Goodbye, Willamette River Greenway? <br />I love the Ruth Bascom Riverbank Trail System. I use it almost every day to take walks with my <br />son and dog. We love that where we live - next to the West Bank section of the Trail System - <br />much of the trail is surfounded by the Willamette River Greenway, a mix of city parkland and <br />open spaces. <br />Though houses and businesses are not far away, the Greenway provides a beautiful, calming <br />buffer adjacent to the trails. The Greenway is a refuge for plants, animals, and human beings <br />alike. It contains both forest and open fields, full of stands of wild. fennel and sweet pea vines, <br />and features frequent overhead scolding from chickadees and rarer, showier flashes of migrating <br />tanagers and waxwings. <br />This land is now under threat. <br />A partnership between local residents and out-of-state developers is planning to build the first <br />residential development next to city parkland on this side of the river since the Oregon <br />Legislature passed the Willamette River Greenway Act in 1973. The proposed site is a meadow, <br />right at the end of my one-block, dead-end street, Oakleigh Lane. In the usual ironic way of <br />housing developments, those promoting it have named the development after the natural space it <br />will replace with paving and condos: Oakleigh Meadow Cohousing. <br />Oakleigh Meadow Cohousing (OMC) will include a large number of buildings housing 28 1-, 2-, <br />and 4-bedroom condominiums. There will be nearly 50 parking spaces in 2 large garages. All of <br />this will be visible from the Riverbank Trail. <br />Bad enough, for most of us in the area. (16 of the 18 homes on Oakleigh are fighting the <br />development; the 2 others have not yet voiced an opinion.) <br />But much more importantly, OMC sets a chilling precedent, opening the door for further <br />development of privately owned land in the Greenway. If you enjoy walking, running, or biking <br />the trails along the Willamette, consider that soon enough your views may no longer be of trees <br />and fields, but of multiple housing or commercial developments. Are these the views you want? <br />The Willamette River Greenway was created to protect open space, scenic views, native <br />vegetation, and public access. OMC threatens our city's space, views, and plants. It will take . <br />away habitat and beauty in Oakleigh Meadow. It could lead to the loss of much, much more <br />space, views, and vegetation elsewhere in the Greenway. If the Eugene Planning Department <br />approves OMC, it might approve any number of additional developments. <br />The OMC's application for a permit for site development is up for approval at a public hearing at <br />the Planning Department on October 2. The residents of Oakleigh Lane and McClure Lane (the <br />bordering streets) urge Eugene residents and Riverbank path users to send city planners an email <br />registering your opposition to this project and to tell city officials you don't approve of using our <br />