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condominium buyers be consulted regarding the MUPT] !. He noted that the Budget Committee often struggled with small allocations and underwent a detailed prioritization while the City Council proposed a "$2 million allocation with relaxed abandon." He alleged the public benefit was to expedite development of land that was certain to be developed anyway. / ! Charles Biggs, 540 Antelope Way, wished to convey hi~ support for retention of the Low-Income Housing Dispersal Policy as written. He thought staff x~as likely going to propose dismantling it. He felt the policy seemed to have positive benefits. He assertecl that the reason staff was discussing this was because the planning process for acquiring land was not working. He alleged that the only land remaining for low-income housing was next to low-income housinl ;. He opined that this was a result of such housing lowering property values. He encouraged the council to expand the dispersal policy and not to abolish it. He said it was to the cormnunity's benefit to have low-i~ tcome housing dispersed throughout the City. Mort Ityman, 3863 Dorchester Lane, circulated a phot~ ~graph of the land that could potentially be developed in the McDougal land swap. He noted he als represented the SCCSPOS. He opposed the land swap because he felt it would hurt the neighborhood ant would not provide the park the area needed, due to a lack of funding for its development. He asked if th~: populace was willing to give up a portion of its ever-decreasing supply of Class 1 soils in order to provi ]e land for another residential development. He questioned the wisdom of allowing the urban growth bo andary (UGB) to be expanded to suit the purposes of one developer. He asked if allowing streets that were already overburdened by traffic to be further clogged would be prudent. He conveyed the committee's agreement that more parks were needed, but reiterated its opposition to this particular land swap. In closing, he stated that more than 800 signatures had been gathered on a petition to express this oppositk n. Mr. Hyman invited councilors to join the committee for one or more meetings of the SCCSPOS, held at 6 p.m. on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month at the Sa: ~ta Clara Grange Hall on Azalea Drive Clark Winston Cox, Jr., 1085 Patterson Street, Apartn lent 9, said his landlord was a partner to the developer of the proPosed MUPTE at 979 Patterson Str,,~et. He stated that the West University Neighbors had submitted a letter and he acknowledged that there ,a'as some opposition to the MUPTE mostly for reasons previously stated by Mr. Wolfe. He thought thc: development at 979 Patterson Street would result in higher quality housing stock than what exists in the a rea. He stated that the exemption for the new building would not raise anyone's tax bill as it would b~', taxed for ten years in its current existing capacity, i.e. a parking lot. He supported granting the 1~ [UPTE for the Patterson Street development. He wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving. Mariah Leavitt, 1458 West 10th Avenue, commended the City Council and especially Mayor Torrey for their commitment to listen to Santa Clara residents and for the proposal to conduct a survey. She considered the potential development of farmland to be important enough that the proposal should be rejected on that basis alone. She recalled that the prop¢ sal was to move 197 acres of land within the UGB in order to create 77 acres of park and 120 acres of dew :lopment. She stressed that farmland was an irreplaceable asset to the community. Ms. Leavitt noted that the Lane County Farmers Marke: grossed $1.27 million in 2002 and brought uncounted revenue gains to downtown businesses by at :racting customers to the downtown area on Saturdays and Tuesdays. She cited a study in Dane Col tnty, Wisconsin, that found the average farmers market customer spent $22.47 at other downtown area ! ~usinesses. She stated that such a market could not exist without farmers and the farmers could not farm w: thout quality farmland. She shared that she MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 22, 2004 Page 2 Regular Meeting