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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 8, 2012)
LET TERS TAKE DOWN THE SIGNS LAZY SOLUTION Now that the election is fi nally over, I hope that we can once again remember that we are all Americans. Citizens of the United States of America. A bitter few will nurture their resentments and bias, but the rest of us will take down the political signs and get back to rebuilding our economy and moving our nation and our community forward. We, the people have spoken. Voting is the most patriotic thing most of us will ever do. Democracy is a messy business. But respect and tolerance and cooperation is what made this country great. Not hate. Mark Murphy Creswell We have been told as EWEB customers that the proposed 2013 rate increases are necessary to make up for a shortfall in demand. EWEB maintains that the downturn in the economy has led people to use less water and power resulting in less income for the utility. The proposed solution to this is to make the cost of basic services (the fl at fee charged every month regardless of usage) even more expensive. To me this seems very counter-intuitive. Doesn’t logic dictate that an increase in the basic cost would lead to an even greater reduction in demand as people try harder to use less water and power? How can EWEB be confi dent that income generated by this rate increase will be more than the income lost in a further shrinking demand? I know that an 8 percent increase in the cost of power and a 20 to 30 percent increase in the cost of water will certainly make me think twice before I turn on the faucet or hit the light switch. Furthermore, every month EWEB includes pamphlets on energy and water saving tips with the utility bill, and has an entire section of their website devoted to ways in which customers can save money by using less power and water. Apparently EWEB encourages this behavior, so it seems a little hypocritical that they use decreased demand as one of the reasons to raise rates. TOO MUCH UGLY Ten minutes of deliberation decided the fate of the Courthouse Garden block. Unbelievable! I do thank Judge Hogan for bringing us this outstanding architectural designed building to Eugene. I also thank Judge Aiken, Ann Bettman and the UO students for their important community garden. Doesn’t anyone at City Hall understand how important this block is? It has been discussed as part of the planning for the Great Street — but not during the 10- minute deliberation. With the East Coast and Midwestern drastic weather problems our promotion of growing food with students might be a much better use of the block than another credit union. At least we had two councilors, Betty Taylor and George Brown, who spoke up for more time to make a city-changing decision. No design suggestions were discussed DESIGN MATTERS and the only drawing showed a four-story building with a large parking lot. Maybe it is time to have an Eugene Beautiful Design Board. Too much ugly stuff happens. Ruth Duemler Eugene BY JERRY DIETHELM A Regrettable Error WHATEVER HAPPENED TO CANNERY SQUARE? Y ou’ve heard of the cart before the horse? This is the property sale before the plan. It’s also swift action to forestall any prolonged controversy over the Courthouse Garden. Even more potentially disruptive than students demonstrating against pesticide spraying and people protesting coal trains seems to be the fear of students carrying shovels and hoes, brandishing tree limbs and marching like Burnham Wood out of Macbeth to save their garden. That fear is misplaced. One of the hazards of a largely policy-oriented and opportunistic downtown plan is that proposals come along that the city is not prepared for. That seems to be what is happening right now with the proposal by Northwest Community Credit Union to buy the two-acre block next to the new U.S. Courthouse along 8th Avenue. The issue isn’t whether a credit union is a good use on the site, although I admit it wasn’t at the top of my list. It’s how a proposed three- to four-story building, and especially its large parking lot, might help to further an urban design concept plan for the end of 8th Avenue, our Great Civic Street, as it arrives from downtown and connects to the riverfront. The problem really isn’t the garden or the credit union, although it’s a shame to lose all that food production and a place for offenders to till the soil. The problem is that there is no agreed upon concept plan for the area and the realization that our civic design aspirations aren’t adequately present and shared so that they might infl uence the site planning of this iconic site. It is an important site that has a bigger role to play than any one particular use. Does anyone remember our Downtown Plan? Eugene downtown was to be 4 November 8, 2012 • eugeneweekly.com open for business and set into a framework of Great Streets. In the plan, Willamette Street is recognized for its importance as our Great Butte-to-Butte Street, the spine of Eugene; Broadway is an entrance into downtown from the east; Historic 5th Avenue would carry us right into the EWEB riverfront development. 8th Avenue, running from Willamette Street and the Park Blocks to the U.S. Courthouse and Cannery Square to the downtown riverfront, was to be our Great Civic Street. Remember? A regrettable error, I believe, was to leave this triangular block, which is the forecourt to the courthouse and the foyer to the riverfront out of the EWEB master planning — not to mention the leftover need to improve connections in all directions from an awkwardly sequestered courthouse. Access and arrival at the riverfront needs to be more of a crescendo than just a parking lot and street and railroad crossing. A proposal by Wallace Roberts and Todd, a San Francisco fi rm the city hired to look at the area some 10 years ago, proposed an arrival at a Cannery Square on the corner of 8th and Ferry. They showed a smaller Park Blocks-like square, on this end of 8th, mimicking the one downtown. The idea was to create a public space at Ferry Street, honoring the former cannery and serving as a hinge to the riverfront. We should be asking ourselves, “What ever happened to Cannery Square? Cannery Square, Courthouse Garden, Northwest Community Credit Union, access to the riverfront, a fi tting U.S. Courthouse foyer, perhaps even a reappearance of the Millrace — couldn’t they all get along? ■ Jerry Diethelm of Eugene is an architect, landscape architect and planning and urban design consultant.
