CC Minutes - 05/18/05 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Greenway was a priority but the plans for acquisition centered on natural resource and trail values. Mr. Pap6 asked Ms. Riner to provide staff input on the suggestion that the Santa Clara Elementary School site be developed for park usage. Ms. Riner said the site was too small for a full service community park, though it could be appropriate for a neighborhood park. She stated that the City already owned several acres for a community park near the school, however. She indicated that the use of the site as a stand-alone community center was not desired because of maintenance and operations costs and also in terms of goals for a community park. She reiterated that it was a high priority to bring park uses and users together in a single location instead of having one site for one use and another for a different use. She hoped one park could provide opportunities for people with diverse recreational interests to come together in one location. In response to another question from Mr. Pap6, Ms. Riner affirmed that economies of scale would be realized in a larger park both in development and in ongoing programming and maintenance. She under- scored the importance of coming up with an option that was the most efficient to operate. She cited the Amazon Park and Aquatic Center as an example of a large community park that worked well from an operations point of view. Mayor Piercy related that she had conversations with School District 4J representatives regarding the elementary school and they indicated there were public safety issues occurring there. She said the district believed the site had great potential for commercial development. She commented that as one thought about parks, one needed to think about how difficult "pocket parks" were for safety purposes in the community. She noted some of the major challenges existing parks already presented. Mayor Piercy conveyed her appreciation for the input from the neighborhood. She acknowledged that in addition to the people who spoke about farm land and traffic issues, there had also been a vocal minority that was supportive of the park because they believed it was something that would be wonderful for the future of the community. Ms. Bettman said no one objected to the placement of a park in that area. She reiterated that the issue lay in objections to the proposed housing and commercial developments. Regarding where the UGB should be expanded, she predicted that this Class 1 agricultural soil would be the least likely to be considered on its own merits to be brought into the UGB and developed. Ms. Bettman asserted that neighbors would not, as promised, be allowed to provide input into the design for the development of the properties should the land swap go through. She also averred that staff had indicated that no further transportation infrastructure would be needed in the area to meet the additional load the development would create. Ms. Solomon said she could not support a motion to cease all action. She believed this to be an opportunity to "kill a couple of birds with one stone." She felt the City still had the negotiating power to work toward a better deal. She asked staff to comment on whether the agreement could be modified. Ms. Riner stated that the deadline for this was in July and depending on what both parties agreed to do, the agreement would either lapse or be modified at that time. Ms. Ortiz called for the question. MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 18, 2005 Page 3 Work Session