Admin Order 58-04-15 - Laserfiche WebLink

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was expressed not to have a small dog park area since that would result in a crowded, muddy, and messy area. The dog off leash area at Amazon Park was used as an example of an area that was too small at approximately 2.5 acres. Even at the size of the more recently developed dog off leash area in Alton Baker Park, 4 acres, degradation has occurred to the turf. It was discussed that improved drainage and irrigation maybe necessary to help the turf withstand the constant year round use that dog off leash areas receive. A statement was made that people come with their dogs from south and east Eugene to use the Candlelight off leash area. Several people lobbied for at least half (5.5 acres) of the Candlelight park to be designated as an off leash dog park on the master plan, while others said that no more than half of the park should be reserved for the dog off leash use. Everyone present felt that whatever the size, the dog off leash area should be made accessible: A suggestion was made to consider using the southwest corner of the park site as the dog off leash area. It has a natural separation from the rest of the park site by the existing open drainage way. Access from the north and east would need to be provided by a footbridge over the drainage way. Providing shade in dog off leash area was considered important. Shade trees and a covered gazebo or shelter was proposed. Other amenities such as drinking fountains, benches, etc were mentioned as desirable. The idea of developing sports fields at Candlelight did not receive much support from the people in attendance. Even though people were told that the City had long believed that this park due to its size and flat topography would be an ideal site to locate sports fields, there was not much sympathy among the group to see this happen. People were more opposed to seeing a ball field than a soccer field. In fact, after some discussion, the group stated that they would not mind seeing soccer fields since such a space had multiple use value. When not used for game play, it would provide open space for other informal activities. Ball fields were considered a more formal use that required more infrastructure, and did not lend themselves readily to alternate uses. While on the site posting for the first public meeting, a neighbor approached staff and briefly provided some viewpoints. While being happy to see the site finally developed for a variety of uses, he felt that providing facilities for active play such as basketball and soccer were especially important. One person expressed an interest in seeing wildlife habitat developed in the park. Since the site has been maintained over its history as a rough mown field, there is little existing habitat value. Any significant habitat would need to be created. A logical location for this would be along the open waterway corridor that runs through the park. PARK LANDSCAPE The `wetland' status of the park site was discussed. A wetland delineation was performed which documented approximately''/2 acre of low quality wetland. Most of the wetland is located on the eastside of the park, approximately halfway between its north and south boundaries. A very small amount of wetland is documented along the bottom of the small open drainageway that traverses through the park site. The City is planning on purchasing mitigation credits in the West Eugene Wetland Mitigation Bank in order to develop the park. The cost to purchase these credits is estimated to be approximately $25,000. The open drainageway through the park is one of the upper reaches of the Greenhill Tributary, which is undergoing coordinated enhancement improvements. As part of that overall program, the City is planning on creating an enhanced waterway through Candlelight Park. Design options will be explored which will lay back the steep banks of the waterway, open up or widen portions, meander its alignment to fit around other uses in the park, and plant native vegetation that will hopefully create habitat and stormwater filtration value. The open waterway will likely require at least a couple of pedestrian crossings, with footbridges being preferred over culvert crossings. Candlelight Park is a flat site with little or no topographic relief. A short discussion addressed the idea of modifying the site grades. People did not want to see extensive mounding that could result in `hiding' places for undesirable activities. Admittedly though, the audience did see benefit in some low height