City Council Minutes 1999 03 02 - Laserfiche WebLink

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employees might not continue coming downtown for lunch. He stated that business owners are asking to expand but do not want to provide parking. He questioned where they expect their customers would park. In response to the statement that if Council limits the FAR, businesses will move out, he stated that if businesses do move out, there would be no reason to worry about limiting the FAR. He questioned the statement that the restaurants are not doing well, as he receives a report on the sales tax they generate and with one exception, every business is improving. Davidson stated that several revisions to the Framework Plan that were discussed at the last work session have not been included. He suggested that on page 5, the word residential be stricken from the second key recommendation which reads: "revise the City's current zoning ordinance for opportunities to develop downtown as a mixed-use, specialty center that is active with offices, service business, specialty retail and residential uses in the downtown commercial area." He expressed opposition to adopting this zoning for residential. He suggested than on page 15, the second task from the bottom, "consider the feasibility of a circulator bus to link downtown with regional activity nodes" should be stricken as earlier investigations have show it would be prohibitively expensive. He suggested that the task listed on page 19 "consistent with the results of the traffic study provided in appendix B, adopt a zoning code amendment that would set the by-right maximum floor area ratio at 0.52 for any one property" should be changed from any one property to read for the entire area.' Sisk suggested also striking the words "by-right." Davidson agreed. He stated that the task listed on page 19 "evaluate a reduced speed limit through downtown" be removed as he questioned the practicality of reducing the speed limit to less than the current 25 mph. Mayer stated that in the core area of downtown, he believes the 25 mph sPeed is too fast. He cited the density of parking activity and pedestrians as reasons for reducing the speed limit. Howard questioned whether the police department has identified a problem of the speed limit being too high. Davidson suggested removing the word "reducea~' from the task. He questioned whether Tom Phare, Public Works Director, supported the task "incorporate traffic calming devices as necessary to reduce vehicle speed through adjoining residential neighborhoods." Phare replied it depends upon the device. The 'elephant ears' downtown have been effective; however, there are limited opportunities to use those in residential areas. Davidson suggested changing the word 'incorporate,' which means you will do it, to 'evaluate.'