Ascot Park, Ballfield, Electrical

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. \ f I f \ /*' DISTRIBUTED TO: RECEIVED MAYOR BY CITY MANAGKR tivec ✓ September 30, 1993 0 CT1 1993 MGR ...._..... ,. TMG L- Dear Eugene City Council: _... -__ -_ .rot,- :, DEPT �x ` a We are writing in response to the insensitivity and questionable legality of the ity of . PJ Eugene for failure to conduct a hearing on the proposed installation of lighting f 4res in Ascot Park. Attached is a letter dated September 24, 1993 from the City of Eugene. It was received on Saturday, September 25. Work started on Monday, September 27. The only homeowners who received this letter were those whose property is adjacent to Ascot Park. Other homeowners who would be severely affected by the lights, the increased traffic and noise were not notified. The Harlow Neighbors Association did not receive notification of this installation. There was no hearing! There was no opportunity for input from homeowners in this area. With the poles nearly 100 feet tall, several neighborhoods will be affected! Our neighborhood is a stable, close knit, hard working group of people. Most of the neighbors have lived here at least 15 years. Some built their homes here back in the early 1960's. Many are retired and plan to live in this peaceful place away from the hustle and bustle of Coburg and Harlow Roads. Most of the daytime activities at Ascot Park have not been offensive to our neighborhood. However, we will not tolerate the noise from activities late at night. Neighbors living six to eight blocks away from the field hear the noise as well. Think what will happen when the games are allowed to be played past dark when noise is amplified with the cool air. The letter from the city indicates that there was a study made and that there was a sufficient buffer between the lights and the surrounding homes. However, EWEB came out in the middle of the summer and removed many of the trees that stood as the buffer zone! We have made numerous phone calls to city officials...some being returned, others ignored. We contacted our City Council Representative, Paul Nicholson, and asked him to bring this project to your attention at Wednesday's work session of the council but due to time restraints it was not possible. Thirteen people met at Ascot Park with John Etter from the City of Eugene Wednesday afternoon. (There would have been a much bigger representation if it had been an evening meeting.) We asked questions and John answered to the best of his ability. We were shown the two short videos of the lights and their lighting affect on a neighborhood in another community. Incidently, six people on city staff made the decision to install these lights based only on seeing these videos and some recommendations. According to John Etter, no one on staff has actually seen these lights in operation.