07/11/1977 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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.' and 3) public tax money was being used to reduce the public- ness of downtown space. He said no one lived downtown probably because of zoning and prohibitive land costs. He sa i d there were therefore no community services open after business hours so that the only businesses open were bars and nightclubs. Secondly, he said if building space was compared to open space, it was clear that the mall was designed to be a path and not a place. He said the new plan would be similar. He suggested the open space should be used as a place to be and not just a means of moving foot traffic. He said the fountain at the center of the mall was the only place to meet downtown. and that the fountain was too large to make this a good meeting place. Finally, he said since public money would be used in the project, the public should get a more public mall and more for their money. Public hearing was closed, there being no further testimony presented. ERA Executive Director Charles Kupper responded to Mr. Cox's comments on LTD. He sa i d both Fred Dyen and Dave Rynerson of LTD shared Mr. Cox's concern over the location for a bus terminal. He said both men had attended several Downtown Plan- ning Review Group meetings. ERA had met with LTD and was dis- cussing the possibility of moving the bus transfer station from Tenth to a site north of the Parcade. He sa i d the site was acceptable to LTD as a temporary station, and that ERA was e willing to provide money for a station at that site. Mr. Delay asked if there were plans to cover the new mall. Mr. Kupper said the plan did not include the suggestion that the mall be covered, but that covering had been discussed. Mr. Elbasani said the plan had purposely not indicated whether the mall should be covered. He said it was definitely the tendency of developers to cover shopping malls. but that since Eugene had a moderate climate the developer might not find it necessary to cover a mall here. He said a more critical issue was the introversion or extroversion of the mall--how well integrated the different facilities were with each other through visual tie-ins from the mall. Ms. Smith asked if parking plans were alterable. Mr. Elbasani said that parking garage placements were based on a consensus of the Downtown Planning Review Group and were logical. He sa i d the plan should hold, but that there were no definite architectural plans. Ms. Smith then asked the status of developer interest in the plan. Mr. Elbasani said he had talked to several developers in a preliminary way and had a found a positive response to the plan. However, he said he had waited to talk further with developers upon receiving Council's approval of the plan. He said the path of least resistance for most developers today was to build in downtown areas, and that Eugene was healthy downtown. He pointed out that the plan would require no money from the General Fund. e 7/11/77--3 5 Lf J.f