08/03/1987 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mayor Obie suggested that Mr. Kahn contact a lawyer if he felt he had a legal claim. Mr. Kahn said he had spoken with a lawyer, and he had been told that e because of the way his previous claim had been filed, his court rights had been waived. Mr. Kahn said he wanted to make it clear that he was dying from the side effects of the accident. II. INTRODUCTION OF PUBLIC SERVICE OFFICER City Manager Micheal Gleason introduced Deborah Evans, the new Public Service Officer. III. PUBLIC HEARING: STREET VACATION REQUEST FOR PORTION OF HENDERSON AVENUE (DALE AND RUTH FISCHER) (SV 87-2) City Manager Micheal Gleason introduced the agenda item. Terry Jones of the Planning Department presented the staff report. She said the street vacation request being considered had a long hi story and was fairly complex and controversial. She noted that councilors had received copies of a letter, dated August 3, 1987, from Michael Farthing and of a Springfield News article published on August 1, 1987, about a planned expansion of a rebar firm. She said the request for vacation had been made by Dale and Ruth Fischer, owners of Farwest Steel, and would affect the portion of Henderson Avenue between 19th and 21st avenues in the Glenwood area. Ms. Jones said the street was crossed by Southern Pacific railroad tracks, and Henderson Avenue was closed to vehicular traffic at that crossing. She said that because Henderson Avenue is a Lane County road, applicants were required to complete vacation e procedures before both Lane County and the City of Eugene. Ms. Jones said the Lane County Board of Commissioners had considered the item, and in December had voted 4:0 to recommend approval of the request. She said commissioners also had asked to retain a full public utility easement in the right-of-way and emergency access across the railroad tracks. Ms. Jones distributed maps of the area. She said Henderson Avenue served about 70 acres in the southwestern portion of Glenwood, and until about 1980 it had provided the only access to the homes and industries in the area. She said access had been moved to 22nd Avenue when Glenwood Boulevard had been built, and the Public Utility Commission had closed Henderson Avenue. She said that decision had been controversial within the neighborhood. She said neighbors had complained about problems with the 22nd Avenue access; for example, that Henderson Avenue was the best access to the bus route on Franklin Boulevard and that because 22nd was steep and curvy, it sometimes is difficult to use in bad weather. Ms. Jones said Phase I of the Glenwood Refinement Plan had attempted to address transportation issues, including pedestrian and emergency vehicle access. She said a blockage of 22nd Avenue would mean that an entire area would be outside the reach of emergency vehicles, and policies in the plan were intended to address those concerns through long-term and short-term strategies. Short-term strategi es addressed potential improvements that could occur while the area still was residential, and the long-term strategy e MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 3, 1987 Page 2