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suggested a subcommittee designated by the council check into Wal-Mart's statements in order to determine who to believe. Shana Stull, 4016 Josh Street, a member of the Eugene Citizens for Housing Standards, thanked the council for scheduling a work session on housing standards. She commented that support for the issue was growing in numbers daily and recommended the work session be held in a venue other than the McNutt Room to accommodate what could potentially be a large number of attendees. She underscored that the initiative could affect up to 54,000 citizens in Eugene. Sean Kelly, 1719 Best Lane, executive member of the Harlow Neighbors Association and the chair of the Willakenzie Action Committee, stated that the Parks and Open Spaces Division had concluded that the Willakenzie neighborhood was a high needs area for park space. He said that by acquiring the entire Willakenzie property for park space the City would help fill this need and preserve a piece of Eugene's educational and recreational history. He asserted that acquiring only part of the land and placing more people in the neighborhood represented the wrong direction for the neighborhood. He said the open space was used year-round by children's sports teams as well as neighbors, joggers, and people walking their dogs. He felt the neighborhood had been recklessly over-developed and needed all eight acres encompassed by the property. He noted that many other parks in Eugene were at least this large and asserted it was not out of line to have an eight-acre park. Sherle Hawley, 3484 Storey Boulevard, spoke in opposition to the reclassification of neighborhood streets to collectors. She remarked that the original name for Crest Drive and Storey Boulevard was the Old Lorane Highway and averred it had historical significance. She asserted the collector street plan would change the character, livability, and safety of the street by bringing more cars down to the street. She stated that ~to add insult to injury" the neighbors would be required to pay for a plan through assessments and a decrease in property values. She likened the collector plan for the area to ~putting a round peg in a square hole." She stressed that the only citizens that would benefit would be those who drove through the neighborhood and not the ones paying for it and that those people were largely made up of people coming from the County. She predicted that fixing the %ut-through" problem would be cheaper than changing the classification. She related that neighbors wanted slower traffic, safer roads, and walking and biking paths that fit the rural nature of the area. Terry Froemming, 2886 Bailey Lane, chair of the Harlow Neighbors, spoke regarding the Willakenzie school site. He likened it to a choice between much-needed parks and much-needed housing. He circulated two maps, the first from the 1988 Willakenzie Refinement Plan indicating the Harlow sub-area and the second map was from the same area several years ago. The first map still contained some larger expanses of green areas, but the second showed much less open space and much more development. He stressed that approximately 300 homes lay outside the one-half %locking standard" currently used by the Parks Division to define a served area. He said the consolidation of the two schools would have an impact on the amount of parks and open space. Howard Bonnett, 1835 East 28th Avenue, related his ~astonishment" that Councilor Nathanson had come out on the stage of the Hult Center for the Performing Arts accompanied by the new Cultural Services Division Director, Robb Hankin. He felt the stage had been used as a political venue and equal time and representation should be provided to other mayoral candidates. He suggested the City Manager be directed to find out the reason for this and to determine whether there was a policy on this. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 12, 2004 Page 7 Regular Meeting