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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (March 27, 2003)
Public Involvement PeaceHealth says it doesn’t need permission from Lane County and Eugene to build at RiverBend. Hospital officials say they aren’t legally required to offer public participation in the decision beyond allowing citizens to stand in line for three-minute comment periods at public hearings. But critics question whether such a limited process violates state and local land use goals and rules requiring public involvement in major decisions. DLCD says the big impact of the hospital re- location is a “community-wide event” and “major revision” of local plans that requires ap- proval of Eugene and Lane County officials. Commissioner Sorenson says building all the roads needed for the hospital likely requires revisions to TransPlan and the Metro Plan that must be approved by the county and Eugene. “TransPlan must be amended,” DLCD agrees. Sorenson suggests a regional citizen com- mission be formed to look into issues of hospital siting. “Hospital facility locations entail large public and private expenses and will impact community healthcare costs, health care acces- sibility, public infrastructure costs and our re- gional land use plans for many decades,” he says. Such major decisions, “justify substan- tially greater public involvement.” Unlike the County Commission, the pro-de- velopment majority on the Eugene City Council wants to leave the decision to Springfield. “I will do everything I can to oppose this,” Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey e-mailed in response to Sorenson’s letter asking for more intergovern- mental cooperation. DLCD and other critics are also concerned that PeaceHealth has set up a process that con- ceals important information. Many questions about the hospital siting have been deferred to a later master planning and nodal planning process that will proceed after PeaceHealth wins permission to build the hospital on the site. “PeaceHealth wants to do it this way be- cause they can avoid talking about what they want to do until it’s too late to stop them,” Wilson says. The process “makes it so hard to figure out what’s going on,” she says. Springfield planners are “basically just rub- ber stamping in advance without seeing the de- tails,” Wilson says. “No other development has ever been done this way,” she says. “You’re ap- proving it before you even see what you’re ap- proving.” If RiverBend is approved under this process, it will be too late to improve the project, Wilson says. Springfield will be giving away “all their r You e to nc cha in and l mai ! win power to say no.” PeaceHealth has resisted public involve- ment from the beginning, Wilson says. “When the city of Eugene tried to force even minor pub- lic discussion, PeaceHealth stormed out of the city for the supposedly more ‘development friendly’ Springfield venue,” she says. But state law still “requires adequate public participation in major decisions such as where to site the re- To avoid a more difficult Metro Plan amendment that could require permission from Eugene and Lane County, PeaceHealth is trying to use a loophole to avoid rezoning its land to commercial, critics charge. gion’s largest employer and hospital emergency service facilities.” DLCD agrees. The process of deferring master plan and nodal development decisions and information, “may make full compliance with [state land use] Goal 1 most tedious, at best.” proposal for accommodating the loss of this res- idential inventory, but does indicate their intent to provide housing in the floodplain.” Segel says. DLCD says the site is a “very important” component of the region’s limited supply of res- idential land to meet housing needs. The agency says without the hospital, up to 3,200 housing units could be built on the site and questions whether PeaceHealth’s proposed 800 units com- plies with land use rules. To balance jobs and housing in the nodal area and limit long-distance driving, DLCD says PeaceHealth should provide more housing. “The PeaceHealth application has provided the lowest possible denominator to each of its needed housing calculations,” DLCD says. Land Misuse To avoid a more difficult Metro Plan amend- ment that could require permission from Eugene and Lane County, PeaceHealth is trying to use a loophole to avoid rezoning its land to commer- cial, critics charge. PeaceHealth says planning rules allow it to build a regional medical center on residential zoned land. DLCD says the land should be rezoned com- mercial because the loophole PeaceHealth wants to use allows small clinics in neighbor- hoods, but not major hospitals. “There is noth- ing in our records that indicate that this scope and scale of development was intended.” PeaceHealth attorney Pfeiffer says DLCD’s “allegations” are untrue and have no legal merit. But Wilson says, “PeaceHealth’s assertions and attacks on DLCD are nothing more than red herrings.” The use of the loophole is “egre- gious,” she says. FREE dinner Job Shuffle PeaceHealth says approval of its project will bring 2,200 new jobs to Springfield. But critics say the jobs aren’t new at all but relocations that will hurt downtown Eugene. “Employment shifts are not new jobs, they are displaced jobs,” Segel says. PeaceHealth emergency room nurse Cathy Ellis says the hospital could build a large effi- cient hospital downtown with garden spaces for Integrity Many critics question whether Springfield officials have the integrity to turn down PeaceHealth. “The deal was done on the day it was announced,” Carol James complained. PeaceHealth “will cost this community its very soul.” “PeaceHealth is a big entity who’s throwing its economic weight around, in essence strong arming Springfield to agree with whatever it wants,” says Gail Campbell of Eugene. “PeaceHealth is notorious for its bad faith be- havior and ruthless business tactics.” Tom Bowerman points to a Springfield val- ues statement supporting a “small town feel” for the city. “Does putting a nine story building on the McKenzie embody and fortify these values?” Wilson says the lines between developers and city officials are blurrier in Springfield. But “The [pro-sprawl] perception is mostly percep- tion and not reality.” Greg Shaver, a member of the Springfield Planning Commission, says he’s “extremely pro-growth” but still opposes RiverBend as too much for Springfield. “I would love to have a Ferrari, it’s a beautiful car, but it’s just not going to fit in my garage for a while.” If the Springfield Council does approve RiverBend, opponents or the DLCD could ap- peal to the courts and/or state Land Use Board. DLCD says “major compliance issues” still “remain unresolved” with the development. Wilson says CHOICES is preparing to go to court if necessary. “We’ll see.” ew Name: Address: Phone: Email: How many times a month do you read EW? for two 1x compliments of Eugene Weekly. a healing environment. “Do not take the heart out of Eugene.” But PeaceHealth officials claim leaving a vacant Eugene Clinic building on Olive Street will help downtown Eugene by “provid[ing] an outstanding opportunity for in-fill and redevel- opment.” Wilson complains, “Nowhere in its narrative does PeaceHealth discuss the impact of lost jobs at its existing facilities, the impact of moving jobs from existing medical offices located near the existing hospital, the impact to the existing businesses in the Gateway area from the in- creased traffic, or the economic impact to Springfield of losing McKenzie-Willamette Hospital.” Spending $300 million on a “resort style” hospital will also result in even more unafford- able local medical and health insurance costs, critics say. “Since their revenue ultimately comes from all of us, they can bleed us with costly charges,” says Jan Nelson. DINNER & A MOVIE FOR TWO & movie ($25 to Anatolia and 2 Bijou tickets), 12 MARCH 27, 2003 State and local planning rules require PeaceHealth to make up for the housing that will not be built on the residentially zoned hospital site. To mitigate, PeaceHealth says it will build about 800 housing units on the site in addition to the hospital and medical office buildings. Wilson and Segel say PeaceHealth plans to accomplish this by building housing in the floodplain. “The applicant offers no ‘concrete’ 2x 3x 4x ✁ Cut out & mail to: 1251 Lincoln, Eugene, OR 97401 No purchase necessary to play. Drawing held on April 10, 2003. All entries must be received by April 10, 2003 by 12 pm. Photocopies are invalid entries. Please mail completed entry forms to: Attn: Dinner & A Movie, 1251 Lincoln, Eugene, Oregon 97401 or drop by the Eugene Weekly office at 1251 Lincoln in Eugene. Winner will be published in the April 17, 2003 paper. Eugene Weekly employees and their immediate household are not eligible to win.
