garage giveaway

[Melanie Rios]

Here's a draft of what I plan to say on Monday. Am open to suggestions.
Thanks,
Melanie


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Dear Councilors and Mayor,

I am opposed to using city funds to build a parking garage next to the proposed Whole Foods Market, and in favor of taking time to create a design for Eugene that promotes our chances for sustainability into the next century and beyond.
I am a student of permaculture, a design system that looks to nature for ideas on how to create sustainable systems. One of the first principles of this design system is to observe carefully before acting. It is recommended, for example, that homeowners observe their land for a year before making changes, because many changes are difficult to undo. Applied to the parking garage, this principle would encourage us to observe whether parking is really needed downtown, and if so, where. Sure, there was a study done by someone who never set foot in Eugene, using problematic multiplier factors based on square footage of retail space. But it would be important in careful observation to also consider other factors, such as how much the existing parking spaces downtown are being used. One survey of garage owners estimated that only half of the existing spaces are currently being used during peak hours. We could also interview current residents of downtown about what they’d like to see happen there, such as the neighborhood council that recently voted unanimously with one abstention in favor of a design to create a park system to the river that would include the land where the proposed garage would be built. We could interview folks at the courthouse, who according to city estimates will generate a need for 500 new parking spaces. At least some of the folks who work there have said they don’t see a need for any new spaces; that street parking is and will continue to be adequate.
Another permaculture principle is to design systems that use biological rather than fossil fuel inputs. Nature uses renewable energy to fuel its systems, as we will need to learn to do if we want to continue to be part of the family of beings on earth. It is not contested by serious scientists that our planet is heating up, with serious potential consequences including loss of low elevation land to rising sea levels, more violent weather, and many other disruptions that can lead to massive loss of habitable lands. All of us who share this planet need to be doing everything in our power to curb the creation of greenhouse gases; subsidizing automobile use by building a parking garage is counterproductive to this effort. It is also not likely that folks will be driving as much in ten years, once oil production can no longer keep up with demand, and prices for gasoline spiral upwards. We will need a strong community of local organic farmers and food retailers scattered throughout the city within walking distance of residents once oil supplies diminish, as we will no longer have the energy available to transport food long distances. If we are going to subsidize the food chain, it should be to support local organic food providers, not a national corporation who will export the money we spend on food to Austin, Texas and distant farms. So I would be in favor of using city funds to create a permanent home for a farmer’s market such as the Pike Place Market in Seattle.
A final permaculture design principle I will share with you is the idea of creating diverse, multi-story systems. A healthy plan for downtown would include ways for one piece of land to serve many functions. For example, we could require a new development to have a level of parking underground, then retail space on the ground level, residences above that, and as a top level, a place for recreating in nature and growing food.
I ask all of you stewards of our city to please vote “no” on subsidizing building a parking garage, and to find other more sustainability promoting ways of using available public funds.

Thanks for devoting your time to these important issues that will affect all of us for years to come,

Melanie Rios

[joe]

the fact they need a parking garage for the new grocery store says it's a poor choice for the store location. I won't be shopping there. I'll walk to the two markets in my neighborhood. what's the purpose for siting a store down town? for down town residents, maybe? They won't be driving to it. There's no shortage of parking down town, rather a shortage of vision and knowledge of proper planning.

[Kevin]

Nicely put!