<br />BROWN Daren M <br />From:John Toner <jjt@uoregon.edu> <br />Sent:Wednesday, March 07, 2018 4:22 PM <br />To:GIOELLO Nick R <br />Subject:Additional comment on the Capital Hill PUD <br />DearMrGioello, <br />PleaseincludethisstatementinthepublicrecordforthisPUD,andconfirmtomethatyou'vedoneso. <br />IhavedoneanestimateofthescaleoftheproposedCapitalHillPUD. <br />Asatheoreticalphysicist,I'mexperiencedatdoingsuchestimates. <br />Theproposalisfor35housesonthesite.Eachofthemwillalmostcertainlyhaveabasement(thiswillbeneededfor <br />stabilityonthissteephillsidesite,aswellasfortheusualpurposes).Let'sassumeeachbasementis1080sqft(probably <br />anunderestimate,giventhatthesewillbeluxuryhomes,andhencequitelarge),and9feetdeep(again,probablyan <br />underestimate,giventhatspacewillbeneededbetweentheceilingofthebasementandthefloorofthehouse <br />above,andthatmanyofthehouseswillbebuiltonlotsthatarenotlevel).Thismeansavolumeofrockatleast120sq <br />yardstimes3yards=360cubicyardshastoberemovedforEACHhouse.Thus,justtolaythefoundationsofthe <br />proposed35houseswillrequiretheremovalof35times360=12,600cubicyardsofrock. <br />Theaveragecommercialdumptruckcancarrybetween10and14cubicyardsofmaterial.Forthesakeofround <br />numbers,let'suse12.6cubicyardsperdumptruck(notethatthisisactuallyonthehighsideofthejustquotedrange, <br />sowe'reagainprobablyunderestimatingthetotalnumberoftruckloads).Thismeans1000(onethousand!)tripsdown <br />oursteep,winding,narrowroadsbyfullyloadeddumptrucks.Incidentally,onecubicyardofrockweighsbetweentwo <br />andfourtons,soeachofthosetruckwillbecarryingbetween25and50tonsofrock,inadditiontotheweightofthe <br />ruckitself.Furthermore,eachtruckhastoreturnforitsnextloadofrock. <br />Sowe'retalkingabout2000tripsbyheavytrucks,halfofthemfullyloadeddownhilltrips,ontheseroads,justtoremove <br />therockexcavatedformakingthefoundations.AddinthetripsUPtheroadtobringinconcreteandasphaltfor <br />basementsandfoundations,andbuildingmaterials,andonecanseethatwe'retalkingaboutoforderatleast <br />10,000tripsbytrucksjusttobuildthehouses.Therisktopublicsafetyjustfortravelersontheseroads(whicharefullof <br />blind <br />curves)isobvious.Factorinthevirtualinevitabilityofofoneofthosethousandsofdownhilltripsencounteringan <br />emergencyvehicletryingtocomeupthehill(andwehavedocumentationfromthefiredepartmentthatfiretruckscan <br />NOTpasslargevehiclesdescendingtheseroads),andthethreattosafetygoesupevenmore. <br />InadditiontotheotherveryvalidobjectionsraisedbytheCapitalhillPUDresponsecommittee,thescaleoftheproject <br />alonearguesagainstit:it'ssimplyimpractical,andverydangerous,tomountaconstructionprojectofthisscaleina <br />neighborhoodwhoseroadaccessissopoor.Ifthecityisseriousaboutpublicsafety,itwillrejectthisPUD. <br />sincerely, <br />JohnToner <br />JohnToner <br />FellowoftheAmericanPhysicalSociety <br />ProfessorofPhysics <br />UniversityofOregon <br />1 <br /> <br />