Prepared by Carol Heinkel, LCOG, facilitator

Participants:  John Theilacker and Ken Hobson, City of Florence; Eric Jacobson, DLCD and Bob Cortwright, DLCD (1st meeting only); Nick Arnis, Mike Barker and Don Ehrich, ODOT; Mike Burton, OEDD (1st meeting only).

SUBJECT

The participants met on 10/13 and 10/14, as noted above, to discuss issues and potential solutions to transportation and land use issues associated with the development of the Fred Meyer and Factory Outlet Mall sites along Highway 101 in Florence and the proposed re-designation of the Factory Outlet Mall site from Residential to Highway Commercial.  All participants agreed to work together to develop a mutually satisfactory solution to the issues raised.

THE AGREEMENT

Tentative agreement was reached to do the following, pending authorization/approval from other parties, including local and sate officials, legal counsel and property owners:

1.    Site-specific design issues:

Use a charette process to design the transportation system that would serve the Fred Meyer and Factory Outlet sites, including access, a local street network to serve the needs of pedestrians and bicycles, level of service, and the 35/45 speed limit along Highway 101.

The charette would take place as soon as possible in Florence.

Potential participants in the charette with a stake in the outcome may include:  traffic engineers,
designers (both ODOT and private developers'); the developers; county staff, residents adjacent to sites; DLCD, ODOT, OEDD and City staff, and possibly a city councilor and/or planning commissioner.  (There may be a potential legal issue with having a commissioner in a charette process).  Alternative or additional participants may be identified when the charette process is designed.  The group agreed that participants with decision-making authority and technical knowledge need to be at the table.

2.    Need for a local street network:

The City staff agreed to pursue an amendment to the text of the Florence comprehensive Plan at the time the City Council takes action on the Comprehensive Plan map amendment for the factory outlet mall site.  The text amendment would be to add a policy to the effect that the City shall plan a connected local street network parallel to Highway 101 to serve the needs of pedestrians and bicyclists, to prevent all traffic from accessing Highway 101 at a single location; to allow local traffic to disperse, and to create more pedestrian-friendly systems on lower-order streets.  Extension of Oak and Spruce Streets will be considered as alternatives to achieve these objectives.

Further discussion by fax between DLCD and the City of Florence indicates that an amendment to the local street plan is subject to the 45-day DLCD notice, and the 30 day public hearing notice required for local amendments.  As such, this amendment would delay the Council's potential action on the Florentine Enterprises, Inc. ... (Note: remaining text for this paragraph not contained in original)

3.    Land uses along Highway 101:

DLCD and the City staff agreed that the area around these two sites will serve as an effective cap on the northward sprawl of commercial strip development and that they will work together, during the City's current Periodic Review process, to determine the appropriate mix of land uses along Highway 101 and how to create an effective cap.

4.    DLCD Appeal:

DLCD staff agreed that, pending approval from the department, DLCD would not appeal a local decision to approve the re-designation, given that #2, above, occurs.  Eric indicated that DLCD may want to specify a timeline for the agreement to be carried out.

FOLLOW-UP ACTIONS

1.    Ken and John, with help from ODOT and DLCD staff, will talk with the mayor and City Council and the property owners about this agreement; and City staff will speak with legal counsel concerning the process for the text amendment.

2.    Assuming there are no objections or that any objections raised can be addressed by the staff  in #1, Ken and John will draft policy language for review by DLCD and ODOT staff, finalize the text, and present to the City Council for adoption.

3.    Eric will speak with other staff at DLCD about this agreement and confirm with the City and ODOT that DLCD will not appeal a local decision for approval of the re-designation, given the above.

4.    Eric will investigate the possibility of the TGM [program funding the charette and will inform the other participants of the outcome of these discussions.  If TGM funds are not available or are  not sufficient to cover the full costs, all parties will explore ways ot contribute sufficient funds to meet the full cost.

5.    Carol will speak with Jeff Krueger, LCOG Planner with skills and experience in conducting charettes, about the possibility of performing these services.  Eric will contact Jeff if Jeff's services are requested.

VISIONS FOR HIGHWAY 101

All participants agreed to the following components of a vision for Highway 101:

1.    Some form of activity center would occur in the Highway 101/Munsel lake Road area that would have the following components/characteristics:

     create an effective cap on northward sprawl of commercial activity
     coordinated road/pedestiran/bike system with parallel, feeder and connected streets
     improved architectural and landscape design standards
     promote compatible uses
     provide public access to dunes

2.    The Downtown Development Plan will help develop a vision for the area between Highway 126 and the bridge.

3.    Make Highway 101 more pedestrian-friendly in downtown area and at Munsel Lake Road area.

4.    Balanced development - not focussed only in major cities, but within UGBs.

5.    Keep economic activity in the community, even regional activity, to reduce commutes and the flow of capital to Eugene.

6.    Work together - maintain a cooperative, collaborative relationship with Florence (close
partnership).

7.    Preserve, protect and manage the system's integrity (need to discuss 35/45 mph).

8.    Ensure safety and operation for all modes.

9.    Allow through-traffic to move easily.

10.    Develop a long-range plan for the northern area of Highway 101 (node), including through TSP adoption.

11.    Ensure that Munsel Lake Road area has a connected local street network that functions well for all modes.

Items for further discussion were identified, as shown in Agreement Section, above.

IDEAS/SUGGESTIONS BRAINSTORMED

Note:  Agreement was not necessarily reached on any of the following.  They are listed here as a record of some of the ideas put foreword for consideration in the discussion to date. Additional ideas may have been suggested that were not captured; those can be restated during the charette process.

     Raised median with 2 left turn pockets
     South bound U-turn lane with widening on north side
     East-west street at south end of sites on both sides of 101 with signal; and no signal at Munsel Lake Road
     Relocate Munsel Lake road 1/4 mile north to allow both signals
     Second south bound lane
     Left-in, right-out
     Make Oak Street improvement now and put parallel route in plan for connection south
     Address loading dock location
     ODOT will not support second signal within 1/2 mile due to safety issues this creates
     ODOT will not support access for Fred Meyer off of Highway 101 - interested in 4th leg of intersection for another public street to provide access

Last Saved: October 14, 1997