03/22/1972 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

William ,Sweetland, .42 Ridgewood Diive,Eugene~' expressed confusion ,about how ap~l?lic hearing could be heldwheIl':ap'prov:al:forthILpr.opos.al,was given prior to the public hearing. ',F'i;'edMohr ".Prei:id~nt':,of.;the ..Eugene City Council, clarified this point .in stating that ,.no:,iction had been taken by any of the governing bodies to adopt. this plan. His,earlier statement had been that it would be possible for action to betaken by, the Council to adopt stich aresoluti6nat the close of this public hearing. Testimony is being heard on whether or not to approve or disapprove the plan, but at this time no motion had been ,made regarding adoption of the plan. :. Mr. Sweetland then stated that he is in the process of developing an industrial park on West 11th Avenue. He said this property is within the city limits of Eugene but he is paying high fees in order ,to have urba~ services and said that nobody is helping him pay for this,service. ' Therefore, Mr. Sweetland felt there is too much emphasis being put on getting public facilities' (and in preventing urban sprawl) whether you are in the urban service,are~ or not. He commented that he cannot help but feel that many of the aspects of the plan are very.socialistic. He thought there were bound to be problems because of the influence of certain people in "higher up" places 'and are trying to alter.their boundaries. His feeling was "the less government, the better" and said it bothered him as an American that such an effort has been put into something that is very socialistic. Melvin McDerman, 3625 South Willamette, said that hehad.lived.inEugene since "before.the parking meters." He could remember many things about, the way the city was many years ago and commented on the mall ,and new deve lopm~nts within the city. It was his feeling that the plan would not work and that it would cause an economic impact on the area. He believed that th~ corporate interest groups are not being heard from. He said that big business is very influential and did not feel that planners could prevent pollution of waters by big industry. He re- ferred to a book entitled "Politics of Ecology" which contains a page on a documentary about theWillamette River in Oregon., The urban growth and scatteration does not show a true political boundary be- cause the jurisdiction of the County Commissioners goes beyond this urban service boundary and are ,also involved in this city. He ,expressed his feeling that the boundary is very vague and felt that corporate and industrial interests should be included in the plan.. Mr. McDerman referred to people's constitutional rights and gave an example of new methods of sanitation are being required but the sanitation systems are as obsolete as the automobile engine. He would like for oil company people to speak in favor of this plan. Mr. McDerman spoke in opposition to controlled boundaries and questioned why "we couldn't have a little scatteration and go out and raise our own beans and cabbage?" . Esther Leong, Route 4, Box 306, Eugene, referred to the remarks, .made by Mr. Sweetland regarding paying for his services for .theindustrial park. She questioned who actually pays for these urban services.' Chairman Omlid commented that ultimately the consumer does;. if..a businessman is good he is not going to absorb all of ,theurban.service . cos,t,s. As for the taxpayer there are portions of the sewage ,treatment, . etc.} that is paid for by someone 'other than the person who is directly involved with this property. There are many ramifications otl).er than \vhat ,he was talking about in his individual property. - Mrs. Leong said the general concept of the urban service boundary is to control urban services so that the cost is not ,thrust on the property mmer. This is the aspect of the general plan which she admires most, even though she stated she may not totally agree with all parts of it. She felt it was an incredible indication of the wisdom on the part of the people in the cornmunitythat they could consider such a plan and she expressed hope that the plan would be adopted. Mrs; Leong felt that as we look forward to 1990 we can anticipate an increase in the cost of labor, etc., as well as scarcity and increase in cost of m&~erla15. She felt we can anticipate that all development will become mare and more difficult. It seemed to her that to provide for the needs of our city and without causing an incredible burden upon the 'taxpayeTs that we should limit and control the growth to the best of our ability and that the 1990 Plan would help to achieve this goal. . Roger> Soderstedt, Pleasant Hill, said that he is in the real estate business and it was his request that the 1990 Plan be given to a vote of the people. He stated that there are some good things in the plan and some things that need to be looked over and changed, but he did not feel it is fair to approve a plan that affects so many people until the people have a right to vote on it. 3(22(72 69