Item C - Laurel Hill Plan Diag. - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mayor Torrey and Eugene City Council December 1, 2004 Page 2 of 2 criticized a particular finding, does not show an understanding of this project and how it fits with the complex transportation cooperative agreement for the Glenwood Interchange. Commercial use of the property can occur before Brackenfern Road is constructed. The application materials explain the complex dance of what must occur before and when east bound traffic on Moon Mountain Drive is halted. Many of the public comments come from active members of neighborhood organizations, fearful that a decision here would lead to similar changes in their own neighborhoods. The reality is that an approval of the applications here will not have nearly the dramatic impact that they fear. Why? Because the standards in the Eugene Code for a plan designation change--whether through amending the Metro Plan or through amending a refinement plan--are very strict. It is not easy to amend a refinement plan, even if it is only to change what that plan has to say about a single parcel. Recall that staff has just informed you that a lot specific refinement plan amendment has been approved only 11 times in the past 10 years. That is not a flood. The fact is, and will remain, that most applications to amend the Metro Plan and/or area refinement plans to make a parcel specific change will be denied. Plan amendments are a rigorous process and will remain so for every neighborhood in Eugene. The fact that the standards are so rigorous and that the Planning Commission has recommended approval of these applications testifies to just how unique this property and its surrounding context is. Through much hard work, a willingness to compromise and seek creative solutions, and the sacrifice of development potential on an adjoining property, the Applicants have demonstrated to both the Planning Staff and to the Planning Commission that the proposal satisfies all of the demanding approval criteria. This property is uniquely unsuited for residential use. It is crisscrossed by high voltage power lines. It slopes towards the largest highway in Oregon, where one can see and hear car and truck traffic every minute of every day. It is located in an area where there are no sidewalks to connect the property to the other residential properties in the Laurel Hill Valley area. In short, it is unlike any other property in the Laurel Hill neighborhood and, I suspect, anywhere else in Eugene. What the applications before you do is seek to designate the property for potential uses that common sense says it should be used for. It is now your obligation to apply the same approval criteria that the Planning Commission applied to these applications. We believe that if you carefully review all of the application material and understand what is really being proposed here, you too will conclude that the proposal must be approved. Thank you for your consideration. Dan Terrell