ON THE AGENDA Here are some of...

ON THE AGENDA

Here are some of the items that will be discussed at tonight’s

City Council meeting:

APPEAL OF MINOR DESIGN REVIEW

On Jan. 16, the zoning administrator gave a permit to John Crowe

to store vehicles outside at Pacific Coast Auto in the 800 block of

West 18th Street. Councilman Allan Mansoor appealed the decision

because he would like to see landscaping added to the general

industrial property to improve the appearance of the location with a

10-foot landscape setback.

The Planning Commission upheld the zoning administrator’s approval

without requiring the additional landscaping, so Mansoor appealed

again. The City Council continued the item, upon Crowe’s request, on

March 3.

WHAT TO EXPECT

“Well, I just want to soften or break up the impact that vehicle

storage is going to have,” Mansoor said. “It’s important to the

Westside. We talk about improving and making the appearance of the

Westside nicer, and I think this is a good place to start.”

COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS

On May 21, 2001, the City Council formed the Downtown And Eastside

Transportation Ad Hoc Committee. Its purpose is to help city staff

develop transportation improvement recommendations for Newport

Boulevard, East 17th Street and Eastside neighborhoods.

Two vacancies exist on the committee. Staff has received

applications from Mark Reader, representing Newport Boulevard

businesses, and Anne Hogan-Shereshevsky, representing Eastside

residential neighborhoods.

WHAT TO EXPECT

“That seems pretty simple, doesn’t it?” Councilman Gary Monahan

said. “If I was a betting man, they’d probably be appointed.”

TRAFFIC REPORT

The Eastside Biennial Traffic Monitoring Report identifies changes

in traffic conditions, such as cut-through traffic from more arterial

congestion. The purposes of the report are to track traffic

conditions so immediate responses to any significant changes can be

made, to identify ways to ease traffic problems and to ensure that

easing problems in one area does not transfer problems to another

area. From all streets where new data was collected, only seven

residential street segments indicated an increase in traffic that met

the threshold.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Staff determined that the increases did not correlate to any

specific pattern and therefore don’t present any significant change

in area traffic. Staff said it believes the existing traffic volumes

and conditions do not require any major traffic control measures at

this time. The next report will be in July 2004.

“I think it’s something we need to continue to keep on top of, but

I think there has to be a certain amount of increase to justify any

major changes,” Mansoor said. “It’s not the easiest of situations,

but it’s something we’re continuing to monitor.”

-- Compiled by Deirdre Newman