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MEMORANDUM <br /> September 14, 1992 <br /> TO: Mayor and City Council <br /> FR: Planning & Development <br /> Public Works, Parks Maintenance <br /> RE: GOLDEN GARDENS PROJECT UPDATE <br /> In June the Council directed staff to proceed to work with the two owners of <br /> property adjacent to the City's Golden Gardens park land -bank site concerning <br /> a land trade that would allow development of a public golf course. You also <br /> directed that staff provide a progress report at the end of Summer. This <br /> memo responds to that directive. <br /> Concerns raised by the Council during your meeting included: <br /> 1. That any transaction be consistent with the intent of the Eugene Parks <br /> and Recreation Plan Plan and preserve land for development of a neigh- <br /> borhood park. <br /> 2. That staff not expend and exorbitant amount of time on the project, but <br /> rather, allow the owners /future developers to assume responsibility for <br /> any legal, planning or environmental research or processing required to <br /> allow the development. <br /> 3. That steps be taken to insure that a golf course, once developed, would <br /> remain open to the public. <br /> Staff has consulted with the Parks and Recreation Commission concerning the <br /> proposal and the Commission has been generally supportive. There is some <br /> interest on the Commission in moving ahead as part of the land trade toward <br /> defining what a neighborhood park should look like. There is also neighbor- <br /> hood interest in preserving access to the ponds as a feature of a park at <br /> that location. <br /> In staff's analysis, there are two factors which influence the type of pro- <br /> cess which should be followed. First, the City is not currently in a finan- <br /> cial position to develop a new neighborhood park. The demand for a park in <br /> the area is driven by the Parks and Recreation Plan's standards, but the <br /> timing and nature of the park will be driven by political processes, includ- <br /> ing neighborhood interest, financial resources, and ultimately a citizen <br /> involvement process leading to a park development plan and implementation. <br /> The citizen involvement planning component could span up to 12 months. For <br /> these reasons, we envision that it will be several years before the time is <br /> right to proceed with park planning and development. <br /> The second factor is the desire of the owners /developers to move forward. <br /> While it appears that they do not have a "firm" deal with a golf course de- <br /> veloper at this time, they clearly are working with someone. As with any <br />