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Linda Drake is trying to get a meeting set up so that we can <br /> discuss the best way to continue processing the Amazon plan. <br /> I hope you will be available to attend. <br /> Thanks Johnny <br /> From: Etter, John <br /> To: Medlin, Johnny • <br /> Subject: RE: Amazon Park Planning Meeting <br /> Date: Thursday, March 31, 1994 10:53AM <br /> I knew prior to the Amazon Park planning process that the <br /> meetings would be an arena for battle. I joked to someone <br /> that the athletes and the environmentalist would be in there <br /> duking it out. We didn't deliberately want a battle, but <br /> rather an educational experience, which I think it largely <br /> was. I am thinking of summarizing the testimony in a concise <br /> way —a sound bite educational summary- -to show what we as <br /> planners are being asked to deal with. They can be the <br /> findings on which a particular plan is proposed. <br /> As to the process, I am not aware of other planning efforts <br /> where so many diverse interested parties who covet roughly the <br /> same space have been brought together to develop a plan. <br /> Without a model or past experience to go on, I am trying to <br /> keep an educational atmosphere in which people can become <br /> aware of (and hopefully appreciate) the various reasons people <br /> love this park and how it can become better. A debate with <br /> winners and losers wouldn't give us any different information <br /> than is coming out now; a popularity vote where a majority <br /> wins might cause some elements that should be developed to <br /> lose out. I am open to specific suggestions as to format, but <br /> do not feel (yet ?) that stopping to do a separate master plan <br /> for the park is essential. There may be some special <br /> biological /environmental studies that should be done prior to <br /> making certain decisions, but not a whole master plan. The <br /> Parks and Recreation Plan now has goals and guiding policies <br /> that I believe adequately cover park development. <br /> This is going to be a valuable exercise in that we get to a <br /> level of detail and discussion that doesn't come out in the <br /> preparation of the Parks and Recreation Plan. As the plans <br /> have been prepared, we never have taken extended periods to <br /> analyze how the various implementation strategies (add <br /> sportsfields, add parking, etc.) might be supported or in <br /> conflict with goals and policies. Various goals and policies <br /> can be in conflict at certain sites, and it is only when we <br /> get to the details of the plan that we have to arbitrate <br /> between the goals of providing the services and protecting the <br /> environment Amazon, we planners assumed that there was <br /> enough area to allow the various interests to have an adequate <br /> amount of their favorite amenity. <br /> Why this debate is valuable now is that it forces the question <br /> of how this community is going to accommodate growth and <br /> Page 2 <br />