The Mall fountain: a new heart for the new' downtown.
Oegon Daily Emerald Photo
New ordinance governs mall conduct
Long-disputed Eugene Mall
regulations have now been made
into a punishable ordinance.
The Eugene City Council
enacted in early September a set
of rules for conduct on the
downtown mall which, if violated,
kre punishable by a fine of up to
100.
The full ordinance, as passed
by the council Sept. 12, is printed
below.
ORDINANCE NO. I64M
THE CITY OF EUGENE DOES ORDAIN AS
FOLLOWS:
Section I. Section 4 985 of The Eugene
Code, 1971 is hereby repealed
Section 2. There are hereby added to The
Eugene Code, 1971, the following sections:
4.870 Purposes. Eugene's downtown
pedestrian mall has been built to renew,
preserve, and enhance the economic and
aesthetic value of the city's central business
district and to provide facilities conducive to
a harmonious blend there of civic, social,
cultural, and economic pursuits To these
ends, and with a few necessary exceptions,
the mall separates vehicular from
pedestrian traffic and constitutes, except for
its facilities designed for activities other
than walking, a public thoroughfare for
pedestrians Of the facilities designed for
activities other than walking, the fountains,
trees, and landscaped areas are intended to
constitute visual amenities for pedestrians,
and the southeast half of the central plaza at
Broadway and Willamette, the semi walled
area in Broadway iust west of Willamette,
the covered areas at Broadway and Olive,
and the adjoining areas interspersed with
trees constitute facilities which, through
prior arrangement with the city, may be
reserved for lawful and responsible
organized group activity consonant with the
basic purposes set forth at the beginning of
this section
4 871 Definitions In sections 4.870 to 4 878
of this code (1) The definition of "mall'' in
section 5.010 of this code applies, and (2)
Mall activity permit" means a permit
applied for and granted in accordance with
Section 4.877 of this code
4 872 Shrubbed. Flowered Areas; Covering
Structures. No person may enter into a
shrubbed or flowered area or upon a
covering structure in the mall unless, by
authority of the city he does so for purposes
of cleaning, maintenance, or law
enforcement
4.873 Climbing. Except in authorized play
areas (1) No person may climb (a) Any
mall tree or (b) Any mall structure other
than a stairway to an elevation more than six
feet above the street level or in such a
manner as to create a danger of personal
injury and (2) No person in charge of a
child under the age of 12 years may allow the
child so to climb.
4 874 Animals. Except as ORS 346 620
provides to the contrary with reference to
blind persons and their dog guides, no person
may bring any animal into the mall or allow
any animal in his charge to be in the mall
unless the animal is caged
4 875 Fountains (1) No person may deposit
and leave in the water in a mall fountain any
objector any substance other than water (2)
No person may use water in any such
fountain for any purpose other than ob
serving or wading
4.876 Activities Requiring Permits or City
Sponsorship. Except by mall activity permit
or under sponsorship of the city, no person
may engage in any of the following activities
in the mall (1) Fund raising (2) Solicitation
subject to Sections 3.555 to 3.650 of this code
(3) Commercial pursuits (A permit for
commercial display or sale of goods or
services shall be effective for purposes of
this section only if issued directly by the
council itself ) (4) Placing a display or
allowing a display in one's charge to remain.
(5) Conductor participation in the conduct of
a dance (6) Conduct, presentation, or
participation m the conduct or presentation
of entertainment of a musical, theatrical,
cinematic, choreographic, or athletic
character that attracts at any one time an
audience of more than 25 persons (7)
Conduct or participation in the conduct of a
meeting that attracts at any one time an
assembly of more than 25 persons (8)
Electrical amplification of sound
4 877 Permits. A mall activity permit for
activity authorized in the mall only with such
a permit may be obtained as follows (1)
Application for the permit may be filed with
the city manager or his designee on a form
supplied by him (2) The application may not
be filed earlier than 21 nor later than seven
days before the date set for the activity,
unless the city manager or his designee finds
that earlier or later filing of the application
is necessary m the interests of the applicant
and the city If the filing is later than seven
days before the date set for the activity, the
applicant shall have no right of appeal (3) A
copy of the application shall be posted
promptly on a bulletin board in the •» all and
left there until the desired permit has been
granted or denied (4) If the permit applied
for is for commercial display or sale of goods
or services, the application shall be prompt
iy referred to the city council The council
shall determine within 15 days after the
referral whether to issue the permit and, if
issuing it, whether to condition it in ac
cordance with subsection (5) of this section••
(5) If the permit applied for is not for
fommercial display or sale of goods or ser
vices, within 16 regular city office hours
after the filing of the application the city
manager or his designee shall determine
whether the permit shall be granted In
granting it he may condition it by requiring a
deposit authorized by subsection (1) of this
section or by requirements and restrictions
conducive to achievement of the purposes
and objectives indicated by Section 4 870 of
this code and by subsection (8) of this sec
tion (6) A party aggrieved by the issuance
or denial of a mall activity permit under
subjection (5) of this section may within 15
regular city office hours after that action
appeal to a committee of three members of
the city council whom the mayor shall ap
point Notice of the appeal shall be filed at
once with the city manager and shall
suspend the permit until the appeal is
decided Within forty regular city office
hours from receipt of the notice of appeal or
before the time set for the activity,
whichever is sooner, the committee shall
(a) Conduct a hearing on the appeal, 24
hours advance notice of which shall be given
the appellant and the permittee, and, (b)
Within 48 hours make a determination,
which shall be final, whether the permit
shall be granted and. if so, whether it shall
be conditioned in accordance with sub
section (5) of this section (7) After a permit
is granted m accordance with subsection (4),
(5) or (6) of this section, a copy of the permit
shall promptly be posted on a bulletin board
in the mall and remain so posted until after
the time for the activity has expired (8) In
(Continued on Page 23)
Urban renewal gives
$18-million face-lift
The piles of rubble and the skeletal frames of old buildings
reaching their broken, jagged fingers towards the sky are visible on
almost every block. A European city after World War II? No, it’s just
downtown Eugene on the way to being rebuilt.
An $18-million face lift is being given the older parts of the city,
with the effort spear-headed by the Eugene Renewal Agency (ERA).
The Agency, which began its original planning in 1965, is now in
the middle of the plastic surgery—and the operation will be a long one.
First, each ‘old, substandard building" is purchased from its
owner at market value, according to Theron Rust, assistant director of
the ERA.
"Then we clear off the old building and sell the land to a private
developer—we’re getting the private enterprise back into it again," he
says.
The Agency came from a seven member citizen board established
by the City Council in December of 1965 to carry out a planning study
for renewing downtown Eugene.
The ERA is entrusted with the redevelopment of a 17-block section
of downtown Eugene covering about 70 acres. This area, which in
cludes the Downtown Mall, will be rehabilitated at a total cost of $18
million two-thirds of which is being supplied by the federal govern
ment.
The Mall has cost only $1.6 million of the allocated funds and when
finished will cover eight blocks, with Olive closed to 10th, Broadway
closed to Oak and Willamette closed to 8th. Next summer is expected
to see the completion of the Mall from Broadway to Oak
“We extend the Mall in coordination with redevelopments
downtown, otherwise you would have to tear it all up again,” said Don
Hulbert, community relations advisor to the ERA.
Another part of redevelopment, according to Hulbert, will be the
rebuilding of other downtown sidewalks. “All of the sidewatxs in the
downtown area will be rebuilt or resurfaced, benches and wheel chair
ramps will be built."
The sidewalks downtown will all be redeveloped to resemble the
plan followed in the Mall. A major concern of ERA is coordination of
design in the Mall with new and rehabilitated buildings, according lo
Hulbert. The ERA plans each segment of renewal to complement the
other.
“Some of the standard buildings see what is happening around them
and are willing to invest money to improve their buildings in
renovation or redecoration," Hulbert said
Completed redevelopment in the downtown area totals $640,000,
according to Hulbert. This is the combined cost of the new Broadway
department store and the new Harry Ritchie’s jewelry store.
Another $3.4 million dollars worth of redevelopment has been
contracted "Contracted means we’ve (ERA) signed a contract with a
redeveloper to develope a parcel of land in a specific way," said
Hulbert. The ERA must see plans of any proposed new buildings and
approve them before they sell the land for development, according to
Hulbert.
The City Council has developed and approved qualifications for
any new buildings which may be built in the downtown renewal area,
he said.
"Another aspect of redevelopment is rehabilitation, taking
buildings which don’t meet the building codeand which can feasibly be
brought up to the standards," Hulbert said
“If the building is too bad to fix up you tear it down," he said.
“If the owner can fix it up he does," Hulbert said. "When you tear
down the building you sell the land to someone who will build new
buildings," he said.
"The prime consideration is the health and safety of the general
public and a second consideration is the esthetic value of new and
rehabilitated buildings,” said Hulbert.
The ERA dot's a great deal of relocating when it is divided that a
building must be torn down. “We relocate not only businesses, but
charitable organizations and families, anyone who is in here when we
redevelop is entitled to relocation if they meet the qualifications,"
Hulbert said
We ve relocated about 120 businesses, he said, Inis might be
one man in an office or an insurance man who has two companies,
that’s two businesses in terms of regulations,”
“We don’t tell people where they have to go, when relocation is
being done, we help them find some place to move to and move them
and help them get settled in their new place,” Hulbert said.
“The relocation aspect has proved very fortunate for many people
who had decided it was time to get out of business,” he said. "For a lot
of people who have gone out of business the FRA has provided them
the golden opportunity to get out without losing their shirts," said
Hulbert
"There are a number of downtown businessmen who were renters
before relocation and have gotten out of that rental situation and were
able to build their own buildings and are now landlords,” Hulber said
“The individuals or families that moved out of downtown,
(relocated), moved out of crummy apartments and into standard
housing,” said Hulbert
There are still a few finishing touches to be completed downtown
According to Hulbert there will be 450 trees planted in the downtown
area and an equal number of plants and hushes Utility wires will also
disappear as the city undergrounds all those in the downtown area
The rehabilitation of the downtown area has not been without
criticism, however. Groups of persons have attended meetings of the
City Council to protest the plans especially the proposed Convention
Auditorium complex which is to be built at the north end of Willamette
Street
The critics have charged that much of the character of Eugene
will disappear with the removal of the old buildings now on
Willamette
Early this summer, it became apparent that the auditorium
wasn’t the only section of the plans being disagreed with when painted
slogans of “Stop Urban Renewal” appeared on buildings throughout
the downtown area
Even with this criticism, however, ERA plans remain the same
The renewal of the city—painted slogans aside will continue until the
face lift is complete.