February 9, 2021 <br />City of Eugene <br />Planning & Development Department <br />Planning Division <br />99 West 10th Avenue <br />Eugene, OR 97401 <br />Attn: Eugene Planning Commission <br />Re: 1400 Cross Street Metro Plan Amendment/Refinement Plan Amendment/Zone Change <br />(MA 21 RA 20-2 /Z 20-8) <br />Open Record Rebuttal Submittal from the Applicant, 1400 Cross Street, LLC <br />Dear Commissioners, <br />On behalf of the applicant, 1400 Cross Street, LLC, we hereby submit the following rebuttal material in <br />support of the subject application. This memo submittal by the Applicant will whittle down the list of issues <br />raised by neighbors during the open record period. <br />This post-hearing submittal addresses four issues: notification, traffic, neighborhood character, and <br />economic vitality of the Whiteaker Special Area Zone. <br />A. Traffic <br />Testimony from the neighbors stated their concerns regarding the traffic on Railroad Boulevard, how <br />the alignment in Railroad Boulevard impedes visibility, and the unmarked crosswalk on Railroad <br />Boulevard and North Polk that residents use to access the east-bound bus stop. Residents requested <br />that the City approve some combination of straightening the intersection and/or adding a traffic signal. <br />Converting an unsignalized intersection like Railroad Boulevard, to a signalized intersection is a city <br />decision. Even if an applicant offers to pay for the improvements, the city will not signalize an <br />intersection that does not meet the standard for needing one. If the intersections at Railroad, North <br />Polk and Cross Street needed a signal, and met the standards requiring one, the city would have <br />required these improvements in their Eugene 2035 Transportation System Plan. The 2035 <br />Transportation System Plan does not list any proposed projects on Railroad Boulevard within the next <br />20 years. If these proposed plan amendments and zone change applications caused the intersection <br />to meet standards for signalization, the staff report would have said so. <br />To mitigate the impact that development could have on Railroad Boulevard, the applicant has agreed <br />to a trip cap, which would limit the number of pm peak hour vehicle trips (the pm peak is the busiest <br />15-minute period between 4:15 PM and 6:15 PM) coming from the 1400 Cross Street site. The cap <br />reflects the site's current zoning - Light-Medium Industrial - and limits future trip generation to what <br />would be permitted currently. <br />In addition, should these application be approved, vehicle trips coming and going from the site <br />could very likely be spread out over a number of times during the day, not all concentrated at the <br />AM and PM peak that a single large industrial use would generate. Therefore, an argument could <br />be made that by allowing other uses besides industrial, transportation issues near the 1400 Cross <br />Street site could be reduced and the livability of this area increased. <br />B. Neighborhood Character <br />Per the Whiteaker Refinement Plan, the Site Review overlay was applied to mixed-use <br />properties to require clear design standards that ensure compatible reuse or redevelopment <br />of a site. The applicant requested that the Site Review overlay, which currently applies to <br />portions of the 1400 Cross Street facility, be applied to the entire development site. Along 50 <br />+ LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS + <br />PLANNERS LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIALISTS THE <br />375 West 4th, Suite 201, Eugene, OR 97401 <br />Phone: 541.686.4540 SATRE <br />www.satregroup.com GROUP <br />