A developer wants to allow new homes in southwest Eugene, but some neighbors there are concerned about habitat destruction.
Videra Oak Meadow is in the Braewood Hills neighborhood. It is sloped, undeveloped property with areas of wetland. Now, the Arizona-based developer Piculell Properties is looking to site 38 residential lots on 15 acres there.
However, the nonprofit Save Videra Oak Meadow is voicing concerns about the proposal, as first reported by Eugene Weekly. Its secretary, Julie Butler, said there are oak trees at the site that are centuries-old and practically irreplaceable.
"In the Willamette Valley, we've kind of unknowingly, unwittingly, greatly reduced the supply of our native oak savanna,” said Butler. “And we're just now really becoming aware of this and the danger of losing it all.”
Butler also said the wetland reduces flooding and fire risk for neighbors, and filters water flowing into Videra Creek, which wildlife drink from. She said this housing proposal could disrupt that natural environment.
"The development that has been applied for is not environmentally friendly in any way, shape or form," said Butler. "It's very much just a dig and destroy kind of scenario.”
Piculell Properties Manager Al Lundstrom said the company will retain as many trees as it can, unless they are directly in the path of homes. He also said the company is planning to recommend just one house per lot, even though its application requested to allow one to four.
"We believe that the when the development is complete, there will be an asset to not only the local community, which manages the surrounding homes around it, but to the city," Lundstrom told KLCC.
The Braewood Homeowner's Association allows just one single-family dwelling unit per lot, and one accessory-dwelling unit per lot.
The path to approval
The Eugene Planning Commission tentatively approved the project last month, reversing an earlier decision by a city hearings official.
The commission concluded that the property is a "Goal 5 resource," based on mapping from the 1970s. The hearings official had argued there wasn't enough evidence to determine that.
Statewide, Goal 5 is meant to designate and protect Oregon's natural resources. But in this case, it also means the developer doesn't have to follow the city's Tree Preservation and Removal Standards.
"We have a piece of property that literally has no protections," said Butler. "The city has failed in its Goal 5 requirements to protect this kind of an area."
Opponents of the project now plan to take the issue to the state Land Use Board of Appeals. Butler said Save Videra Oak Meadow eventually wants to raise money to purchase the site. But right now, she said its focus is on legal fees.
