Item B: South Willamette Concept Plan Update

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South Willamette Concept Plan 2. PLANNING AREA, HISTORY, AND CURRENT Planning Area The initial South Willamette study area was comprised of areas within one quarter mile walking distance of the existing edge of the commercial district between 24th and 29th Avenues. Through the public process and acknowledgement of natural geographic edges, the South Willamette district study area became focused on the area located generally from 23rd to 32nd Avenues on the north and south and from Amazon Parkway to the base of College Hill on the east and west. Public feedback, the goals of Envision Eugene regarding compact urban development, and areas where change is starting to occur due to market forces helped define the "area of effect" covered by the plan. History Three hundred and twenty acres of the South Willamette area was homesteaded by William and Elizabeth Breeding soon after Congress enacted the Donation Land Claim Act of late 1852. A hundred years ago, around the turn of the 20th century, most of the South Willamette area was composed of farmland and open pasture. Unlike today's dense, tree - filled urban environment, the area was open and grassy, with trees and shrubs only along the Amazon Creek channel and near fence rows and the few buildings that existed at the time. Several modes of travel were available at the turn of the twentieth century, including a system of foot paths, horses and horse drawn carriages and bicycles. Foot paths served the Crest area and valleys to the south as well as the start of the Lorane Highway, accessible from (29th) Avenue. Downtown Eugene and the South Willamette area are reported to have been accessible to one another via wood plank sidewalks or the College Hill Street Railway, a mule -drawn streetcar operated in Eugene from 1891 to 1900. Founded about 1899, the Eugene County Club, operated a nine hole golf course which covered the area between 24th & 28th Avenues and Willamette & Lawrence Streets, and had a clubhouse located on the west side of Willamette Street near 25th Avenue. Early on, Willamette Street was being touted as the "main business street" in Eugene running north and south to the location of 24th Avenue. Paving of the street downtown took place in the first decade of 1900. Streetcar service on Willamette Street included the College Hill Loop and was inaugurated in 1910 as the city's population rose to 9,009. Other infrastructure began to be installed with electric lighting in 1912 on downtown Willamette Street and in 1914 with nearly a mile of a four -inch water main on South Willamette Street reaching to the city limits, approximately 24th Avenue. Around 1915, the City Council passed a resolution requiring concrete sidewalks instead of wood and in the mid- 1920's additional paving on Willamette Street was completed from Hospital Road (20th Ave) to the city limits, still located near 24th Ave. The streetcar service ended in 1927 and buses took their place. According to Polk's Eugene City and Lane County Directory of 1918, the James S. and Julia E. Moore dairy farm was in operation on the south side of 29th Avenue about three blocks west of Willamette Street. The Eugene Floral Company operated a greenhouse at the northwest corner of Willamette and 25th Avenue and advertised use of the "College Crest Car" to encourage patronage. An early Sanborn Insurance Map confirms existence of residential and a few commercial buildings in the area, primarily on lots facing Willamette Street. 12 ■ City of Eugene