Item 8: Ordinance Establishing Chambers Special Area Zone

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LOWE Allen 0 From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: Becky Riley [briley@efn.org] Wednesday, November 09, 2005 12:20 AM "Eugene Mayor and City Council LOWE Allen D Please support Chambers Special Area Zone November 8, 2005 City Councilors Mayor Kitty Piercy City of Eugene 777 Pearl Street Eugene, Oregon 97401 To Mayor piercy and Councilors: Next Monday, November 14th, you will be considering Land Use Code Amendments to implement the Chambers Special Area Zone. As a resident of the River Road neighborhood, I urge you to adopt those code amendments. Residents of our neighborhood, like those in the Chambers area, appreciate the existing character and ambience of our neighborhood--in our case, the larger lots, older homes, lovely old street trees, rural feel of the roads sans sidewalks, curb and gutter, etc. Some of us on the neighborhood association board have been supportive of the City's efforts to establish higher density mixed use centers in specific zones of our neighborhood. We understand the importance of accommodating higher density housing in our area, and other neighborhoods of the city, to prevent sprawl. And we understand the benefit of commercial centers in our neighborhood to reduce the need for residents to travel across tOWIl, thus reducing traffic problems. Finally, we welcome the idea of reviving a vibrant, attractive/ walkable "downtown" for our neighborhood--recognizing that this can form the very fabric of a livable neighborhood. We have worked to encourage neighborhood residents to see the benefits and to embrace the concept of mixed use centers/ too. Meantime, though, there is also increasing opposition to the new and infill development underway in many parts of our neighborhood. People resent the gobbling up of open space, and feel that the new streets and housing developments are clashing with the character of existing streets and homes. They say they want to move/ and/or put up "anti-annexation" signs in their yards in response. When our board first discussed and voted to support mixed use centers for our neighborhood, we had a frank discussion about people's fears about increasing density. There was unanimous agreement that density could be accommodated, but design standards and design review were essential. But there was also significant concern that current "one size fits all" City standards, as we are seeing them being implemented, are not sufficient to ensure development that is attractive and compatible with our neighborhood. The work the City has done with the residents of the Chambers area--to develop standards for accommodating density that IS compatible with THEIR neighborhood--has given me great hope. As our neighborhood moves into the first phase of working with City planners on a mixed use center for the south end of River Road, this is something I can point to and say "see, the City WILL work closely 1