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RECEIVED <br /> BY CITY MANAGER <br /> JUN 1 2005 <br /> A letter from a citizen in Santa Clara: <br /> The McDougal land swap has brought the citizens of Santa Clara out of their <br /> neighborhood and into the public eye in an attempt to stop the city of Eugene <br /> from planning the future of their community. The swap requires an urban <br /> growth boundary expansion that consumes 197 acres of Class 1 soils with <br /> suburban sprawl, commercial development, and community park. The citizens <br /> have stated time and again that they support parks, but have other ideas to <br /> meet their parks needs without rewarding developers for undermining our <br /> urban growth boundary and setting a precedent for the same to occur at all <br /> edges of the city. The citizen's park plan has been well received by the <br /> public, but dismissed by the parks department as "not providing an <br /> affordable option for the purpose, intent and functions of a community <br /> park ". The need to protect resource lands (forests, farmland, wetlands, and <br /> natural habitats) is a priority in all neighborhoods.To that end we have <br /> created an alliance between the citizens of South Eugene and Santa Clara. <br /> Playing one neighborhood off another and leveraging one resource against <br /> another is divisive and inappropriate. The farmlands out here are what will <br /> feed us long into the future and the protection of out watersheds and <br /> natural habitats will ensure that we have clean air and water. We can not <br /> sacrifice any of these resources, we must be a citizenry united in our desire <br /> to protect our resource lands to the maximum extent practicable. <br /> Kate Perle <br /> 4 Santa Clara citizen < � �h r <br /> I� l <br /> T h tx &.-#. ? k- -) <br />