PUBLIC COMMENT - CARLEEN REILLY (3-7-17)

Carleen Reilly 395 Marion Ln. Eugene, OR 97404 March 7, 2016 Envision Eugene began in 2010 and changed my life. Former adversaries became allies, and knowledge about land use, housing, and transportation fleshed out empty phrases. In the process, I met neighbors with long- standing residency and new arrivals. With the culmination of work to expand the Urban Growth Boundary, excitement in our River Road and Santa Clara neighborhoods is mounting. We are grateful for the funding of our neighborhood planning and glad to have stable staffing for this effort. Santa Clara will acquire much needed park property for a community center. We are looking forward to melding land use and transportation. We are envisioning a neighborhood that includes 20-minute shopping areas. Increased density would help build community and allow us to support a commercial area with a natural food store, bakeries, coffee shops, bike sales and repair, and purchase basic goods and services. We also want that walk to be safe. Vision Zero is a welcome idea that we can strive for. This scenario will reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled, saving us gasoline and improve air quality by reducing emissions. Increased routes by LTD/EmX will help us build community, reduce VMT and air emissions, and provide us access to a larger commercial and employment area. Seven years is quite enough time to grasp the basic ideas of Envision Eugene, lay out housing needs and strategies, provide neighborhood parks, indicate industrial land for jobs for our new neighbors, and integrate everything with transportation options. The hang up seems to be around density. My preference is to utilize land within the UGB to build housing for new comers. Increased density along River Road will ensure our support for public transit, shops, and services. I prefer to protect our agricultural land by building more densely within the UGB.