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E U G E N E <br />Parks and <br />Open Space <br />a division of Public Works <br />1820 Roosevelt Blvd. <br />Eugene, Oregon 97402 <br />(541) 682-4800 <br />(541) 682-4882 Fax <br />www.ci.eugene.or.us/pw/parks <br />Parks and Open <br />Space Planning <br />Parks Maintenance <br />Urban Forestry <br />Wetlands and Open <br />Waterways <br /> <br />June 26, 2003 <br />Zane & Elaine Cornett <br />5209 Canyon Drive <br />Eugene, OR 97405 <br />Dear Mr. & Mrs. Cornett: <br />This letter is in reply to your e-mail of June 17, 2003 to staff in the Public Works and <br />Planning Departments regarding the future trail construction adjacent to your <br />property on Canyon Drive. <br />In 1999, the City purchased the 13-acre Amazon Headwaters Parcel in part to provide <br />a trail corridor to replace the old Bridle Trail easement. Since that time, city staff has <br />endeavored to provide neighborhood and community residents relevant information <br />about the trail plan. Specific outreach efforts have included the following: <br />• Informing all residents within a radius of approximately 500' of the trailhead <br />by letter in August of 2002; <br />• Providing information to interested parties, including you and your neighbor, <br />Teresa O' Caer, at logical points in the planning process; <br />• Various staff discussing issues with you via multiple phone calls and emails; <br />• Attending a meeting of the SEN board; <br />• Presenting trail planning progress at the SEN General Meeting; <br />• Conducting two special meetings at your request, one last summer at your <br />residence and one this spring at the City ; <br />• Facilitating afollow-up site visit this spring through the proposed alternate <br />route with our trail consultant Larry Wilson. <br />Through discussions with you, other adjacent neighbors and the SEN Neighborhood <br />representatives, we were made aware of concerns about parking, traffic, natural <br />resource impacts, and privacy loss. City staff understands these concerns, and the <br />project designed to minimize as much as possible these kinds of neighborhood <br />impacts. In addition, we thoroughly evaluated the proposed alternate route to the <br />west, which is already in use. Unfortunately, as we have explained, this proposal was <br />seriously deficient in a number of critical areas. Although the trail is not adequate to <br />serve as the sole official route to the Ridgeline system, we support the continued use <br />and improvement of that route. This information was provided to the neighborhood <br />as part of our presentation at last April's SEN general meeting. <br />Following the SEN April general meeting, staff discussed working with the SEN <br />neighborhood to further address concerns, and a volunteer effort to improve the <br />alternate route was agreed upon. Subsequently, a proposal was developed by SEN <br />leadership to realign the Canyon Drive connection in a way they felt to be more <br />