10/08/1984 Meeting (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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Joe Sneddon, 2535 West 22nd Avenue, narrated slides of the Bloomberg Road/ e McVay Highway area. He said the Emporium will buffer its operations from the surrounding area. An average of eight trucks leave the Emporium distribution center each morning and return in the evening. The new building will be in a low area which should make it less objectionable than a higher building to the nei ghbors. Later in the hearing, Mr. Sneddon said the present site of the Emporium headquarters was approved in 1977. The Metro Plan with its designations was not approved until 1979. He said Oregonians want clean industries and the Emporium is a clean industry. It deals with over 250 local suppliers. Twenty-five additional people need to be hired. Parking and other space is needed for them. The company owns three of the five acres needed for the expansion. It will work with the neighbors to be a good neighbor. Bob LaCoss, 1873 Garden Avenue, is a landscape architect. He discussed the effect of the new construction on properties below the site. He said the non-permeable surfaces would be increased, but the water will be collected in the existing 18-inch culvert which goes under 1-5 directly to the river. The off-site drainage probably will be improved. Terry Green, 691 Walnut, is an architect. He said an expansion to the south- west of the existing building will work functionally for the Emporium. The scale can be kept low which will appeal to neighbors. He recommended approval of the request so that the Emporium headquarters will remain in Lane County. Janet Shelby, 33389 Bloomberg Road, opposed the Metro Plan amendments. She e had a dream of building a home on Bloomberg Road. If the amendments are approved, she wondered what other warehouses would be built in the area. Mary Alice Brown, 33481 Bloomberg, opposed the proposed amendment, but she did not want the Emporium corporate headquarters to leave Eugene. She questioned whether the proposed expansion belonged at the present site. In 1977, a Lane County Planning Commissioner said expansion of the Emporium was not an issue. Ms. Brown said there was no need to apply the Rural Industrial designation to property to accommodate the Emporium expansion because there is rural commer- cial property to the south. The neighbors would like to keep the commercial development on McVay Highway. The criteria for the new Rural Industri al designation indicates it is appropriate if it reflects existing patterns of development or commitment to rural lifestyle. Changing rural residential 1 and to rural industrial land will not reflect existing patterns of development. Ms. Brown said it is not possible to say adequate services are available for the expansion because the only thing the Emporium has definitely proposed is an expansion of the parking lot. Discussing the requested exception to Statewide Goal 2, Ms. Brown read special requirements for an exception from OAR 660 -04-022 (3). She said findings for such an exception could not support the Emporium expansion. The urban growth boundary is northeast of the Emporium. The only approach consistent with the statewide goals would be to amend the urban growth boundary to include the Emporium property. Many LUBA and LCDC cases support that conclusion. Ms. Brown said the area needs long-range pl anni ng. She did not want the needs of one business to rush the process so e quickly that the long-range impact of decisions is not understood. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 8, 1984 Page 4