Residents of the neighborhood where the University plans to build the new basketball arena are digging in their heels in hopes of having more say in the $200 million project, which they say will clog their streets with traffic, litter and noise.
Nearly 60 residents in the Fairmount Neighborhood Association voted Tuesday night to formally oppose the arena project because they say the University hasn’t done enough to address their concerns.
The association is also appealing City Planning Director Lisa Gardner’s decision that the University doesn’t have to go through a more formal public approval process before beginning construction.
If the residents win their appeal, which will be determined after May 7, the arena project might be delayed, and price inflation could affect the project’s scope or feasibility.

At issue is whether the University should complete a conditional use permit. Those permits allow the public to set certain specifications about how the arena is built and designed and how much parking is available, among other restrictions. The purpose is to allow neighbors of major developments to mitigate their concerns.
In March, Gardner ruled that the University doesn’t have to complete a conditional use permit because it’s not required for the construction of “university or college” buildings, according to city code.
The construction of indoor arenas requires a conditional use permit, but Gardner’s interpretation of the code is that “it appears clear that an arena such as that proposed by the University of Oregon is a customary part of a university campus setting,” according to a letter Gardner wrote to Fairmount neighbors explaining her decision.
Thus the arena doesn’t need a conditional use permit because the arena falls under the umbrella of a university use.
The Fairmount neighbors disagree.
“I support their appeal,” said Fairmount resident and Eugene City Council Alan Zelenka. “The impact of the arena is so big that to not put any conditions on placing that 12,500 seat capacity arena there without a conditional use permit is almost as if there is assumed to be no impact from it.”
The association has fronted nearly $2,500 to pay for an attorney to review city code and represent the neighborhood in its appeal.
John Barofsky, chair of the neighborhood’s subcommittee on the arena, expects it will cost between $6,000 and $8,000 and is asking neighbors to donate $200 each to help cover costs.
“One of the things we’re concerned about this is not just because of the arena,” Barofsky said. “If this precedent is set that all they have to do is say it’s a university use, they will be able to do anything they want on that property.”
The conditional use permit appeal will go before a hearings official on May 7. That official has 15 days to make a ruling.
“They’re right in articulating the fact that it’s pretty ambiguous,” said Greg Rikhoff, University community and governmental relations officer. “But they have to understand that there is a university present and there are a lot of uses that go along with a university.”
Rikhoff said it’s too early to tell how the arena project would be impacted if the neighborhood won its appeal.
Either party can appeal the upcoming ruling to the state Land Use Board of Appeals.
The residents are one of the only groups left who can prevent or delay the arena’s development. The only other barrier is Eugene City Councilors, who must approve the destruction of the Villard Street Alley and part of 13th Avenue to make way for the arena. The date of that vote, which is based on whether the new arena outweighs the public interest of having the streets, is not yet scheduled.
If the neighborhood’s appeal is not won, Zelenka said, city councilors might only approve the destruction of the streets if the University meets certain requirements set by the community.
“Which (the University) could have avoided if they would have done most of this stuff up front,” Zelenka said. “But they didn’t engage the community early enough and sufficiently, I think.”
University administrators established an arena liaison committee to help mitigate some of the issues affecting the Fairmount neighbors, such as the number of events, traffic, parking, people and noise.
Construction
Meanwhile, the University is moving at break-neck speed to get the arena open before the 2010-11 basketball season.
It recently filed permits to demolish the Williams’ Bakery and the Villard Street Alley, as well as another code adjustment application that will allow it to have more freedom to design a more aesthetically pleasing facility.
Most buildings in Eugene are subject to codes that require them to be built within a certain distance from the street and to have windows at a certain height. The University is trying to circumvent those requirements, and is expected to have no trouble, said city planner Steve Ochs. It’s common for builders to apply for adjustments to those rules, he said.
Destruction of the Williams’ Bakery lot is expected to begin this week. The demolition contractor plans to recycle most of the bakery building, including the steel frame and concrete.
Arena designs are shifting as architects are learning more about the area.
Members of the University’s liaison committee on the arena said that developers from JMI Sports, the arena’s lead developer, informed them that initial plans of putting portions of the arena underground were altered because the water table was higher than they anticipated.
The discovery caused them to relocate the practice facility to ground level and possibly raise the arena’s total height, members of the liaison committee said.
Athletic department spokesman Dave Williford told the Emerald that moving the practice facility had nothing to do with the water table but was because of budget constraints.
“To me (the water table) is immaterial, because it’s not going to affect the rest of the building,” Williford said.
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