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Crowd Vows to Fight Whole Foods, Parking Garage Before City Council

Posted on: Friday, 10 March 2006, 00:00 CST

By Edward Russo, The Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore.

Mar. 8--Fired-up opponents of a proposed downtown Whole Foods Market and city parking garage Tuesday night vowed to take their arguments to the City Council in hopes of derailing the project.

About 100 people attended a meeting sponsored by the Friends of Eugene and the Eugene Permaculture Guild, preparing to oppose the development at next Monday evening's council meeting.

Speakers criticized Whole Foods and city staff members who have guided the plan to near approval. Even Mayor Kitty Piercy, who many in the audience voted for in 2004, took lumps for endorsing the project.

"If we have this kind of energy on Monday," the council could change its mind, said Friends of Eugene President Kevin Matthews. "We have the power.

We have the people to stop this thing, and to get more serious thinking about downtown."

Whole Foods Market would have two levels of its own parking above the store at Broadway and High Street. But the developers, backed by City Manager Dennis Taylor and other city staff members, would like a city-funded adjacent public parking garage.

The City Council on Monday evening will have a public hearing in order to exempt the garage project from public bidding requirements, which the city staff is recommending as a way for the city to save money. The council next Wednesday is scheduled to take key votes on the project.

Project opponent David Hinkley told the audience that all they need is four of the eight councilors to vote against the project. The council cannot deadlock 4-4 on the matter because Councilor Gary Papé cannot vote because he has a son who works for the proposed developer, Gerding Edlen of Portland.

During the council's last key vote on the topic, two councilors, Betty Taylor and Bonny Bettman, voted against the proposal.

Matthews and other speakers in the Eugene Water & Electric Board meeting room said the Whole Foods store would hurt locally owned natural grocers, and said there is no demand for the $8 million garage.

Matthews said he will object Monday to the city's plan to award the garage construction to Gerding Edlen without asking for bids from other firms.

It's possible that Friends of Eugene will file suit if the city approves the no-bid plan, he said. "When we think the city has gone in the wrong direction, based on a legal mistake, we have not hesitated to file lawsuits in the past," Matthews said.

Gavin McComas, owner of Sundance Foods, said: "Unless we think that Eugene will start spending another $100,000 a day on food, Whole Foods Market's money will come out of the pockets of existing natural foods grocers and other specialty retailers, eateries and their staffs."

Bicycle shop owner and former City Councilor Paul Nicholson faulted Piercy supporting the proposal, as well as the "shopping mall" being proposed along West Broadway by Eugene developers Tom Connor and Don Woolley. "It's time for all of you to e-mail (Piercy) and express yourselves that, frankly, you expected more," he said.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore.

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WFMI,

Source: The Register Guard

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