BROWN Daren M <br />From:Michael Kuhn <mkuhn@uoregon.edu> <br />Sent:Monday, June 12, 2017 4:06 PM <br />To:GIOELLO Nick R <br />Subject:Capital Hill PUD <br />Mr. Giello, <br />I’m sure you’ve been hearing a lot from people in my neighborhood about the Capital Hill PUD: I’m sorry to add to <br />your inbox. However, I think it’s important for me to reach out given some very concerning unanswered questions <br />about the development. I live on Cresta de Ruta Street, just below Capital Drive. <br />First of all, I want to say that there’s is definitely a responsible way that the land at the top of the hill should be <br />developed. This is a convenient neighborhood for UO and a nice place to live. Development there should happen, <br />especially given the need for new housing. More development would also hopefully bring more attention to road <br />access issues in the neighborhood. I would be happy to see this happen. <br />There are a variety of reasons why the development, as proposed, makes me uncomfortable. Like I said, I’m sure <br />you’ve heard this before, so I want to keep things brief and clear, so I’ll just mention the two things that are the most <br />important in my mind. <br /> 1. First and foremost: the road access issues. Living on capital hill, I’m always aware of fire and landslide <br />risk. Half the homes on Cresta and Capital are on stilts that aren’t earthquake safe. The ice storm this December <br />closed off access to our house for a number of days. In a lot of ways, this is a risky place to live. Getting off the hill <br />quickly, or getting emergency vehicles up the hill quickly is a serious issue. The city cannot approve this project with <br />its fingers crossed about emergencies. Frankly, I doubt the adequacy of access given the existing neighborhood <br />capacity, much less with 40+ new families at the dead-end of a long, narrow, bumpy road. This says nothing about the <br />impact of construction on the neighborhood given the need for street parking in bad weather when driveways are too <br />steep to be used, and the lack of sidewalks. <br /> 2. Drainage. The hill collects a tremendous amount of water. There are places where after heavy rain, or <br />heavy watering of the property at the top of the hill, springs drain directly out of the hillside. The large trees help soak <br />up a lot of that, to prevent slides and erosion. Removing a lot of trees and the resulting canopy, as the proposal calls <br />for, brings more water to the ground with less capacity for absorption. The steep slope and very wet soil are already <br />problematic for landslide risk. New units on steep slopes, diverting more water straight into the hillside is genuinely <br />frightening as a homeowner in the neighborhood. <br />If the city and the developer have a convincing plan to deal with these issues: great. I really think our city and <br />neighborhood would all benefit from safe development at the top of Capital Hill. But as is, the plan is really scary for <br />me because it doesn’t take these issues seriously. <br />Sincere thanks for your time and attention, <br />Michael Kuhn, Ph.D. <br />Assistant Professor <br />Department of Economics <br />University of Oregon <br />1 <br /> <br />