 21, 1999, and October 28, 1999, at the Metro Regional Center, 600 NE Grand Avenue, Portland, Oregon. Council meetings have been held in Gresham, Hillsboro. They anticipated having a meeting in Wilsonville. She thanked the audience for attending.
Councilor Kvistad stated that the public transportation hearings will be on October 20, 1999, at Conestoga Intermediate School; October 21, 1999, at Gresham City Hall; October 26, 1999, at Metro Regional Center; and on October 28, 1999, at the Monarch Motor Hotel.
Presiding Officer Monroe suggested contacting Metro Regional Center at 797-1540 for additional information.
3. ADJOURN
There being no further business to come before the Metro Council, Presiding Officer Monroe adjourned the meeting at 6:04 p.m.
Prepared by,
Patricia Mannhalter
Council Assistant