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Slant: Short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes News: News: Happening Peerson: Paul Jeffrey MEASURE 37 CASE GETS OK The Eugene City Council granted its first Measure 37 waiver of development rules, but it remains unclear what that waiver will actually mean and the mess could wind up in court. The Measure 37 claim was made by Lane Plywood for a 50 acre parcel of industrial land near a proposed interchange for Beltline Highway and the West Eugene Parkway (WEP). Greg Demers owns a controlling interest in Lane Plywood, according to city staff. The Ed King family (vineyards and land speculation) has also invested land and money in the controversial development effort, according to city staff. Demers is a land speculator who contributed $17,000 to the passage of Measure 37. Demers also contributed $10,000 to the pro-WEP campaign in 2001. Demers' company told the city that they wanted to use the industrial land for commercial development and billboards and sought a waiver of city regulations preventing them from doing that or compensation for reduced land value they estimated at $5 million. The city agreed to the waiver, but not the outright waiver of all regulations that Demers wanted. The carefully worded city waiver includes only those regulations that meet the criteria contained in Measure 37. That leaves a number of questions unanswered: • Measure 37 only allows waivers for people or corporations that owned the land prior to the regulations in question. A number of the lots that Demers wants waivers for were not in continuous ownership by him and his plywood company, according to city staff. • Measure 37 allows the waiver only of land use regulations. City staff argue that the measure's definition of land use regulations is narrow and wouldn't apply to things like the city sign code which restricts billboards. Billboard companies have disputed that interpretation in Portland and the issue could wind up in court. • Measure 37 requires an enforcement of a regulation before a claim can be made. Demers hasn't made a specific development or other permit request that's been denied, so city staff argue there's been no enforcement. • Deed restrictions on the property prevent it from being used for commercial uses, regardless of Measure 37. Demers' company argues that it can remove those restrictions. • Measure 37 exempts regulations that serve to protect the public health and safety or prevent nuisances. The Demers site was previously used for a land fill and has issues of methane off-gassing, soil instability and subsidence that could restrict development for safety reasons. • Measure 37 does not require the city to serve Measure 37 development with new streets, sewers and other infrastructure. The city could potentially deny a building permit for the site in the future by arguing that a development without the required transportation improvements presents an unsafe traffic hazard. A development without proper sewer service could also be denied as a violation of federal clean water rules that aren't subject to Measure 37. By approving a carefully worded waiver without agreeing to Demers' interpretation of Measure 37, the city leaves open the option of still fighting a proposed development on the technical grounds listed above. The city could, however, have lost the option of paying compensation for the claim instead of granting the waiver. The city never assessed the value of Demers' property for commercial development. It could be that commercial property in an industrial area would appreciate far less than the $5 million claim. It's unclear whether the city could later chose to pay compensation instead of waiving regulations if it loses a court challenge. The council voted 6-1 to approve the waiver. Councilor Jennifer Solomon, who supported Measure 37, voted against the carefully worded waiver calling it not "in the spirit" of the measure. Councilor David Kelly said the "blackmail" claim by Demers' company opened a "hideous can of worms" with the result "ending up probably in court." With such developer claims, "it's about selfishness, it's about arrogance, it's about what's mine is mine and screw the community good." — Alan Pittman
SKATING FOR A PARK Even from five blocks away you could hear the gravelly roar of hundreds of skateboard wheels rolling down the middle of 6th Avenue. On June 21 organizers from Tactics Board rallied about 100 skateboarders for "Go Skateboarding Day," a national event aimed at raising awareness of just how many kids these days skate.
John Ragozzino, a Tactics employee and one of the organizers of the event, is also one of the people behind a push to get the Eugene City Council to include building a skatepark under the Washington Street bridge in the new Parks and Open Space Comprehensive Plan. "Skating isn't a team sport, so skateboarders aren't seen in large groups even through there's a large number of them," he said. "Most people don't really understand the sheer number of kids involved in skateboarding. What we wanted to do is gather a lot of them together on one day to show support for building a place for all these skaters to get together in downtown Eugene on a regular basis." Skateboarding now surpasses most traditional team sports in popularity; it's the sixth most popular sport in the country and the third most popular among kids under 18. In the 17-and-under age group, American Sports Data, Inc. reports that in 2002, more kids under 17 rode a skateboard than played baseball. Despite the huge numbers of youth participating in the sport, fewer kids are seriously injured skateboarding than playing baseball, softball, football, soccer or bicycling. According to a report from the Children's Hospital in Boston, in 1998 some 27,500 kids between the ages of 5 and 14 ended up hospitalized because of skateboarding injuries, compared with 320,000 for bicycling, 159,000 for football, 91,000 for baseball and 77,500 for soccer. One of the reasons may be because skateboarders almost always wear protective gear, including knee, shin and elbow pads, wrist guards and helmets. Other than massing a huge number of skateboarders and taking over the streets, one of the highlights of the June 21 event was the participation of pro skater Michael Heller, who's headed to world championships in Russia this summer. "Kids don't get to see their idols, the pros, outside of videos very often," Ragozzino said. "So bringing a pro skateboarder into Eugene is a big deal." The skaters adopted the same technique as the monthly bike rally, Critical Mass, which brings together hundreds of cyclists who then bike along an undetermined route blocking traffic to raise awareness. But unlike Critical Mass, which is aggressively targeted by Eugene police, the skaters pulled off their rally completely undisturbed. According to Ragozzino, many of drivers stuck behind them on 6th Avenue were even shouting in support. — Melissa Bearns
BUILDING ON THE AMAZON Amazon Creek is contaminated with excess levels of arsenic, lead, E. coli and several other pollutants, according to the EPA. In response to federal finger-wagging, and in compliance with its new pollution discharge permit, the city of Eugene is taking steps to clean up the creek and other local waterways that flow into the Willamette River. But activists worry that the changes may be too little, too late. A proposed city rule would prohibit building within 75 feet of waterways, but that change won't affect three major proposed developments in the Amazon Creek headwaters. Developer Joe Green's Green Valley Glen would put 116 houses by the Amazon's east fork headwaters; Richard McDougal's Dillard Heights would place 33 houses on land that drains into the east fork, and Martin and Leslie Beverly's Deer Brook would plop 81 houses near the main fork. The developments will be able to squeak past the rule change because the setback ordinance won't be in effect until sometime in 2007, says city planner Peggy Keplar. "We can apply the new standards as long as we don't change existing land use approval," she said. On June 12, the City Council adopted new stormwater quality development standards requiring developers to treat water before it leaves a construction site, effective July 14. But the water treatment is only one layer of a multi-part strategy to pare down excessive pollutants in Amazon Creek, Keplar said. Lisa Warnes of the citizen group Visions for an Intact Ecosystem and Watershed (VIEW) is unimpressed. "The City of Eugene is very likely to be in violation of the Clean Water Act," she said. "We spend a small fortune cleaning up the Amazon downstream, but the city continues with the status quo to allow development in these at-risk watershed areas." Keplar disagrees: "Our [pollution discharge] permit required that we implement water quality standards, and we have done that now, so no, we are not in violation of the Clean Water Act." — Kera Abraham
MYSPACE MORTUARY Rupert Murdoch may own MySpace.com, but murders — and car crashes, aneurysms, accidents and other killers of the young — dominate an unaffiliated spinoff, MyDeathSpace.com. The site offers obituaries, comments and links to the MySpace profiles of the recently deceased, including several young people from Oregon.
There's Pfc. Thomas Tucker, 25, of Madras, who was killed in Iraq on June 16. Tucker's MySpace page lists his interests as motorcycles, fishing and beer. Under "Heroes," Tucker had written, "myself, haha!!!" In the days after learning of his grisly death, Tucker's friends left comments in his memory. "I miss you and I really regret that I didn't get to see you last time you were home," one friend wrote. "You are truly a hero and we all miss you." Also on MyDeathSpace: Marissa Manwarren, 17, of Portland, who was shot to death on June 14. Her boyfriend Cevelino Capuia, 19, and his friend Shawn Womack, 21, are facing charges for the murders of Manwarren and two others: 28-year-old Chai Taphom and 38-year-old Michael Burchett. Womack and Capuia allegedly shot the two men as they left a porn shop, then stole their cars. According to Portland police spokesman Det. Paul Dolbey, messages from friends on Capuia's MySpace page indicated a third victim, which led police to Manwarren's body. Comments on MyDeathSpace suggest that Capuia and Womack killed the two men randomly for their cars, and that Womack killed Manwarren days later to silence her. Manwarren had been popular on MySpace, with 202 friends. She last logged in on June 11, when she posted this comment on Capuia's page: "CAPUIA I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, IM SORRY ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED … BUT YOU JUST NEED TO TIHNK ABOUT YOUR ACTIONS BECAUSE SOMETIMES YOUR ACTIONS CAN CAUSE YOU TO GET IN BIGGGG... TROUBLE IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. I LOVE YOU AND IM GOING TO PRAY FOR BOTH OF US MY LOVE." Her own profile is upbeat and sassy, with a sexy photo of Esther Baxter in the background. She'd posted her answers to a list of questions, such as "Your Heritage: CREOLE. The Shoes You Wore Today: MOCCASINS. Your Weakness: GUYS, BECAUSE THEY PLAY GAMES. "How do you want to Die: OLD." — Kera Abraham
EARLY DEADLINES Eugene Weekly offices will be closed Tuesday, July 4, but open Monday and Wednesday. The early deadline for reserving space for display ads for our July 6 issue will be 5 pm Thursday, June 29. An early deadline for classified ads will be 5 pm Friday, June 30. Questions? Call 484-0519.
Lane County Herbicide Spray Schedule • Oregon Department of Forestry (935-2283) Not. No. 50756, Strata Industries spraying Arsenal (imazapyr) and Chopper for Seneca Jones Timber on 27 acres near Country Fair Grounds (T17S, R6W, Sec. 28), 26 acres near Fish Creek Road (T16S, R7W, Sec. 30), 107 acres near Barlow Creek (T20S, R4W, Sec. 4), and 13 acres near Coyote Creek (T18S, R5W, Sec. 28 and 29) beginning this week. • Oregon State Parks along the coast from Winchester Bay to Waldport use Roundup (glyphosate) sparingly and will post at least one week before and one week after applications. For more information call Dennis Davidson at 997-3851. Compiled by Jan Wroncy, Forestland Dwellers (541)342-8332
CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS • The photo of sheep with the "Bleating Hearts" news brief last week should have had a photo credit for Annie Dochnahl. • The story "Paradise Achieved" in last week's Oregon Bach Festival program concerned Haydn's Creation Oratorio. The OBF is actually performing Haydn's Creation Mass, not the Oratorio.
Paul Jeffrey
The Rev. Paul Jeffrey was a pastor in rural western Washington until 1984, when he and his wife, the Rev. Lyda Pierce, left for Central America as missionaries for the United Methodist Church. "We went for a short time and stayed for 20 years," he says. "I mostly worked as a journalist, looking at how churches interface with social change." After Hurricane Mitch in 1998, Jeffrey became a "disaster junkie," reporting from areas hit by sudden or chronic disasters. "Disasters combine threat and human vulnerability," he observes. "Good organizations mitigate disasters by decreasing vulnerability." Since 2004, when he and Pierce moved to Eugene, Jeffrey has traveled the world for Action by Churches Together, an alliance of disaster agencies. He spent June of 2005 in Darfur, taking photographs of camps for displaced persons. "It's a totally preventable disaster, genocide pure and simple," he reports. "I've invested a lot of time in talking about it afterwards." Jeffrey's Darfur photos can be seen July 1-31 at the Eugene Public Library, in an exhibit sponsored by the Lane County Darfur Coalition.
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