08/17/1983 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Whitlow introduced Brian Shelton, Public Works Department, who indicated e that the Planning Commission's recommendation had been formulated at a joint public hearing with the Lane County Roads Advisory Committee on August 9, 1983. He said that there had been verbal testimony by fifteen members of the public, as well as written testimony which was included in the information packet. He then drew attention to page 2 of the distributed memorandum which detailed the recommendations of the Planning Commission, and recommended approval of the project. Public hearing was opened. Marv Rexius, 750 Chambers, said that he wanted to reiterate his testimony before the Planning Commission in support of the build alternative and the Roosevelt connection. Fred A. A. Divita, 1147 High, attorney for Star Lumber, said that his client owned property between 2nd and 5th Avenues west of Chambers. He noted that his client's property would be divided by the project, and that a railroad siding would be lost. He urged the City Council to put the project to a vote of the people, since there was a difference of legal opinion as to whether or not this was necessary. Robert Wheeler, 941 Almaden, said that he was speaking as a resident of the area which would be affected by the Chambers Connector, as the chairperson of the Westside Neighborhood Quality Project, and as a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee for the project. He said that the Wests ide Neighbors had grave e concerns about the impact of the connector on abutting neighborhoods and particu- larly spillover traffic on 8th Avenue. He urged the council to consider traffic diverters and other devices to protect the neighborhood, to allocate funds for further study of the impact of the project on abutting neighborhoods, and the appointment of a planning liaison person to work with the neighborhoods. Mr. Wheeler went on to state that while the Westside Neighborhood ended at Chambers there was a great deal of contact and movement between the Westside and Far West Neighborhoods, so that many residents of the area felt that the connector would virtually be bisecting their neighborhood. Finally, Mr. Wheeler noted that the City Attorney's opinion that a vote on the project was not necessary was arguable, and urged the council to err on the side of the people by authoriz- ing a vote. Jon Stafford, 1060 Madison Street, said that it was hard to oppose the Chambers Connector project, since there were evident benefits. However he indicated that he wished to address an impact not addressed in the Draft Environmental Impact statement; namely, spillover traffic on 8th Avenue. He urged the City Council to fund a study to find solutions and to fund implementation of the recommended solutions. Gordon Elliott, 938 Jefferson, said he had lived in Eugene for 65 years and stated his opinion that the traffic problems in this area were not on 8th and 9th Avenues but on Jefferson Street. He expressed his support for the Chambers Connector project, and commented that it had been a mistake to eliminate the Roosevelt connection to the Northwest Expressway in the final plans. - MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 17,1983 Page 3