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CC Minutes - 03/13/06 Meeting
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CC Minutes - 03/13/06 Meeting
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City Council Minutes
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3/13/2006
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showed that its customer base was regional and not just people in the downtown area. He suggested that a <br />farmers’ market would be a better alternative. <br /> <br />Mr. Rabinowitz opined that the site of the former Sears building indicated that City planning was incompe- <br />tent. <br /> <br />Doug Black <br />, 4645 West Hillside Drive, said he was part of the group from the Eugene Permaculture Guild <br />that organized the Richard Heinberg event. He related that Professor Heinberg predicted a phenomenally <br />constrained economy of necessary food supply and manufacturing within the decade. He asserted that <br />Whole Foods Grocery’s expensive, contracted interstate-reliant form of product transport would have to be <br />overtaken by local systems of food transport. He referred to a study by Robert Hirsch that suggested that <br />the United States needed 20 years to plan for upcoming impacts of an “energy-constrained economy.” He <br />averred that the country had less than five years to do so. He said his household shopped at Sundance <br />Natural Foods store and Growers Market Food Co-op and had no shortage of “specially ordered supplies.” <br />He alleged that these locally owned stores ordered from locally owned food growers and grocery suppliers as <br />a point of business ethics. He noted that the members of the Permaculture Guild gathered “several hundred <br />signatures” on petitions that asked the City of Eugene to address “peak oil.” He asked where the response <br />was and who was setting the agenda relative to that topic. <br /> <br />th <br />Gavin McComas <br />, 1350 East 25 Avenue, acknowledged that the Whole Foods Grocery was more <br />progressive than other “big box chain stores.” He saw the appeal the “corporation” had to the idealism of <br />natural foods customers. He asserted that the store’s good deeds did not erase the damage it did to local <br />businesses. He said if it were Walmart asking for help from the City, the City would not give it. He averred <br />that like Walmart, Whole Foods Grocery took money out of the local economy and put it into the pockets of <br />stockholders. It uses a centralized purchasing, distribution, and management to lower its cost of doing <br />business. He alleged that Whole Foods Grocery would dismantle “local food webs” by buying their produce <br />cheaply from factory farms and only supported local farmers as a last resort. He predicted that Whole <br />Foods would help erode the individual character of Eugene, and would make it less attractive to tourists and <br />potential job-producing businesses. He said like Wal-mart, Whole Foods would only be successful at the <br />expense of local businesses. He did not think Whole Foods needed financial help from the City. <br /> <br />Kaz Oveissi <br />, 361 Sunset Drive, advocated for downtown development and had done so for many years. He <br />stated that he owned and operated four businesses in the downtown area. He said for the first time in all of <br />the years he had lived in Eugene he saw great possibilities and opportunities to transform the downtown <br />because of both the East Broadway and West Broadway projects. He averred that the City deserved a <br />livable downtown with dense, high-quality housing, movie theaters, restaurants, and a mix of national and <br />local businesses. He wanted the downtown to be free of drugs, crime and vandalism. He felt the City had <br />done its homework and the opportunity had arrived to produce the necessary results. He urged the council <br />to take “effective action for a downtown that is real and works.” <br /> <br />John Rowell <br />, 1 East Broadway, spoke in support of the Whole Foods Grocery project as it was currently <br />proposed. He said it aligned with the City’s plan for the downtown which was a result of an open and <br />exhaustive public process. He felt that saying no to this project would send a message that Eugene was <br />incapable of following its own plan. He thought it would be a terrible message to anyone who was about to <br />invest in downtown Eugene. He asserted that the Whole Foods Grocery had a positive identity that fit the <br />goals of the Mayor’s Sustainable Business Initiative and that the project was an important contribution to <br />the city’s health. He predicted that the grocery anchor would make other development more attractive and <br />would help business and not hurt it. He said downtown dwellers would finally have a supermarket, and the <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council -- March 13, 2006 Page 14 <br /> City Council Meeting <br /> <br />
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