Historic status draws neighbors9 concern
By CHARLENE BELL
Of The Emerald
A proposed historic landmark
district in the South University
Neighborhood may cause
problems, say some South
University Neighborhood As
sociation members.
Neighbors are concerned that
a historic designation would in
clude strict guidelines on the
maintenance of existing struc
tures in the area — as well as the
construction of new buildings —
to maintain the neighborhood’s
historic quality.
SUNA members submitted a
petition to the Eugene Historic
Review Board last October that
called for the granting of histor
ic status to the landmark dis
trict.
The petition, signed by 70
percent of the area's property
owners, proposed that the area
along University and Potter
Streets between 8th and 23rd
avenues be granted historic
status to prevent further con
version of property to high-den
sity student and multi-family
housing. The neighbors
claimed the nostalgic charm of
the area warranted status as a
historic landmark.
The guidelines would
regulate decisions such as ex
terior finishes, house color,
height, design and landscaping.
The degree of restriction
would vary according to
whether the building is con
sidered historically significant,
compatible, or incompatible
with the area, as determined by
the review board, according to
city staff member Judith Rees.
A historic preservation
specialist for Eugene, Rees has
worked closely with SUNA
members on the project since
October.
The guidelines were not es
tablished until after the original
supporters had signed the peti
tion. Now some supporters fear
the regulations would be too
restrictive.
As a result, a group of re
sidents circulated a second pe
tition opposing the proposed
status. The group is headed by
attorney Akin Blitz, an area re
sident.
The petition was presented to
the review board and has since
been the subject of much atten
tion — not all of it good, ac
cording to some residents.
“The dissenting groups didn't
base their protests on a lot of
accurate research,’’ says re
sident Dan Childress.
Childress, an architect, was a
member of the original commit
tee that drafted the proposed
design regulations. He says he
forsees no problems with the
guidelines that some residents
are protesting.
The protest grew out of disa
greement escalated by “more
vocal residents, ’’ Childress
says.
“People don’t seem to be
concerned about preserving the
neighborhood anymore, or else
they are worried about too
much government invol
vement.”
I ne original proponent
don’t want to force the proposal
down everyone’s throats. We’re
at the point now where we just
want to remain friends.”
To complicate matters even
more, the city staff says some of
the signers of the opposing pe
tition felt coerced to sign. A
neighborhood poll will be taken
to determine each property
owners’ position on the
proposed designation, Rees
says.
“The regulations for the
University area are less restric
tive than those of the East Skin
ner Butte area,” she says.
The East Skinner Butte area
currently is the only Eugene
neighborhood with historic sta
tus.
“The city staff felt all along
that a consensus had been
reached with the residents.
However, the board will act ac
cording to the neighborhood
consensus reached after the
poll,” Rees says.
The review board then will
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city council, which has the
power to designate historic sta
tus, she says.
A meeting will be held on May
20 at Edison School for SUNA
residents to discuss the results
of the poll and to ask questions.
Committee can
waive rules
for graduation
When graduation nears,
students sometimes find they
haven’t meet all the requir
ements. But that doesn’t neces
sarily mean another term of
school.
The Academic Requirements
Committee meets each term to
determine exceptions to the
University’s graduation criteria.
The committee, which con
sists of eight faculty members
and three students, devotes 90
percent of its time to reviewing
student petitions for exception
to graduation rules, sayschairer
Lewis Ward, a mathematics
professor.
When students realize their
transcripts may be deficient,
they should confer intially with
their counselors and the
student administrative services
at Oregon Hall, Ward advises.
"Many problems can be han
dled administratively, but un
ique situations often end up in
front of the Academic Requir
ements Committee,” he says.
The written student petitions
are considered in executive
session — the student never ap
pears in person, Ward explains.
For that reason, student peti
tions must be well documented,
with comments from instructors
and counselors when appro
priate. Academic advisors can
help students prepare tneir pe
titions.
"The committee is hard
nosed as a rule,” Ward says.
“We are very skeptical of the
rationale behind a petition, but
we try to understand all the
factors involved and reach a fair
decision.”
The committee frequently
decides on elaborate petitions
concerning lower-division and
upper-division course requir
ements or the comparability of a
course at one university to a
similar course in the University
curriculum.
In other cases, the request is
as simple as asking permission
to drop a course after the term
deadline.
"We want to be sensitive
when a hardship really exists,”
Ward says of the committee’s
approach.
Ward says the committee’s
load grows as the school year
progresses, becoming par
ticularly heavy late in spring
term. Students should keep
track of their academic pro
gress and have a degree analy
sis done occasionally to help
pinpoint potential problem
areas, he says.
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