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February 23, 2004 Eugene City Council c/o Allen Lowe City of Eugene Planning Division 99 West 10th Avenue Eugene, OR 97401 RE: The East Campus Lands Land Use Applications Amendments (MA 03-7, RA 03-5, CA 03-5) Dear Council Members: I am submitting the following on behalf of the Fairmount Neighborhood East Campus Committee. As both Co-Chair of the Fairmount Neighborhood Association ("FNA") and chair of the FNA East Campus Committee ("Committee"), I would like to extend my appreciation to city staff, university representatives, the planning commission, and fellow neighbors for all their efforts regarding this process. As we near the dose of this process, I am reminded of how far we have come and how far we must still go to achieve agreement. The comments provided here are intended to clarify remaining issues regarding the University's land use application. Mitigating the Impacts of Density: From a broad perspective, densification of land use within the city limits of Eugene to accommodate future development and population growth is a goal the FNA supports. However, nothing in life is free. As densification occurs, challenges will arise between development and neighborhoods as the City transforms itself. Change is not, by definition, a bad outcome. It is how the city guides the change that will determine the vitality of Eugene's future. Will it fail due to neglect or thrive through proactive management of land use changes within the City? Proactive management will require investment on behalf of the city to mitigate the impact of densification on residential neighborhoods and to protect the health and safety of its citizens. Traffic: One major area of mitigation is traffic. As the city enhances land use and density, more traffic conflict will occur as increasing automobile and pedestrian traffic compete for access to a geographically limited transportation system. MetroPlan policies require that the City mitigate the impact of increased density and funding will be required to implement traffic calming measures to protect neighborhoods. The alternative is sprawl, which will require more roads and more maintenance. Unless the city is willing to allocate funding for traffic mitigation, proposals to increase density should be rejected - otherwise the city is not following MetroPlan policies and transferring the impact of density directly on the immediate and surrounding · neighborhoodst. Applicable MetroPlan policies have been discussed by the Committee and are in the existing record. City Council Agenda page 257