Virginia Gustafson-Lucker, Eugene Hearing Official <br />c/o Nick Gioello, Associate Planner <br />Planning Division <br />City of Eugene <br />99 West 10th Avenue <br />Eugene, Oregon 97401 <br />RE: Capital Hill PUD (PDT 17-1) <br />Dear Ms. Gustafson-Lucker: <br />Received in PLb!ic Hearing <br />Citv of Etioene Pianninq & Development <br />MAR 07 2013 <br />File 7D"1_1'7_1 <br />Exhir,it amp <br />We believe the built environment of a neighborhood can increase interactions between <br />neighbors and lead to a more supportive and friendly environment. The Capital Hill PUD <br />provides benefits to the community at-large, our neighbors, and Hendricks Park. We have lived <br />in the neighborhood for 34 years. We plan to continue living here and continue riding our bikes <br />to work and errands, as well as walking the Ribbon Trail. We raised our children here and hope <br />that others will be able to do the same. We live in this neighborhood and care about it. For this <br />reason, we are designing a project that is lower density and provides better environmental <br />protection that what an outside developer may offer. <br />A subdivision was approved by the City of Eugene in 1946 and two PUDs were later approved <br />in 1982 and 1983. However, these approved developments were never formally executed. This <br />housing proposal is part of an almost 75-year history of development proposals. Fourteen years <br />ago, we purchased and restored the house next to ours - "The Pink House", a Mission-style villa <br />built in 1916. We bought this land to encourage low-density development that was compatible <br />with the neighborhood. We annexed the remaining county land into the city in 2014 and <br />designed a PUD. The neighborhood meeting for that project was held in February 2014. We <br />received public input from that meeting and then took the next four years to incorporate ideas <br />from City of Eugene planning staff, our neighbors, and local community design specialists. We <br />held thirteen meetings and as a result of those discussions, the planning process yielded a <br />better design that meets the concerns of many who gave input. <br />The PUD provides benefits to our community at-large through providing desperately needed <br />housing in the Eugene area. It allows more residents to live near the park and enjoy the benefits <br />that we and our neighborhood have enjoyed for years. It also provides housing close to the <br />University of Oregon, which is anticipating more faculty hires and graduate students brought to <br />our community to work at the new Knight scientific campus. It maintains our urban growth <br />boundary by using infill to accommodate future growth, which protects against development <br />outside the growth boundary - ensuring that Oregon remains Oregon. <br />Those who live in the neighborhood and our future neighbors will benefit from improved fire <br />safety, as over 80 homes near the top of the hill don't have water pressure that meets current <br />fire department standards. We are dividing the cost of new pumps with the city which will <br />increase water pressure to existing and new homes. Moreover, we will be providing wider roads <br />that permit larger radius turns that will increase access for fire trucks. This will ensure fire trucks <br />can more easily access high-fuel areas of Hendricks Park in case of wildfire, as well as serve <br />residents through improved ingress and egress in case of emergency. We are repaving, <br />widening, and adding sidewalks and parking to the top of Capital Drive to increase safety and <br />livability. The new road we are constructing, Cupola Drive, will also have sidewalks. Both roads <br />