08/03/1987 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

.- policies. He said it was not known when emergency access would be acquired, and alternatives did exist, such as using property off of Glenwood Boulevard e on either side of 22nd Avenue. He said 22nd Avenue was too narrow and should be expanded, widened, and straightened out to solve the emergency access problem, as well as providing better access to everyone. He said applicants wanted to cooperate, but bicycle and pedestrian access on Henderson would defeat the purpose of the vacation application, putting people through the middle of an industrial operation. He said applicants would prefer to work on a solution rather than to be denied, but he said they now were under a deadline. He asked the council for resolution of policies and for granting of the vacation request. He also requested that he be allowed rebuttal. Margaret Marino, 3825 East 21st Avenue, spoke in opposition to the request. She said Jamie May and she had begun the Glenwood Community Organization in response to the closure of Henderson Avenue. She said the organization was a vital part of the area. Ms. Marino said she had served on the committee that had worked on Phase I of the refinement plan, and that group had considered many alternatives to Henderson Avenue for secondary emergency access or pedestrian access. She said the group had attempted to identify a solution that would be good for everyone, but every other alternative had been far more expensive than opening Henderson Avenue for limited access. She said the group had held several long meetings and had consulted many experts, and it had concluded that the vacation of Henderson Avenue prior to solving emergency and pedestrian access problems would be premature. Ms. Marino noted that Farwest Steel and Pape Cat employed hundreds of workers, none of whom would gain pedestrian or bus access to jobs in the area. She said the proposed expansion would result in even more employees being forced to e drive into the area, which then would have only one narrow, dangerous access. She said she wanted to emphasize that the area had only one access, with no pedestrian access. She said the vacation would separate neighbors, who now were part of a strong community. Ms. Marino said she thought decisions made so far had been "biased to the extreme" on the part of i ndustri a 1 concerns. She said residents were not oppo sed to industrial interests, but she cha racteri zed the vacation as eliminating industrial interests other than Farwest Steel because of the lack of a secondary emergency access. She added that she thought the City might be held liable for the lack of access, and that should be considered. Ms. Marino said the Public Utility Commission had not closed the intersection because it was unsafe, but it had been closed because Farwest Steel had wanted to put in a spur line. She said she was tired of fighting over the same issue repeatedly, and she hoped the council understood the residents' position and emotions over the situation. Jamie May, 2009 Seneca, said she had received her notification of the vacation request today at 1:30 p.m. She said every resident of the southern part of the neighborhood who had been asked had signed the petition she briefly drafted and circulated. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 3, 1987 Page 5