| Local developers Russell Dale and Evan Archerd will be holding
a public charrette process for the Copeland Lumber site. Bill Lennertz will
be leading the charrette, with GBD Architects from Portland assisting with
the presentation of designs and graphic materials. Local professionals will
also be on the charrette team, including local architect Jerome White, historic
consultant George Kramer, and landscape architect John Galbraith.
A pre-charrette kick-off meeting is scheduled for October 30, 2003. This
meeting will allow for a description of the process, as well as an introduction
of the team members involved with the process. The actual charrette is scheduled
for the first week of December (approximately December 1-4).
The developers are looking at opportunities for addressing concerns regarding
downtown development, and using the charrette process as a tool to incorporate
public input in a design process. From the National Charrette Institute,
the description of a charrette "is a collaborative planning process that
harnesses the talents and energies of all interested parties to create and
support a buildable plan."
Since the Copeland site is adjacent to the City parking lot at the corner
of Pioneer and Lithia Way, it would appear to be in the City's interest to
participate in the charrette, both as a property owner, and as the governing
body regulating development in the downtown area.
Further, the City's Housing Action Plan encourages affordable housing utilizing
the City's surface parking lots.
· (Utilize )Existing city-owned surface parking lots in or in close
proximity to the downtown. These sites could be targeted for application
of recently enacted vertical housing development tax exemptions. The new
law provides a partial tax exemption for certified projects that include
a ground floor or lower floors occupied by commercial uses and one or more
upper floors of residential uses. The allowable exemption is for 20% of assessed
value on land and improvements for each floor up to four floors of residential
use with a maximum partial tax exemption of 80%. Other than these relatively
small lots, the City does not own any parcels suitable for affordable housing
development.
The current Downtown Plan (1988) also contains the following regarding downtown
housing:
•Although downtown housing was thought to be incompatible with the
development of urban centers, in recent years the value of a downtown resident
population has increased. The downtown resident's round-the-clock eyes and
ears reduce crime. Downtown apartments suit many lifestyles - that of the
single person, student, actor, writer, and senior. They offer independence
from automobiles in a stimulating urban atmosphere.
•Downtown housing also provides a profitable use for second and third
stories which often stand vacant. … Housing should be introduced downtown
on upper stories.
•Permit housing downtown above the ground floor as an outright use,
with special regulations that consider the unique needs of downtown housing.
The City has historically considered surface parking lots as opportunity
areas for activities that could provide a public benefit. Past actions include
the temporary use of the Winburn Way parking lot as a skating rink in the
winter, former use of the Water Street parking lots for the Grower's Market,
and the recent partnership with OSF on using the Hargadine parking lots for
a portion of the new theater and construction of a new parking structure,
increasing overall downtown parking. |
