Item B: Parks, Recreation and Open Space Comprehensive Plan

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;,-, ; ~; ENGINEERS PROJECT MANAGERS PLANNERS October 17, 2005 Eugene Planning Commission clo Eugene Planning Department 777 Pearl Street Eugene, OR 97401 Dear Planning Commission Members: As a land use planning consultant, I support and believe in land use planning. Growth in this area will continue to occur, and the key to managing this growth is to plan comprehensively for this growth; provide for adequate transportation~ housing, jobs, open space, etc. in a balanced way. I am very disappointed and concerned because, for reasons I will not identify here, the community has gone away from doing planning in a comprehensive manner. We have not been looking at all of the elements that must be provided for in a community. Long-range street! transportation needs, including bridges, sanitary sewers, stormwater treatment, potable water supply, electrical, open space, and parks are being looked at piece-meal (i.e., while ignoring the others). The community has been looking at only a single aspect one at a time and are, therefore, making judgments that this one aspect or element is more important than the other elements. In today's enviromnent oflimited tax dollars, all of the elements must be in balance, properly prioritized and, as the Mayor continues to correctly remind us, our planning efforts must be sustainable. The City of Eugene Parks, Recreation, & Open Space (PROS) Comprehensive Plan is the latest example of this type of disconnected planning. To add insult to injury, the use of the title "Comprehensive Plan" in the PROS plan is a misuse ofthe use ofthe word "comprehensive" and distorts how Oregon's Land Use Planning Law was intended to be used. Oregon Revised Statutes 197.015(3) defines "comprehensive plan". The definition reads as follows: "Comprehensive plan" means a generalized, coordinated land use map and policy statement of the governing body of a local government that interrelates all functional and natural systems and activities relating to the use of lands, including but not limited to sewer and water systems, transportation systems, educational facilities, recreational facilities, and natural resources and air and water quality management programs. "Comprehensive" means all-inclusive, both in terms of the geographic area covered and functional and natural activities and systems occurring in the area covered by the plan." VOlel 541 687.J08J fAX 541.345 659') WFB JRHWEl\ CO!vi 4765 VILl!\GE FI.AZA LOOP SUITf: 201 EUGENE OREGON 07401