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July 22, 1994 <br />AMAZON PARK DEVELOPMENT PLANNING <br />CRITERIA AND CONSIDERATIONS <br />BEHIND THE <br />PLANNING DECISIONS <br />The act of planning for how Amazon Park will be developed was <br />essentially an exercise of balancing competing needs for park <br />space within the community. The adopted planning documents that <br />govern in this situation (Oregon Statewide Planning Goals, the <br />Lane County Metropolitan General Plan (Metro Plan), and the <br />Eugene Parks and Recreation Plan) all contain goals and policies <br />that are often, to,some extent, in conflict with each other. <br />Briefly, all plans to the need to preserve and enhance the <br />community's natural resources, and all plans speak to the need to <br />provide a variety of recreational opportunities in ways that make <br />them accessible to the population. The oral and written input <br />received in the Amazon Park planning process affirmed that those <br />conflicting goals and objectives exist in the community. <br />Fortunately, there is a natural way these interests sort <br />themselves out: Areas of high natural resource value tend to <br />have not been disturbed at this point because they have been the <br />most costly to access and develop. The areas of low natural <br />resource value include those areas that have been disturbed by <br />past use of the land or grading in conjunction with various <br />projects and park improvements. <br />The proposed plan generally focuses new development in the <br />disturbed areas, proposes managing other areas for their natural <br />resource value, and suggests opportunities for recreating <br />wetlands in areas that were filled years ago. Not all <br />recreational amenities that were suggested by the public are <br />being included, and not all suggestions for expanding natural <br />resource values are included. <br />What follows are a series of "findings" that are pertinent to <br />Amazon Park. Following that are a series of discussions about <br />each planning decision, and how the findings have affected some <br />of the planning decisions. <br />FINDINGS <br />History: Citizens of Eugene, raising money through the Century <br />Fund, acquired Amazon Park in 1946. Early planners had visions <br />for developing the entire park with greater recreational <br />offerings than are planned today. Before Amazon Creek was <br />engineered for flood control purposes in the late 1 50 1 s, there <br />was frequent flooding. Some rural development along the west <br />side of Hilyard Street had existed during pre -park days, <br />primarily involving livestock grazing. <br />1 <br />