Increasing student involvement in the neighborhood. Reopening the neighborhood park. Preventing the unnecessary removal of trees. Examining the effects of University development on the surrounding neighborhoods. If all goes as planned, the West University Neighbors will have a busy year.
The association had its first meeting of the year last Thursday at Central Presbyterian Church, where the executive board worked with about 10 neighborhood and community members to draft a plan for the coming year.
Board members had drafted a list of pressing neighborhood issues at an executive meeting the night before and presented Thursday’s meeting attendees with the opportunity to add to the list and highlight issues they thought should receive priority at the association’s upcoming meetings.
Protecting trees received the most attention from both the board and the general population.
“We need to defend our trees,” board chairman Drix Rixmann said. “These things represent time.”
The group decided to devote the Feb. 3 meeting to discussing tree protection and the need to reopen West University Park, closed since 1995.
Board Vice Chairpersons and University students Kellyn Gross and Ayal Alves will head up a tree committee to create a list of specific trees neighbors are concerned about and draft ideas about what can be done to prevent unnecessary tree removal.
City Planner Steve Gallup had good news for those concerned about tree removal, saying during his update on the alley paving project that the majority of trees once marked for removal because of the project could be saved because contractors will be able to work around the tree roots.
“I’m pretty sure we can save 90 if not 100 percent of the trees,” Gallup said.
Community activist Zachary Vishanoff said the plan to pave the alleys in the neighborhood “rolls out the red carpet for developers.”
Upgrading the alleys makes the property more appealing for those who want to profit from it, Vishanoff said.
Neighborhood resident and former board member Steve Baker disagreed, saying developers are not concerned with the condition of things such as alleyways.
“It makes no difference to a developer on whether an alley is paved or not,” Baker said.
Baker supported the project and said it could be a good remedy to what is often called “broken glass syndrome,” the belief that one rundown neighborhood feature leads to another rundown neighborhood feature.
Cal Young Neighborhood Association member Charles Biggs suggested Gallup consult with the urban forest manager to see if any trees could be planted in the alley paving process.
The association also discussed the need to examine the proposed Riverfront Research Park project. Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute, an association of Oregon research facilities, is looking to build a site in the research park across from the University on Franklin Boulevard.
City Councilor and neighborhood resident David Kelly said ONAMI recently decided its prospective spot north of Franklin Boulevard would sustain too much vibration from the train tracks and is looking for a site on the south side closer to the University.
Vishanoff said such indecisiveness is a sign that ONAMI’s motives and usefulness must be examined.
“This is a 60,000 square-foot building jumping around like it’s on a pogo stick,” Vishanoff said.
Board member and University student Adam Walsh also showed support for a discussion about University development and its effects on the neighborhood. That discussion is slated for the group’s March 3 meeting.
The Eugene Police Department’s relationship with the University’s student body was mentioned as a potential topic of discussion — one that board member and University student Don Goldman said is very important.
Goldman lambasted the police and the “party patrol” at the executive meeting Wednesday night, accusing officers of “attacking students and giving them tickets for ridiculous things.”
The association discussed the need to increase neighborhood awareness and student involvement. Board members decided to create a newsletter addressing major issues discussed at meetings to hand out door-to-door.

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