On Your Mark, Get Set, Plan!

The cities of Eugene and Springfield, Lane County, and Lane Council of Governments (LCOG)—all co-sponsors of Lane County Moving Forward Together—are partnering on a number of different regional planning processes. Each will answer critical questions about this region’s future growth. These plans include:

1. Population Projections: How many people will be added to Eugene and Springfield’s populations over the next 20 years? The Lane County region is also working on adopting coordinated population projections in order to provide a common planning base for the region.
2. Land Supply and Demand Assessment: How much land in Eugene and Springfield will be needed to accommodate the increased population? How much land is available to accommodate growth in our Urban Growth Boundary? Under the requirements of House Bill 3337 (2007), the cities of Eugene and Springfield are working to establish separate urban growth boundaries consistent with their jurisdictional area of responsibility.
3. Transportation Planning: How will we get around in the urban area in the future? The Eugene-Springfield Transportation System Plan (TransPlan), which guides transportation system planning and development in the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area, is about to be updated. The Central Lane Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), which guides regional transportation planning and funding in the broader Central Lane urbanized area, is updated every four years and is currently initiating the next update scheduled for completion in the latter half of 2011.

A public open house will be held July 9, 2008, to introduce these projects. The open house will introduce these projects to the general public, describe opportunities for public involvement, ask for general input, and to ask how people prefer to become involved. The open house, which will feature an informal, drop-in format, will be held at:

Wednesday, July 9, 2008
4:30–6:30 PM
Eugene Public Library
Bascom-Tykeson Rooms
100 West 10th Avenue, Eugene

This event will be an informal, drop-in session. Come as you are, and come and go when you need to. This meeting is wheelchair accessible. For the hearing impaired, FM assistive-listening devices are available or an interpreter can be provided with 48 hours notice. To arrange for these services, contact the receptionist at 682-5481. Telecommunications devices for deaf assistance are available at 682-5119.

If you have questions, please contact one of the agency representatives below:

• City of Eugene: Neil Björklund, Principal Planner, AIC, 541-682-5507 or us/or/eugene/ci!bjorklund/h/neil
• City of Springfield: Greg Mott, Planning Manager, 541-726-3774 or us/or/springfield/ci!gmott
• Lane County: Stephanie Schulz, Planner, 541-682-3958 or us/or/lane/co!Schulz/Stephanie
• Lane Council of Governments: Jamon Kent, Local Government Services Program Manager, 541-682-4511 or org/lcog!jkent

For additional information, click here

To view the invitation postcard, click here

Twila Jacobsen, host of “Focus on Community,” recently interviewed John Hoops and Rob Zako about the Lane County Moving Forward Together conference. John Hoops is the past president of the Eugene Association of REALTORS®; Rob Zako is an adviser to the Oregon Transportation & Growth Management Program. The interview aired on KRVM radio on Friday, June 20, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. Listen to a recording of the interview:

KRVM interview audio: 12 minutes, 23 seconds, 11.3 MB MP3

We want your feedback on the Lane County Moving Forward Together “smart growth” conference:

1. What did you think about the conference? What worked well? What could we do better next time?
2. What did you learn at the conference? What themes struck you as most important?
3. What additional information would you like to have?
4. What are your ideas for next steps? What can people in the public, private and nonprofit sectors do to keep Lane County moving forward together?

Please post your comments below. Please provide your full name and email address so that we can contact you if questions arise. We will keep your email address confidential.

The Slant column in the latest Eugene Weekly opines:

The Moving Forward Together conference on “smart growth” took place June 11, and urban planning consultant John Fregonese’s talk was of particular interest to us. Since his days as Ashland’s city planner, Fregonese has been a strong, clear voice for sanity in urban planning nationwide, and we liked what he had to say about how cities can take control and shape their built environments for livability, efficiency and aesthetics. Is Eugene in control of its built environment? We remember the chaos and frustration of Eugene’s Land Use Code Update a few years ago. Most of the best and brightest reforms in LUCU got watered down by a weak Council under Mayor Torrey’s leadership, pressure from developer interests, and a city planning staff resistant to change. What did we end up with? More big box stores on the outskirts, more movement toward expanding our urban growth boundary, more development of resource lands, less affordable housing, more car-oriented housing development, a struggling downtown, not even a meaningful solar access code—in short, more “stupid growth.” It’s not been all bad, of course, but clues to our lack of progress include vacant buildings downtown, cutbacks in LTD bus routes and fewer people biking to work than 20 years ago.

So where do we go from here? The conference did shed light on the link between our environment and our economy and pointed us in the right direction. But overcoming inertia requires action and tough decisions. So-called “Green” Eugene is actually many years behind Portland, Corvallis, Ashland and many other cities in progressive planning. Let’s take these good concepts from the conference and put them to work. Nothing less than the future vitality of our city is at stake.

A recent story in The Register-Guard describes efforts to visualize Springfield’s future:

SPRINGFIELD—City officials agree that their city is going to grow—the question is how and where.

With sights set on expanding the urban growth boundary, members of the City Council and Planning Commission on Monday discussed their vision for the city’s economic future.

One year after the state Senate approved a bill that will allow Springfield to set and expand its growth boundary without the approval of adjacent Eugene, a joint work session began identifying just what kind of industry they’d like to have in a potentially larger city.

What are your ideas for the future of Springfield? Is Springfield better off taking charge of its own destiny, or would it make more sense to link its future to those of neighboring communities?

According to a recent story in The Register-Guard, Lane Transit District is considering cutting service:

Lane Transit District will consider cutting the equivalent of four large routes next year as it deals with rising gas prices, a sputtering economy and other factors driving up costs, officials said Monday.

The magnitude of the cuts and the routes affected won’t be finalized until the end of the year. General Manager Mark Pangborn said the board has set a conservative course, and can re-evaluate as the fiscal picture becomes clear.

“This is probably the most reasonable worst-case scenario,” Pangborn said after a four-hour strategic planning session with the LTD board.

The district blames its budget crisis on rising fuel prices, weak payroll tax receipts in a poor economy and the growing cost of Ride Source, a bus service for people with disabilities that the federal government mandates but does not fund.

The board is considering trimming service by 15 percent next year, which would mean dropping more than 45,000 hours of operation annually. A typical large route runs for 12,000 service hours annually, spokesman Andy Vobora said.

Do you think LTD should live within its budget, even if that means cutting service at a time when ridership has been increasing? Or do you have ideas for how LTD might maintain or even expand its service?

In a guest viewpoint in the Register-Guard, Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy and Eugene Association of REALTORS® president Marie Due call for seeking common ground for moving forward together:

Challenges offer opportunities for people to talk and work together, and to do things better and smarter. We in Lane County have the opportunity to choose how we manage the challenges confronting us.

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The Slant column in the latest Eugene Weekly opines:

Isn’t “smart growth” an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms? After all, even at 1 percent growth, population will double in one lifetime (72 years) and quadruple in two lifetimes, and how can that be sustainable? So when we heard about the “Moving Forward Together” conference on “smart growth” coming up Wednesday, June 11, at the Hilton downtown, we were skeptical. A few years ago we would have expected the same old line of thinking from a gathering of real estate brokers, local officials and state transportation “experts.” But today’s realities of climate change, peak oil, pollution and changing traffic patterns are gradually altering conventional attitudes.

This conference will still hear advocates for unfettered growth and sprawl, but it will also give a voice to people like economist Joe Cortright, who makes the connection between stringent land-use laws and a healthy economy. Oregon planning consultant John Fregonese is a leading voice for public input into innovative regional planning. We will hear about property values going down on the outskirts and up in city centers. Old attitudes die hard in the real estate, transportation and construction industries, but change is afoot, and this conference offers a glimpse into the future. Information on the all-day event is available at movingforwardtogether.net.

Through Friday, June 2, you can still register for Lane County Moving Forward Together™ for only $25.

We want to people to register sooner rather than later so we will have a good count to give to the Hilton Eugene & Conference Center.

But we welcome registrations after June 6, and even walk-in registrations, for the still low price of only $35.

If you are still deciding whether or not to attend, check out our program!

And if you have already registered, thank you and please encourage your friends to sign up, too.

A guest viewpoint in the Register-Guard invites the public to help Lane Transit District Chart its future in the face of rising ridership—and fuel costs and hence operating expenses.

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