Nov 28, 2023 <br />Eugene Planning Commissioners, <br />I am writing to you, as an independent resident of Santa Clara, in support of the River <br />Road/Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan. <br /> I have been heartily involved with all things Santa Clara for over 25 years. Although there has <br />been significant change in our area in regard to increased density and infill development for <br />primarily R-1 housing, we have not yet seen accompanying commercial development to meet <br />the daily needs of those residents. <br /> We have ample quantities of commercially zoned land but the development of those parcels <br />has, for the most part, been limited to uses that provide developers with a return on <br />investment but provide none of the day to day goods and services that our residents need to be <br />able to lead lives that don’t involve automotive traffic for every need. We have precious few <br />restaurants, one bar, no coffee shops, bakeries, small locally owned shops, and not one venue <br />that has pedestrian oriented outdoor seating of any kind. <br />I do not place the blame for this situation entirely at your feet, but I know that if we expect <br />“market forces” to bring us any change to this situation I’ll be long dead when it happens. <br />Current zoning code permits the use of commercially zoned lots along our corridor to be <br />developed with uses (like automotive lots and self-storage) that employ very few people and <br />require minimal investment by developers-that’s “market forces” at work. The outcome is that <br />redevelopment of these same lots will take much longer to happen all the while undermining <br />the community’s goals for greenhouse gas reduction. <br />Santa Clara already has 3 self-storage facilities tying up most of the commercially zoned land in <br />the northern half of our neighborhood. We have become the destination for other <br />neighborhoods’ excess belongings while depriving ourselves of any opportunity for <br />development that will create social capital, community cohesion, and increased neighborhood <br />resilience. It’s not just lamentable, it is the poorest use of these resources and we have the <br />opportunity to limit these poor choices with our neighborhood plan. <br />I implore you to look at the proffered code changes through the eyes of the residents that <br />created them. All of these items were the product of hundreds of residents sharing their <br />experiences of their neighborhood-precisely why it’s a neighborhood plan. <br />With thanks for your consideration, <br />Kate Perle <br />4