Laserfiche WebLink
<br />e <br /> <br />III. DISCUSSION OF METROPOLITAN PLAN AMENDMENTS RELATED TO URBAN GROWTH <br />BOUNDARY EXPANSION NORTH OF AWBREY LANE (MA 87-6) <br /> <br />Teresa Bishow, Planning and Development Department, gave the staff report. <br />In March 1988, the Eugene City Council tentatively adopted three significant <br />amendments to the Metro Plan. These included: a 200-acre expansion of the <br />urban growth boundary (UGB) north of Awbrey Lane; changes to the plan diagram <br />text affecting existing special-heavy industrial land within the UGB between <br />Awbrey Lane and Enid Road and the Murphy Mill site or Natron site in <br />southeast Springfield; and related text changes to the Economy Element of the <br />Metro Plan. During the past year, the Springfield Planning Commission and <br />City Council have held several meetings to review the amendments. In <br />February 1989, the Springfield City Council took tentative action on the plan <br />amendments. <br /> <br />Ms. Bishow said there were some differences in the amendments to the Metro <br />Plan tentatively adopted by the two cities. She said the council packet <br />included a description of both Eugene and Springfield's amendments to the <br />Metro Plan and recommendations from the three local planning directors on how <br />to reach consensus on the amendments. Ms. Bishow said the purpose of this <br />discussion was to give the council an opportunity to comment on the consensus <br />recommendations. She said if the council was comfortable with the consensus <br />recommendations, staff would recommend that the Lane County Board of <br />Commissioners adopt them. <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />Mr. Rutan complimented staff on the consensus recommendations which he felt <br />presented a reasonable compromise to the disagreements between the two <br />cities. <br /> <br />Mr. Boles said he remains unconvinced of the merits of this expansion. <br />Regarding the text amendments to the Economy Element, he asked about the <br />assertion that "changes in technology and environmental regulations have <br />lessened the environmental impact of these industries (i.e., heavy <br />industry)." Mr. Boles said recent national surveys coming from public <br />right-to-know laws show that environmental regulations have not lessened the <br />impact of heavy industries on either water or air quality. He did not feel <br />the council should encourage heavy industry by expanding the UGB to <br />accommodate more heavy industrial uses. Mr. Holmer felt Mr. Boles' point <br />might warrant a modification of the language proposed, but said the fact <br />remains that increases in environmental regulations and recognition of <br />environmental effects of heavy industry has decreased the danger of heavy <br />industry because people are more sensitive to the environmental impacts. <br /> <br />Ms. Bascom said the council was conscious of environmental concerns regarding <br />expansion of the UGB to accommodate more heavy industrial uses when it last <br />addressed this issue in 1987. She said the council included constraints in <br />the requirements for heavy-industrial development which were sufficient to <br />protect the environment. <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council <br /> <br />May la, 1989 <br /> <br />Page 3 <br />