CC Minutes - 07/21/08 Public Hearing

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money in from out of town. Mr. Hauser pointed out the arena would depend on alternative modes of transportation and would be another LEED-certified building. On behalf of the chamber, he supported the project and urged the City Council to continue to be a collaborative partner with the UO and act in a timely manner. Mayor Piercy then called on those who were neutral in regard to the application. Art Paz , 86950 Cedar Flat Road, suggested the council consider the public realm and the need to preserve an interface between the building and the general public. He believed that the public realm in any great city is a dedication to the public in a way that serves all the public. He recalled the public input associated with the Franklin Boulevard project and asserted that the public had difficulty in finding out how the UO planned to preserve the infrastructure between the arena and the boulevard. He called on the council to hold a workshop to find out how that could occur. Jay Purcell , 1648 Orchard Alley, suggested the southern portion of the alley proposed for vacation should remain th open for fire, pedestrian, and bicycle access. In regard to 13 Avenue, he questioned whether the design in place was sufficiently solid to justify giving up the public right-of-way and the City’s ability to restore it to the way it was when Williams Bakery used it for truck ingress and egress. He thought the alley vacation should occur after the CUP was approved and a design was in place. Mr. Purcell “begged to differ” with those who praised the recent Olympic Trails as many business owners said they were not affected or did not have any business until late at night when the venue closed down. He speculated the same thing would occur with the arena. Mr. Purcell did not think that the EmX bus line could be likened to the transit used to get fans to football games. He said the park and ride facilities worked but there was overflow in south Eugene. Councilor Poling left the meeting. th Peter Graycroft , 19 and Orchard, thought the arena would be built and planned to use it, but was concerned there was no master plan in place for the area in question. He suggested that the City could consider Ohio State as a model to consider for what would probably happen in the area. He thought the arena would happen because it needed to, but also thought the neighborhood was correct to use the issue of the alley to raise the issue of public interest. His major concern was parking. He thought the UO wanted excellence in this arena as in all things. Mr. Graycroft said the UO needed to work on its relationship with the neighborhood and the City should use its authority to impose conditions that satisfied the neighborhood and addressed his concerns regarding the lack of a master plan. He said the UO needed to invest in structured parking, and the needs of neighbors in light of their different locations. Shelly Robertson , a Fairmount resident speaking on behalf of the Fairmount Neighborhood Arena Committee, asked that the record remain open for sufficient time to allow for traffic access and circulation studies to be done and submitted into the record. th Judy Horstman , 1835 East 28 Avenue, thought the arena would be of tremendous community benefit and for that reason the arena would be in the public benefit. However, she wanted the council to condition the vacation by stipulating the money the UO paid for the vacation would be used to mitigate any negative impacts that the arena created for the neighborhood. Mayor Piercy then called on those who were opposed to the vacations being proposed. Misha Seymour , 1313 Lincoln Street, #307, disagreed with testimony that the UO wanted to work with the community because of past actions taken by the UO in regard to UO-owned housing. He speculated that many UO MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 21, 2008 Page 12 Public Hearing