From: <br />Karen A Lawrence <br />To: <br />Eugene RR -SC Plan <br />Subject: <br />Comments on development on River Road for joint public hearing on the plan on Tuesday, March 12th <br />Date: <br />Tuesday, March 12, 2024 5:42:05 PM <br />[You don't often get email from karenla@uoregon.edu. Learn why this is important at <br />https://aka.ms/LeamAboutSenderldentification ] <br />[EXTERNAL ] <br />Comments on Housing Development on River Road, Eugene March 12, <br />2024 <br />To the Eugene City Council and the Lane County Commissioners: <br />Ten years ago I began volunteering with the Santa Clara/River Road <br />Implementation and Planning Team (SCRRIPT), working on land use issues <br />in our area. Over the years, the team held many neighborhood meetings in <br />people's homes, at North Eugene Auditorium and in church meeting rooms, <br />asking neighbors' opinions about the problems in our area and how they <br />wanted River Road/Santa Clara to be developed in the future. Both <br />individual neighbors and businesses on River Road were invited to <br />participate on a voluntary basis. <br />Using opinions gathered from the meetings with River Road/Santa Clara <br />neighbors over many years, the design of our original corridor plan had <br />far more detailed (lot specific) work on increased density, improved <br />commercial business locations, transitions between intensity of uses, <br />and incorporated planning for future transit along the corridor and <br />major arterials. Since the change in state mandates, we are left with <br />only the code changes suggested for adoption by staff. <br />We have worked with staff and our neighbors in good faith for almost 7 <br />years and we need these small code changes to move us toward the vision <br />expressed by the people who live and work in the River Road/Santa Clara <br />area. <br />I want to express my opinion that existing C-2 lots along the corridor <br />need to be designed to accommodate the vision expressed for years by the <br />people who live in River Road/Santa Clara: The best case scenario will <br />only be met by reducing building height in C-2 from 120 feet to 65 feet <br />tall, adding design standards, and prohibiting new auto -oriented uses. <br />Buildings limited to 65 feet with a requirement for ground floor <br />commercial in C-2 zoned areas where multi -story housing is built are <br />particularly important for two reasons: <br />1. The thousands of new residents who will live in these buildings will <br />need services — grocery stores, doctors, small businesses, etc. 65 <br />foot buildings with ground floor commercial services is the only <br />feasible solution to ameliorating the massive influx of cars on River <br />Road and Beltline. The massive influx of traffic on the only two <br />arterials in our area, River Road and Beltline, can be abated if people <br />shop locally and use local services. <br />13 <br />