Item 2A - Minutes Approval - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mayor Leiken opened the public hearing for the Springfield City Council. Lauri Segel, 120 West Broadway, Eugene, spoke on behalf of 1,000 Friends of Oregon. She submitted written testimony for the record. Ms. Segel referred to the goal 3 and 4 policies and suggested there was inconsistency in the policy language. She cited Policy C-1 as an example, saying with within the policy statement there were relevant factors for determining what land would be considered for inclusion in the UGB. The factors included several factors such as ownership patterns and proximity to agricultural soils or current farm uses. Those factors were not reflected in State law or statute; she maintained there were statutes forbidding the metropolitan area from taking those factors into consideration. She cited Oregon Revised Statute 660.033.0030, which stated that Goal 3 attached no significance to ownership when determining a parcel was agricultural. She also found a Goal 4 inconsistency in that the policy language defined forests based on US Department of Agricultural soil ratings translated into productivity ratings and existing forest cover. She maintained that in State rules forest lands were those acknowledged to be forest lands. Robert Emmons, 40093 Little Fall Creek Road, Fall Creek, spoke to policies in Goal 5. He recommended the following amendment to existing Policy 25: "Springfield, Lane County, and Eugene shall consider downstream impacts for water quality when planning for urbanization, flood control, urban storm runoff, and recreational needs in near proximity to the Willamette and McKenzie rivers. He suggested that Policy 29 be changed to "The air, water, and land resource quality of the metropolitan area has not been assessed since adoption of the Metro Plan in 1982. Prior to the completion of the next Metro Plan update, the air, water, and land resource quality of the metropolitan area must be reassessed." Mr. Emmons disagreed with a contention in the plan that the Goal 5 wetland and riparian corridor requirements for the area between the UGB and plan boundary adequately addressed fish habitat, saying it was not substantiated and staff should be identifying how fish habitat was being protected. He believed the current Lane County riparian setbacks were inadequate to protect fish habitat. He recommended one tree length as the minimum distance needed. He called for the reconsideration and strengthening of the habitat conservation zone proposal. Jerry Rifler, 1865 Yolanda Avenue, Springfield, said he represented Oregon Communities for a Voice in Annexation. He indicated his organization's support for policies that required new development to pay for the cost of the capacity needed to serve it. He supported the inclusion of language regarding voluntary annexation and asked that the text be revised to include all unincorporated areas in the UGB, suggesting that to do otherwise was a violation of Oregon's equal protection clause. He said that those in the unincorporated areas were not interested in annexing to Springfield. He indicated strong support for citizen involvement but did not think the Metro Plan represented the public will as he believed it had little public involvement. Mr. Ritter submitted written testimony. Debra Jeffries, 3800 North Delta Highway, Eugene, said the map continued to portray her property incorrectly. She asked that the map be corrected. Ms. Jeffries commended Lane County for taking the Safe Harbor approach to wetlands protection as she believed it demonstrated economic responsibility. She said Eugene had budgeted considerable money for its effort and was not close to being done because of the inventory requirement. She asked the elected officials to pay attention to the economics of the issue. Ms. Jeffries asserted that the MPC process did not work for periodic review. She further asserted that the State did not require an inventory and evaluation of Goal 5 resources. She interpreted the intent and MINUTES--Joint Elected Officials February 10, 2004 Page 5 Lane County, Eugene, and Springfield