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win-win situation. He thought more time was necessary for the City to build relationships with all of the people in the neighborhood so that they could be included in the process. He felt the design charrette held by the City was just the start. He suggested linking the street designation, either by ordinance or by council motion, to the design process. He also recommended adoption of the Crest Drive Neighborhood Association recommendation, encapsulated in Option 2. He was concerned that approval of the designation as arterial collectors would alienate all of the residents of the area. Susan Jason, 310 Crest Drive, related that her home had suffered a devastating house fire on September 16. She said no one was home at the time and quick-thinking neighbors had been able to let their dogs loose. She noted they ran into the street and were not hit by cars and attributed this to the street not being a collector, She stated that the damage was not as severe as it could have been because the Eugene Fire Department responded quickly, something she also conjectured could have been delayed had the road been redesignated a collector. She averred the potholes could be fixed without changing the road. Len Bailey, 2932 Friendly Street, called the neighborhood unique in its collection of winding roads, wildlife, and tall fir trees and "country lane feel." He thought this neighborhood caused City planners and traffic engineers to "virtually drool at the possibilities to make the neighborhood into some grand, 'eugeneric,' super-efficient, over-engineered system." He averred that building wider streets would bring more traffic. He reiterated the neighborhood's desire to calm the existing traffic and to avoid increasing it. He asked the council to cherish the neighborhood as those who resided there did. Donna Riddle, 1238 Crest Drive, said she lived on her five-acre parcel for 34 years. She related that the County had turned over maintenance of Crest Drive to the City approximately 15 years ago. She alleged that it had not been maintained since then. She noted she nearly fell in a pothole earlier in the day. She agreed with comments that suggested that the change in traffic lights at Willamette Street had increased traffic. James Reed, 990 Crest Drive, stated that the Public Works Department staff had assured the neighborhood that the same physical design would be implemented irrespective of the classification. With that in mind, he suggested a local designation would not interfere with the City's goals of connectivity. He felt that the risk with the collector designation was that the codified standards for neighborhood collectors were far in excess of what would be deemed acceptable. He noted that context-sensitive design had yet to be codified. He opined that the risks to livability far outweighed the benefits of connectivity that a collector would afford the neighborhood. Regarding current traffic, he agreed that more stop signs and traffic calming were needed. He likened using evidence that traffic existed on the roads already as justification for redesignation to deciding that, because people were throwing garbage in their yard that it would be a good place for a garbage dump. Robbin Howard, 3217 Whitten Drive, said she walked on the streets with her seven-year-old daughter and they loved their walks in the neighborhood. She commented that the City offered incentives to businesses to move to the City, but the other reason businesses located here was the livability the City had to offer. She asserted that designation as a collector could cause trees to be cut down, roads to be widened, and a reduction in the livability of the neighborhood. She thought everyone should think of themselves as public servants and should serve the public. She felt being attached to one wrong idea did not serve the public. She said she was honored by her neighbors' cooperation to work toward a common good. She supported Option 2. She noted that she had spoken to neighbors that, while opposed to redesignating the street, wanted the safety improved. She supported such improvements. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 25, 2004 Page 9 Regular Session