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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (May 22, 2003)
NOW ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS Oregon Family Dental, PC John J. Park, DDS “Providing quality care with a gentle touch.” 344-7900 • 11th & Chambers • Eugene www.TheVLT.com n i a l P J ane s e h t o Cl One Shoe Off Dare to be you! Calling All Girlfriends The dancing dress The princess dress The date dress A play by Tina Howe Suzanne Shapiro, director May 30-June 1*, June 5-8*, 12-14 * Sunday Matinees Sexy - Romantic - Hot - Sweet Buy • Sell Mon-Sat 10:30-6:00 Marketplace West • 3045 W. 11th Ave. Eugene TICKETS $12 (Students $9 on Thursdays) Box office open 2-5:30 Wed.- Sat., 2350 Hilyard St. 344-7751 (541) 684-0585 Center for Family Therapy U N I V E R S I T Y O F Willamette Plaza is in a proposed node but may redevelop with most of the site covered by parking lots. The Very Little Theatre presents The Center for Family Therapy (CFT) is an affordable counseling agency staffed with intern coun- selors from the Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) Graduate Specialization at the College of Education, University of Oregon. O R E G O N • Individual, couple and family therapy • Affordable sliding scale fee • Daytime and evening hours The MFT graduate program is approved as a candidacy status program with COAMFTE and approved by the Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists. Are You Ready for Change? For information or to make an appointment, call (541) 346-3296 C O N EV ER T A I NE Y T R HI N G O S A F I N F L E ST O R E Ha nd ma d e Ex ot i c F u r n i t u r e Ha nd w ov e n O ri e n ta l C ar p et s W h o le s al e to t he Pu b li c 12 MAY 22, 2003 N OW A T NE W L OC A TI O N ! W t h • ( P a st B ai le y H i l l R d l o ok f o r s i gn s) T ue sd a y Sa t u rd a y pm In a 2001 study of Portland-area develop- ment, ECONorthwest recommended higher SDCs as among the most effective ways to en- courage nodal development. The consultants also suggested cities could restrict sprawl by not extending infrastructure to outlying areas until central nodes are fully developed. Childs said if nodes work right, they will attract residents with livability and nearby services and attract businesses with high con- centrations of customers. “The success is going to hinge on whether or not people view it as a place to invest.” • Educate people. “Even here on this [council] dais, there’s real misunderstanding about what a node is,” said Councilor Scott Meisner at a meeting. Meisner pointed to statements by some councilors indicating Oakway Center was a good nodal example. “A destination mall is not nodal develop- ment,” Meisner said. “We really do need to do some better education.” Many Willamette node businesses com- plained bitterly that the city had not done enough to reach out and talk to them about the node. The city could launch a major education effort to help business owners and citizens un- derstand the reality and benefits of nodal de- velopment. “It’s not nearly as scary on the ground as people think,” said planner Childs in an inter- view. “We’re going to have to do a lot better job of explaining to people.” One big hurdle is the apparent widespread lack of trust in the Eugene planning depart- ment. Several businesses pointed to the deba- cle of the department’s failed urban renewal efforts downtown including installing and then removing the downtown mall. More re- cently, the department faced harsh criticism from neighbors of the Broadway Place rede- velopment who objected to the city clearcut- ting a grove of stately trees at the site. But before the city educates people on ex- actly what nodal development is, it may need to decide for itself. “There’s a lot of misunderstanding around nodal development starting with the City Council itself,” said Zako. That council uncer- tainty is creating fear and uncertainty in the community, he said. “That’s really the root of the problem.” A widely distributed city pamphlet on nodal development shows a picture of Broadway Place on the front page. But Childs said such downtown density isn’t in store for most of the nodes. Childs said the city plans to hold two workshops next month to educate the public and developers on nodal development. Childs said the city’s efforts could benefit from a more descriptive, friendly term than node. “I’ve always hated it,” she said. But with so many people now using the word, it’s too late to change now. • Save space. The city could require low density redevelopment in nodes to be built in such a way as not to preclude future infill den- sity. Such “shadow platting” is tricky but if done right can allow for future infill to meet nodal requirements, according to ECONorthwest. • Just do green fields. The city could give up on building nodes in already devel- oped areas like Willamette and Walnut and stick to green fields. Councilor Nathanson suggested the city may want to examine less strict standards for the developed nodes. But Zako of 1000 Friends said the city could lose important opportunities by only fo- cusing on planning nodes in vacant fields. The lack of existing transit, housing, services and employment that a node needs to work make it less likely that all those things can be created simultaneously in a green field site, according to Zako. Developed areas like Willamette and Walnut already have a solid base of those ele- ments to build on. Limp Nodes Whatever the city decides to do, nodes will have to have teeth, according to Cortright. Eugene won’t be able to weaken the nodal re- quirements too much and still meet the per- formance requirements in TransPlan, Cortright said. “We don’t want things just called nodes,” he said. “Clearly if you water down the requirements to a certain point, you’re not meeting objectives.” If Eugene’s nodes end up being nodes in name only, then the city will have wasted a lot of money on planning and incentives to no ef- fect, Zako warns. If Willamette Plaza is allowed to build a low density suburban-style shopping center in a node, it could get up to $100,000 in a nodal SDC discount, for nothing. But what a node should mean for Eugene, if anything, has left many still wondering. “If it’s watered down to the point it doesn’t meet the goals, then what purpose is it serv- ing?” asked councilor Kelly. Mayor Torrey wondered about the Willamette node at a recent meeting. “If this can’t be a duck even though we want it to look like a duck, why do we bother calling it a duck, or a nodal development,” the mayor said. “I mean, are we playing games here?” Does a limp node mean more than a bump on a toad? ew
