Public Testimony (Opposition) - Laserfiche WebLink

Received We will be out of town the date of the March 7 public hearing regarding the above listed PUD. As we are unable to attend the meeting, we are sending you this letter to be entered into the public record prior to the hearing. Please send us confirmation that you have received and entered it. We live in the neighborhood that would be affected by the above PUD, strongly oppose it for many reasons, and cannot think of any positive reason for its approval. We live in this neighborhood because of the parks and natural areas, and approval of this development will have a permanent negative impact on it and our reasons for living here. The ridgeline south of Henricks Park is steep, and much of the proposed development area is unstable and unsafe for development. Removing the majority of trees, which hold soil in place, will increase erosion, creating additional instability and increasing the risk of landslides. And, building new houses in an area that is already unstable puts existing homes at risk of damage from landslides. Capital Drive is very narrow, with extremely limited space for parking and little leeway for, among other situations, emergency and construction vehicles, garbage collection, cars passing while traveling up or down the street, bicyclists, and people walking dogs. We enjoy walking to Hendricks Park on Capital, but with increased traffic caused by additional homes, and hugely disruptive construction traffic, walking this route would be unsafe and unpleasant. The possibility of a natural disaster occuring in the proposed development area, with emergency vehicles unable to access it with Capital Drive as the only access is very real. It is irresponsible for the city to approve this proposed development, knowing that disasters such as earthquakes, fire, and landslides, among others, are real possibilities. The Eugene Code protects our ridgeline land above 900 feet from overdevelopment and the South Hills Study expressly protects the city's evergreen view shed as a public asset. The developers plan to remove 80% of the large trees, directly going against both rulings, destroying the "protected" view shed of this iconic area of Eugene. Removing the large trees in the proposed development will also adversely affect Hendricks Park and the recently constructed Ribbon Trail by causing blow-down of adjacent trees, ruining the hiking experience (which the Parks and Recreation Department has so positively promoted and so many people enjoy), and negatively impacting the reasons so many Eugeneans and visitors use the trail. The proposed PUD is directly opposed to the recommendations of Eugene's South Hills Study and would destroy the beautiful view of the ridgeline and hills, which the Study advises protecting for the benefit of all Eugene. The PUD would have an adverse effect on Eugene's iconic Hendricks Park, a treasure for the entire city, by increasing traffic and noise in the surrounding area, reducing wildlife, and negatively impacting hikes on the Ribbon Trail. Please seriously consider the negative impacts on our neighborhood, Hendricks Park, and the Ribbon Trail and the reasoning behind the Eugene Code and The South Hills Study and do not approve this