After a five-month application process, the University has officially received the conditional use permit it was required to obtain before beginning construction on the proposed $200 million basketball arena.
Receiving this permit puts the University – which has spent years planning the massive project amidst unexpected delays and local opposition – just weeks away from breaking ground on the site at the corner of Franklin Boulevard and 13th Avenue.
“We’re really pleased,” University General Counsel Melinda Grier, the arena spokesperson, said Thursday. “The ability to go forward without an appeal, for us, seems to underscore all the hard work the U of O and the community have done to make sure that the effects are mitigated.”
City hearings official Anne Corcoran Briggs officially approved the application Nov. 6, but could not grant the permit without giving community members 12 days to appeal the decision.
Because no appeal was filed, the University can now apply for a building permit, which is the last step before it can break ground on the site.
University President Dave Frohnmayer said shorty after the arena’s conditional use permit was approved that he hopes to begin initial excavation before Christmas so that the arena will be completed by its scheduled fall 2010 opening date.
“Some excavation can and should take place while the weather is still dependable,” Frohnmayer said.
The conditional use permit application process postponed the arena construction timetable by more than a month because the University was not initially required to obtain the permit, Frohnmayer said.
The University was thrown the surprise hurdle last June when concerned neighbors urged the city to require that it obtain the permit before building.
“The conditional use permit was not the only way to get (the neighbors’ concerns) addressed, but it gave them a higher level of comfort because it required them to be addressed,” City Planning Director Lisa Gardner said.
After a five-month application process, the University has officially received the conditional use permit it was required to obtain before beginning construction on the proposed $200 million basketball arena.
Receiving this permit puts the University – which has spent years planning the massive project amidst unexpected delays and local opposition – just weeks away from breaking ground on the site at the corner of Franklin Boulevard and 13th Avenue.
“We’re really pleased,” University General Counsel Melinda Grier, the arena spokesperson, said Thursday. “The ability to go forward without an appeal, for us, seems to underscore all the hard work the U of O and the community have done to make sure that the effects are mitigated.”
City hearings official Anne Corcoran Briggs officially approved the application Nov. 6, but could not grant the permit without giving community members 12 days to appeal the decision.
Because no appeal was filed, the University can now apply for a building permit, which is the last step before it can break ground on the site.
University President Dave Frohnmayer said shorty after the arena’s conditional use permit was approved that he hopes to begin initial excavation before Christmas so that the arena will be completed by its scheduled fall 2010 opening date.
“Some excavation can and should take place while the weather is still dependable,” Frohnmayer said.
The conditional use permit application process postponed the arena construction timetable by more than a month because the University was not initially required to obtain the permit, Frohnmayer said.
The University was thrown the surprise hurdle last June when concerned neighbors urged the city to require that it obtain the permit before building.
“The conditional use permit was not the only way to get (the neighbors’ concerns) addressed, but it gave them a higher level of comfort because it required them to be addressed,” City Planning Director Lisa Gardner said.
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