CC Minutes - 12/01/03 Mtg - Laserfiche WebLink

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type of soil. He commented that the proposed UGB expansion seemed like a %lam-dunk" and implored the City Council to think carefully about it prior to making such a decision. Kate Perle, 4740 Wendover Street, stated that the McDougal Brother land swap for the Santa Clara park area was an ill-considered proposition. She asserted it was an example of sacrificing the security of an entire community for the %bscene gain of a few businessmen." She said the agricultural soils took millions of years to develop and were getting paved over at an ~alarming" rate. She alleged that farmers were being put farther afield without cognizance of the energy, resource, and time inputs it takes for food production on less fertile soils. She advocated for a conscious and deliberate plan to encourage development on poorer soils. She agreed that more park space was needed, but opposed development of more subdivisions, stating they %xacerbate the single-occupancy vehicle nightmare that is River Road today." Ms. Perle called this form of %prawl development" a net loss to the community while developers ~make off with a tidy sum." She asserted that infrastructure was paid for by the taxpayers. She felt, until livable communities were created, where home, work, and sustenance were all derived from proximate locations, the door to this sort of exception to the UGB rule should not be allowed. She noted that, during the %haping Eugene" planning series, there had been a clear mandate to develop more densely within the UGB. She remarked that the park may seem to come cheaply now, but the future costs of sprawl and the lack of suitable ground for growing food would make the project costly both now and for generations to come. David Monk, 3720 Emerald Street, spoke on behalf of the Toxics Right-to-Know program. He called it a mature program that recognized that toxics harm human health and that people had the right to know what they were being exposed to. Mr. Monk related that he served on the Toxics Board, calling it a model for many cities around the world. In his capacity as a member of that board, he had spoken to a representative of the Japanese government, accompanied by a representative of the %usiness side" of the board. He said he had met with a Rhodes scholar who was working with a citizens' group in Thailand and who had been impressed with the program. He felt the program was working well and had shown that some businesses, when aware of the toxic implications of the use of some substances, would choose to reduce the use of such substances. He cited Forrest Paint Company as an example of a company that had voluntarily reduced its toxic outputs. He asserted that public awareness led to greater advocacy for such reductions. Mr. Monk reported that the board, though split between the business interests, the right-to-know advocates, and one neutral party, maintained a cordial, cooperative working relationship. He said the decisions that came forth from the board were fairly balanced. He related that he and one other right-to-know advocate had voted against the exemption process that was on the agenda for the present meeting, and the three business advocates and two others had voted for it. He recommended approval of the exemption process as proposed and expressed hope that the council would accept it and recognize that the board had fulfilled its charge. Councilor Pap~ thanked Mr. Monk for all the time he spent on City affairs and called for comments from the council. MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 1, 2003 Page 2 Regular Meeting