Ordinance No. 20545 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Draft 9/29/14 C. Environmental Resources Element The Environmental Resources Element addresses the natural assets and hazards in the metropolitan area. The assets include agricultural land, clean air and water, forest land, sand and gravel deposits, scenic areas, vegetation, wildlife, and wildlife habitat. The hazards include problems associated with floods, soils, and geology. The policies of this element emphasize reducing urban impacts on wetlands throughout the metropolitan area and planning for the natural assets and constraints on undeveloped lands on the urban fringe. Numerous local efforts reflect a positive attitude by the community toward the natural environment. For example, the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area has a long history of commitment to local programs directed toward problems of air and water quality. Examples of regional parks that provide significant public open space areas for metropolitan residents include Eugene’s Skinner Butte, Spencer Butte, Alton Baker, and Hendrick’s Parks and Whilamut Natural Area; Lane County’s Howard Buford Recreation Area (Mt. Pisgah); and Willamalane Park and Recreation District’s Clearwater Park, Eastgate Woodlands, and Dorris Ranch. Eugene has focused special planning efforts toward controlling development and maintaining the scenic and environmental assets in the South Hills of the city. A tax levy passed by Eugene voters is resulting in additions to the park and open space system in the metropolitan area. Lane County, Springfield, and Eugene all contribute to the local success of the Willamette River Greenway (Greenway) program. The natural environment adds to the livability of the metropolitan area. Local awareness and appreciation for nature and the need to provide a physically and psychologically healthy urban environment are reasons for promoting a compatible mix of nature and city. Urban areas provide a diversity of economic, social, and cultural opportunities. It is equally important to provide diversity in the natural environment of the city. With proper planning, it is possible to allow intense urban development on suitable land and still retain valuable islandsand corridors of open space. Open space may reflect a sensitive natural area, such as the floodway fringe, that is protected from development. Open space can also be a park, a golf course, a cemetery, a body of water, or an area left undeveloped within a private commercial or residential development. Agricultural and forested lands on the fringe of the urban area, in addition to their primary use, provide secondary scenic and open space values. Air and water resources are especially vital in an urban area. Internal and external factors contribute to problems associated with air quality and water quality and quantity, but techniques are available to help reduce these problems and make the environment more livable. The compact urban growth form concentrates urban development and activities, thus protecting valuable resource lands on the urban fringe. But concentrating development increases pressures for development within the urban growth boundary (UGB), making planning for open space and resource protection a critical concern within that boundary.11 Planning can ensure the coexistence of city and nature; one example is the Greenway. The Environmental Resources Element provides broad direction for maintaining and improving our natural urban environment. Other elements in the Metro Planthat provide more detail with particular 11 Metro Plan As explained in the Preface and Chapter I, Eugene, Springfield and Lane County are taking incremental steps to transition from a single “metropolitan UGB” to two separate UGBs, “the Eugene UGB” and “the Springfield UGB.” The general references to “the UGB” within this Environmental Resources Element of the Metro PlanMetro Plan shall be interpreted as applying to any UGB within the area, unless the text specifically refers to the metropolitan UGB, the Springfield UGB or the Eugene UGB. III-C-1