Item B: Parks, Recreation and Open Space Comprehensive Plan

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10/11/05 The broader community supports plans to gain meaningful use of that portion of the Willamette River Greenway for bicyclist, recreationist, commuters, tourism, boaters, and naturalists. I support Chapter IV E-16, but language in Chapter IV 1-22 is counter-productive in reaching the goal of extending the Greenway Bicycle System. Placing a restriction of only addressing the matter when gravel operations have ceased, is not necessary; as there is a well utilized bike path along Eugene Sand & Gravers (directly across on the eastside of the Willamette River) southern property line without cause for concern. Delta Sand and Gravel could create a phase residential planned unit development (POD) without having to connect to the Greenway bike path system or could choose to privatize a trail system within the proposed POD. This is a pending reality being played out in the Timberline Hills PUD where connection to the City's Park and Recreation Open Space Ridgeline Trail system has been rebuffed by the developer. This is a metropolitan bikeway system and as such its input and development should be based on broad community input and not just primary stakeholder as referenced in the PROS Plan. Goal 5 implications and State Sensitive Species not adequately addressed by PROS plan. The needs of plants and animals have been subjugated to that of human needs and priorities. Performance tracking of "thriving natural areas" have not sufficiently been addressed by PROS Plan. Park type per population statistical information should not be used as a planning tool because the base assumption that there exists a uniform: population base; population density base; land-use base; geographic land-form base, is faulty. One example of this is, community park distribution should not run counter to City Council Planning Goals to manage growth by use of Nodal land-use distribution. To place a community park within a node zone that draws automobile traffic to the area by promoting itself as a regional sports complex, erodes the livability of a Node, and the overall likelihood success of the Node or the conceptual idea of Nodes as a way of dealing with growth by densification. I can not support a plan that further the notion that reclassification of a Neighborhood Park "Striker Field" to a Community Park without a public meeting notice in the City's Public Meetings calendar or Newspaper does not demonstrate open and transparent community involvement. To meet only with stakeholders in a "workshop" or neighbor home association is counter productive to city community planning efforts. All park Page 2 of3