Item B: Parks, Recreation and Open Space Comprehensive Plan

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?A statistically valid community survey of 437 households ?A youth questionnaire completed by 647 high school and middle school youth ?A display at the Eugene Celebration, where residents completed 456 questionnaires ?Focus groups with Library, Recreation and Cultural Services (LRCS) staff, maintenance staff, recreation providers, and representatives from the Eugene business community and from cultural communities to identify needs and preferences ?A Speakers Bureau with 44 presentations to community groups and organizations. A total of 1085 community members attended, and 751 questionnaires were completed. ?A survey of organized sports providers, with 15 questionnaires returned ?Twelve stakeholder interviews with identified community leaders ?Public meetings of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee and Steering Committee ?A citywide community forum to brainstorm and identify key projects in each of the six planning sub- areas ?Community forums in each of the six planning sub-areas to review proposed strategies Updates on the progress of the PROS Comprehensive Plan have been given periodically to the council throughout the process. The most recent update was in December 2004. At that time, a draft plan was provided to the council for review. Since then, additional public involvement has been conducted and plan revisions have been made. The Planning Commission held a work session on October 10, 2005, and held a public hearing on October 11, 2005. Written testimony submitted to the Planning Commission is included with this AIS as Attachment B. Staff prepared written responses to the Planning Commission’s questions and to comments received during the public hearing. These staff responses are inlcuded as Attachment C. On November 8, 2005, the Planning Commission passed a motion recommending that the council approve the PROS Comprehensive Plan with seven amendments. The Planning Commission’s seven recommended amendments are attached to this AIS as Attachment D. Six of the seven Planning Commission’s recommended amendments are reflected in the PROS Comprehensive Plan that has been provided to the council (Exhibit B to Attachment A). The one Planning Commission recommendation that staff has not made to the PROS Comprehensive Plan is recommended amendment number 3. This recommended amendment proposes that following change be made to the PROS Comprehensive Plan: Amend the PROS Comprehensive Plan to include lands owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that were purchased with Land and Water Conservation Fund dollars, and are within the City limits contribute to the City’s open space system. These lands should be included in the PROS inventory of existing open space resources. Although inclusion of this acreage may show that the Natural Area Park target is met through year 2025, other policies may require additional acquisitions within this park type. While staff recognizes the intent of the Planning Commission’s recommended amendment is to be inclusive of all publicly-owned lands that significantly contribute to the recreation and open space opportunities in Eugene, inclusion of such land is not consistent with public sentiment. By including the 742 acres of property that is owned by the BLM and located inside Eugene’s UGB in the parks and open space inventory, a surplus of land within the natural area park category would be shown through the year L:\CMO\2005 Council Agendas\M051128\S051128B.doc