CC Minutes - 03/11/02 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Tom Slocum, 1950 Graham Drive, cited the record of losses for the City on land use litigation. He said there were problems with City legal staff and the Planning Division and urged the council to do something about it. Michael Roberts, 1919 Meyers Road, urged the council to spend the City's money on fixing the land use code and not on an appeal of the Land Use Board of Appeals' decision. He stressed the importance of a land use code that could be used. Mary O'Brien, 3525 Gilham Road, spoke regarding the Natural Resources Study. She said the proposed change to Criterion 4 would mean that single-acre natural resources sites would have a hard time reaching significance. She said the proposed changes to criteria 5 and 6 were unnecessary because Criterion 8 already addressed the issue of whether a site served as wildlife habitat. She opined that no changes were needed to the criteria because none of the proposed changes would affect the current Goal 5 sites. She urged the council to keep the original criteria unless it consulted with Eugene citizens. Bob O'Brien, 3525 Gilham Road, urged the council to allow citizen input if changes were going to be made to the Natural Resources Study. He said the proposed changes were too significant to not involve the public. Jim Hale, 1715 Linnea Avenue, raised concern over moving Fire Engine 9 to Santa Clara and not replacing the engine at the Valley River Station. He urged the council to find a way to fully fund all stations and provide fire service to all parts of the city equally. Kevin Matthews, 31728 Owl Road, stressed the importance of quality of life in Eugene. Regarding the Toxics Right-to-Know Program, Mr. Matthews said that it required businesses in the community to be more responsible. Regarding the Natural Resources Study, Mr. Matthews urged the council to keep the original criteria and not allow any changes or to allow more public input before making the proposed changes. Councilor Bettman stressed that Eugene voters strongly endorsed the Toxics Right-to-Know Program. Regarding the perception that the City Council was anti-business, Councilor Bettman said the council had more issues to take into account than just the cost of doing business. She said the council considered the impacts to businesses in its decisions and added that, looking at the leadership of the Chamber of Commerce and the leadership of the HomeBuilders Association, an argument could be made that they were anti-City. Councilor Rayor said he appreciated the Chamber of Commerce testimony on the recent Land Use Board of Appeals decision regarding the Land Use Code Update. Councilor Kelly said that the City was only spending money on attorneys because the Chamber of Commerce and the HomeBuilders Association had decided to litigate. He expressed his regret that there could not have been more of a cooperative effort between those groups and City staff. Councilor Meisner thanked those who testified. MINUTES--Eugene City Council March 11, 2002 Page 2 Regular Session