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Stewart Road Closure <br /> May ] 0, 1999 <br /> Page 15 <br /> .055(1) Special events of community interest including parades and public <br /> gatheri gs. <br /> his criterion does not apply to this decision. <br /> .055(m) Construction within or adjacent to the street. <br /> his criterion does not apply to this decision. <br /> 5.055(n) When establishing conditions upon the use of parking in the public <br /> way a d city-owned parking facilities: * * <br /> This criterion does not apply to the decision to alter the use of Stewart Road. The <br /> Admin strative Order applies it to how the road should be regulated once it is closed. <br /> The Ci y intends to limit parking close to the barrier, but has not yet done so. Discussion <br /> Summ r Remarks <br /> Closing Stewart Road is a bad choice made because there are xo good options. It <br /> has ma y more negative aspects than positive contributions for the people most directly <br /> affecte It has serious implications for other poor streets in Eugene which, absent <br /> impro ement, will someday soon be in the same situation as Stewart Road is in now. It <br /> seems, however, that the City determined that closure is the only practical choice. Within <br /> the co text of Eugene Code 5.055 and the hearings officer's authority, the appeal does <br /> not w ant reversal of the City's decision. <br /> Nothing in the Code prevents the hearings officer from offering several <br /> recom endations. First, this problem of deteriorating streets that are not eligible for <br /> impro ement should be a subject considered by the Council in their reexamination of <br /> street i provement policy. If the City is going to start closing streets rather than <br /> impro ing them, then much of the City's policies concerning the construction of streets <br /> should be reexamined, so that businesses and residents are not promised a street system <br /> with c nnectivity, only to have this promise modified by deteriorating conditions. <br /> Second, I recommend that the City traffic division and the City Council review <br /> the po icy decision that closure is better than the continuing deterioration, especially in <br /> the lig t of the negative effects that closure hastens. It would be better if the policy is <br /> more lly articulated before the next application. The Council might want to gather <br /> info ation relating to the speed of deterioration so that they can provide some overall <br /> policy direction on where the threshold exists such that crossing that point means that a <br /> deteri rating street needs to be closed regardless of other consequences. The Stewart <br /> Road ecision marks the beginning of a policy to the effect that the condition of a road <br /> can an should be a reason to close the road. It would be valuable if the Council could <br /> instru t the City administration not only on the appropriateness of that as a general <br /> policy but also on the appropriate boundaries of the problem: how fast does the <br /> deteri ration have to be to justify the decision; how serious does the deterioration need to <br /> be bef re it is appropriate to close a raad? <br /> Possible Review Procedures <br /> Eugene Code section 5.045 provides: <br /> <br /> i <br /> <br />