UNIVERSITY OF OREGON <br />NORTH CAMPUS <br />CONDITIONAL USE & WILLAMETTE GREENWAY PERMIT APPLICATION <br /> <br />From 1975 to 1990, the university leased the Western Parcel to EWEB for use as outdoor storage <br />of power poles, water pipe, cable reels, transformers, and trailers. The property became known as <br />34 <br />the Åpole yard property.Æ By 1987, all Eugene Sand and Gravel buildings had been demolished. <br />In the early 1970Ès, the university removed the asphalt plant on the North of Railroad Tracks <br />Parcel. Fill materials began to appear on the property with some vegetative regrowth, and the <br />35 <br />footbridge across the river was also built by this time. In 1978, the university developed a plan to <br />36 <br />use most of the land north of the tracks for recreational fields. Shortly after, the Riverfront Fields <br />were constructed using student funds. By the mid-1980Ès, the land was covered with vegetation <br />37 <br />and the university had built the bike path. <br />In 1983, the university and City of Eugene identified the current North Campus area as a potential <br />site for a possible private/public joint venture development, emphasizing research facilities, which <br />may be complemented by University programs. This led to joint City-University planning efforts for <br />a research park (called the Riverfront Research Park) that included: the CityÈs adoption ofthe <br />Riverfront Park Study (1985); the CityÈs adoption of a special zoning district to guide development <br />of the research park, the Riverfront Park Special Area (S-RP) Zone (1987); and the CityÈs approval <br />of a Conditional Use Permit for the entire zone, establishing a 20-year timeline for the proposed <br />development. The planning process for the Riverfront Research Park was contentious, and all of <br />the previously described efforts were appealed to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA). <br />38 <br />While LUBA ruled in favor of the City of Eugene in each case (in 1986, 1987, and 1989, <br />respectively), implementation of the Riverfront Research Park continued to be met with resistance <br />by community members. This includedan appeal to LUBA for a request to extend the Conditional <br />Use Permit timeline for 3 years (to 2012), in which LUBA ruled in favor of the City, and an effort to <br />stop the Oregon Research Institute building from being built north of the railroad tracks (on the <br />Western Parcel). Under the now-expired Conditional Use Permit, the university built three <br />buildings through public-private ventures that are part of the Riverfront Research Park today. <br />These buildings are all located on the Silva Parcel. <br />In 2013, the neighboring EWEB property (immediately to the west) was master planned and <br />rezoned to the Downtown Riverfront Special Area Zone(S-DR) to facilitate commercial and <br />residential development and to enhance the connection between downtown and the Willamette <br />River. In 2010, the City of Eugene rezoned much of the area immediately south of the North <br />Campus area to the Walnut Station Special Area Zone (S-WS) for the purpose of facilitating <br />compatible infill, higher density living opportunities, and mixed use development, implementing the <br />vision of the Walnut Station Specific Area Plan. <br />Today, the area south of the railroad tracks includes: the central power station and chiller plant; <br />warehouses, storage areas and administrative buildings that are part of the operations of campus; <br />university research facilities; fine arts studios; the Urban Farm; a public bike path along the <br />Millrace; the developed portion of the Riverfront Research Park; and surface parking lots related to <br />the uses and for general campus. North of the railroad tracks contains the Ruth Bascom bike <br /> <br />34 <br /> L.R. Squier Associates, ÅEnvironmental Site Assessment, Western Parcel,Æ 5. <br />35 <br /> L.R. Squier Associates, ÅEnvironmental Site Assessment, Parcel North of the Railroad Tracks,Æ 5. <br />36 <br /> Lawrence and Bettman, 50. <br />37 <br /> L.R. Squier Associates, ÅEnvironmental Site Assessment, Parcel North of the Railroad Tracks,Æ 5. <br />38 <br /> Stotter vs. City of Eugene, October 10, 1989. <br />Cameron McCarthy FINAL SUBMITTAL | June 22, 2018 36 <br /> <br />