04/11/1979 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 f....., "y / e. Manager noted Council could consider scheduling a Monday night public hearing of the issue, and based on testimony, determine what its position would be regarding this issue. He suggested Monday, May 14. He noted that quite a bit of staff time and cost would be incurred to get answers to many of the questions in this issue. } Mr. Long said Council needed to submit a statement of what its policy would be at this point. He noted it was a very complicated problem and he asked the Council to indicate to the Attorney's Office how strongly they feel about dealing with the issue. Mr. Delay requested staff response regarding the letters that had been distributed to Council, noting that none of the correspondence had been directly with the City. Jim Saul, Planner, noted distribution of a copy of a letter to Mr. Greenleaf dated December 13, 1978, with no response received to date. He also had indicated in his memo to Council that he did not believe the Greenway goal would be applicable. He had checked with both Portland and Salem, with indications from both cities that the Greenway goal would not be applicable on the river. - Mr. Delay asked for clarification of the exact status of the shoulder of the river, the property abutting the Greenway. He wondered where Eugene's ownership ended, where the County's ownership began, and what portion was public land. Mr. Saul responded there was a strip of property, whose boundaries were subject to debate, along the riverbank which Valley River Center had dedicated to Lane County. There was a later dedication by Valley River Center to the City of a larger parcel during the rezoning of property now being used by Montgomery Ward. He said it was clear that with respect to the boat operation, it is adjacent to the County-owned property. As part of the conveyance to the County, the Valley River Center retained a certain easement and they believe the jet boat operation to be w~thin that easement right. Regarding the pedestrian path, he said that was a dedicated pedestrian bike trail and was open to pu~lic use. The actual placement of the dock constituting a change of use is an arguable point. He said a change of use as defined by the Greenway goal includes many things, including substantial structures being added. To focus on the change of use in the Greenway goals would ce misleading. He felt the major concern to be the operation of the jet boats on the river. Mr. Delay expressed his concern that this could be the first case of many such cases in the next few years. He felt Council needed adequate informa- tion to deal with those issues in a public forum. Mr. Long said before his office would undertake a review, he would need an expression from the Council that it considers the issue important enough to expend the time and effort necessary. He said that effort would result in the Cityls taking a position, and then having to make arguments to sustain that position. Mr. Lieuallen felt the community was concerned about what was happening to the river, and noted there were probably different degrees of concern. He did feel it to be of sufficient concern that the Council try to find an access point to the problem. '. 4/11/79--11 2..22.