Opinions clashed at Wednesday’s Eugene City Hall meeting hearing regarding the long-debated fate of the University’s Riverfront Research Park on the south bank of the
Willamette River.
The debate surrounds the future construction of 79,800 square feet of new buildings by developer Trammel Crow Co. to house the Oregon Research Institute, along with other
research organizations.
Although the University reached the end of its 20-year lease on the building on Oct. 10, the University requested a three-year extension to its conditional land use permit from the city, which officially owns the property. This request was granted by the city on Nov. 20.
Connecting Eugene, a group of faculty, students and alumni opposed to the development plan, appealed this request on Dec. 28, leading to Wednesday night’s hearing.
More than 50 community members requested to speak at the packed public hearing, facing Jeff Litwak, city hearings official, who will determine the outcome by Feb. 4.
Those opposed to the development fear that the riverside buildings could have detrimental environmental effects on the surrounding area and believe community members should have a chance to contribute their views on the project.
Landscape architecture graduate students Christo Brehm and Rena Schlachter lead the group that aims to halt the University’s master plan and, essentially, the construction of Trammel Crow’s $17 million, nearly 80,000-square-foot building. Last fall, the pair drafted a substitute plan for the area, aiming to establish a better connection with the nearby bike path and riparian area.
Now, Schlachter said the plan was simply an example of the other options that the community could come up with for the area.
“We need to involve faculty and students in the planning of this University land,” Schlachter said. “This should be a topic open to the entire campus and community.”
Daniel Rottenberg, the ASUO environmental advocate who has been working with Brehm and Schlachter since last June, said the age of the plan made a major difference in its strength.
“We’re asking for other options out of 2010, rather than 1988; we need a fresh plan,” Rottenberg said, adding that many current students weren’t alive when the plan was originally set into action.
Connecting Eugene founder and University alumna Sharon Ungerleider stressed that her group has nothing against ORI or any other future tenants of the Trammel Crow building.
“Eugene does need an economic boost. We want 150 of the greatest social scientists in American history to be successful,” Ungerleider said. “There has just been a long history of disregard to public input that needs to be discussed; the master plan is terribly outdated.”
Ungerleider also highlighted the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s report on the soil of the property.
According to the DEQ’s 2009 report, “soil and groundwater at the site are contaminated with heavy-oil type contamination.” This contamination, including the toxin Benzene, would be trapped under the planned parking lot and could drain into the Willamette River.
Those in favor of the extension see the new building as an economic boost that will add to the riverbank environment.
Diane Wiley, director of the Riverfront Research Park, said there had been a tremendous amount of misinformation about the environmental effects of the project, adding that the University had the property cleaned up and the state DEQ deemed it safe to develop.
In her statement, Wiley focused on the importance of the park’s economic benefits to the community and clarified the true meaning of the University’s request.
“This request is called a modification, which frightens some people who think it means a major physical change,” Wiley said. “We’re only asking for a time extension.”
ORI Executive Director Cynthia Guinn and employee Sarah Hampson both spoke in support of the three-year extension.
“We believe that the building is well matched with ideas and plans for the courthouse district and the EWEB master plan,” Guinn said. “The project will provide a safe connection from the University to downtown Eugene.”
In her opposition statement, speaking for Connecting Eugene, Ungerleider spoke to
future implications.
“A lack of resolve today will have regrettable consequences for future generations on our watch,” she said.
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