Item 3A - Minutes Approval - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

many resources in Eugene to help homeless people. She added that she wanted Eugene to be a welcoming city and destination spot and wanted to see downtown revitalized. She asserted that people would not come downtown if they felt unsafe and uncomfortable. Drix Rixmann, 307.5 East 14th Avenue, announced he had a vision for Eugene and its future. He said the vision was comprised of the economy of Eugene being built on words. He cited several examples of his vision. Mark Robinowitz, 28549 Sutherlin Lane, reported that a legal challenge of Hood River's ban on excessively large stores had been unsuccessful. A town in Oregon had the legal right to challenge excessively large big boxes, in this particular case, Walmart, the largest vendor of"Made in China" products in the world. He stated that there was sentiment for similar action in Eugene to protect local businesses. He added that he was disturbed to recently learn that Home Depot was planning a second store at Seventh Avenue and Seneca Street. He opined that Home Depot had used false pretenses for approval its site review, in particular that the West Eugene Parkway would be completed by 2010, which he maintained the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) said was unlikely. He said the presence of the multi-national corporation located in an inappropriate location would create traffic problems. He added that ODOT was spending $1.7 million to study the West Eugene Parkway. Mr. Robinowitz averred that four years ago, the City of Eugene, Lane County, State of Oregon, and the federal government agreed that the "no build" alternative would be picked for the parkway, adding that if that decision had been implemented, the alternative to parkway would have been completed. Charles Tilt, 85581 South Willamette Street, opined he was one of the people David Helton said was predicting that the WOW Hall would be shut down by noise created by residential apartment complexes built in close proximity to the WOW Hall. He said his proposal for renovating the Ridenour Building on the tax lot adjacent to the WOW Hall intended to take advantage of the opportunity represented by WOW Hall customers on the sidewalk prior to, during and after shows. He reported he had financing in place for the purchase of the building, and he was offering $40,000 more than the current market value of the property to the City. He added that he had been assured by City staff that the tax lots could be sold individually, with the proceeds reverting to the CDBG fund for affordable housing elsewhere. Mr. Tilt said the building had been substantially updated in the 1990s, with new roof and sewer line, and could be further renovated. He added keeping the building in place would provide a buffer between the WOW Hall noise and activity, and any new apartment buildings that would be built on the remainder of the block. Keeping the Ridenour Building in place would keep a footprint that would be twice as large as the recently completed 54-unit Aurora Building. He believed the youth focused programming at the WOW Hall was an important cultural asset to Eugene that was at risk in building housing at the site. Kathy Ging, 2878 Harris Street, said she had spent four years working on using the Ridenour Building as a community resource. She said she had talked with many community members who felt the best interests of Eugene and WOW Hall would not be served by constructing a $13 million apartment building that would lead to shutting down the WOW Hall, a major venue for youth, one police citation at a time. She said it was a mistake to purchase the property and then specify maximum density housing in the Request for Proposals (RFP). She claimed the HPB often "rubberstamped" Allocation Subcommittee recommendations. Ms. Ging read from written comments from Douglas Beauchamp presented at the February 2, 2005, HPB meeting, that had been distributed to the council. She found numerous incongruities in the process and would provide more information in the future. She expressed concern that the scarce amount of CDBG funds should only be used for low-income persons and families with children, in light of anticipated CDBG cuts at the federal level. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 14, 2005 Page 3 Regular Session