There is a hearing before the Eugene City Council about the Walnut Station (a risky and secretive public-private redevelopment scheme involving the City of Eugene and the University) on June 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the council chamber at City Hall. You should consider taking the time to attend the hearing and help put this speculative planning fiasco out of its misery.
For more than 10 years this floundering plan has failed to gain the support of Eugene citizens. Now the City of Eugene, the University and the University Foundation are pushing an
interrelated LTD-EmX redo along Franklin Boulevard that is estimated to cost $200 million (and uses eminent domain to widen Franklin Boulevard). The “Multiway Boulevard” being planned will also require demolition of some of the recently completed EmX construction work. The Multiway Boulevard will supposedly make Walnut Station vibrant and walkable.
The City of Eugene planner in charge of Walnut Station now also insists that certain “stakeholders” have reached a private consensus that language should be included in the Walnut Station plan allowing a second indoor arena near the Matthew Knight Arena. Is that going to allow a place for the $30 million to $40 million indoor track the University athletic department is hoping to bond and build? What criteria did this planner use to define who exactly should be considered a “stakeholder”? Why does the City of Eugene continue to refuse to list the city/University arena committee in the normal city calendar? The pattern of planning decisions and the ongoing creation of sports-centric neighborhoods leaves the impression that money is being laundered from Nike through the University Foundation and City of Eugene parks programs and that the money eventually has the effect of influencing the City of Eugene’s dysfunctional planning efforts.
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