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Landowners seek exchange of urban growth boundaries - The Register-Guard, Eugene, Or... Page 3 of 4 <br /> Andrea Riner, planning manager for Eugene's parks and open <br /> space division, said the city could find no sites large enough or <br /> Law available inside the boundary, so planners started looking at <br /> property outside. <br /> Officials initially identified six parcels in the north River Road <br /> area, but then scratched four of them. The remaining two were <br /> culled to one when the Babb family said they weren't <br /> interested in selling some land near the Willamette River. That <br /> left the McDougals. <br /> "Originally when (city officials) approached us for the regional <br /> park, there wasn't much interest" from the McDougals, said <br /> Mike Evans, a Springfield-based land use consultant who <br /> represents the brothers. <br /> Evans said the McDougals became more interested when Riner <br /> and other city officials proved receptive to the possibility of the <br /> McDougals donating park land if the city expanded the urban <br /> growth boundary in Santa Clara and shrank it in the Laurel Hill <br /> Valley area. <br /> An advisory panel, including Santa Clara residents, met this <br /> summer to discuss impacts and weigh alternatives. <br /> Noting that both the McDougal tract in Santa Clara and the <br /> brothers' tract in the Laurel Hill Valley are included in a long- <br /> t, range government planning study as sites where future <br /> development will probably occur, the committee recommended <br /> that city officials consider the McDougal proposal as prudent <br /> and cost effective. <br /> Lauri Segel, Lane County representative for land use watchdog <br /> group 1,000 Friends of Oregon, said she would prefer that the <br /> city find a way to acquire just the park land and leave the <br /> remaining McDougal property outside of the boundary. <br /> The McDougals aren't interested in selling just the park land, <br /> Evans said. <br /> "I'm not convinced there is no other way to get park land," <br /> Segel said. "This is a lot to consider as a way to get a <br /> community park." <br /> The city could buy the 77 acres from the McDougals through <br /> eminent domain proceedings. <br /> To make the swap happen, the McDougals would have to seek <br /> an amendment to the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Area <br /> General Plan, the area's growth management blueprint. The <br /> proposal would need approval from the state, the Eugene City <br /> Council and the Lane County commissioners. <br /> http://www.registerguard.com/cgi-bin/printStory.py?name=a 1.mcdougal.1 1 06&date=2003 1 1... 11/12/03 <br />