GEARs (Greater Eugene Area Riders) Cycling Club welcomes increased housing in Eugene’s downtown core, as proposed in the Capstone Student Housing Development–but we would like to ensure that Capstone’s transportation impact honors the City Council’s adopted Vision, Goals and Outcomes.  For this reason, we recommend the following conditions for approval of Capstone’s MUPTE application:

Require State-of-the-Art Bicycle Parking: For such a high-profile development in a city known nation-wide for its level of bike theft, we’d like to see not only the required number of bicycle racks, but rather a comprehensive bicycle parking system of a quality comparable to the structured auto parking planned.  An example of such bicycle parking is BikeStation, as described athttp://home.bikestation.com/what-is-bikestation

Require Separate Apartment Rent from Parking Space Rent: Provide students an incentive to save money by leaving their cars at home.  This will make the apartments more affordable, reduce the pollution and traffic associated with hundreds of students’ cars, and leave students more money to spend at downtown businesses.  Unused parking spaces might then be available to lease to others who live, work or shop downtown.

Reduce the Number of Parking Spaces: With the University within Capstone’s “20-Minute Neighborhood”, and excellent options for walking, bicycling and transit, there is no need for as much auto parking as Capstone has proposed.  Auto parking should be reduced to the minimum required by Capstone’s lender.

Improve bicycle access from UO: Well-designed bicycle infrastructure will encourage students not only to ride bikes, but to do so safely and legally.  Recent improvements on Alder Street provide an excellent example of the type of infrastructure that can “normalize” bicycle travel.  A similar design on 13th Avenue would serve Capstone residents and their neighbors well.

We encourage you to use this opportunity presented by Capstone to shape downtown Eugene’s transportation future in a way that meets the needs of current and future residents.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.