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Letters in the Editor''s Mailbag.

Article Excerpt
Byline: The Register-Guard

Don't rush hospital approval

Our back yard borders part of the property that McKenzie-Willamette Hospital is interested in for the new hospital, just east of Delta Highway near Valley River Center. When we bought our house four years ago, the city assured us that this land was zoned for single-family housing - not even duplexes. It would have seemed paranoid to worry that a hospital might be our new neighbor.

We were astounded by the Eugene City Council's response to the hospital's interest. Rather than launching a thorough inquiry into this location's merits, a mere four days elapsed between the Oct. 18 newspaper article about the hospital's interest and the council's Oct. 22 approval of an ordinance allowing decades-old zoning designations to be amended, making way for the hospital.

We expected zoning codes to mean something. We'd hope that the council would amend single-family zoning only as a last resort, when no other alternative is acceptable. People buy their homes with the good faith that the council will do this.

For some, perhaps a hospital anywhere in Eugene is the only way to heal the wounds from losing PeaceHealth to Springfield. In such a climate, we fully expect McKenzie-Willamette to get a green light to build virtually anywhere it chooses; the council will allow our residents' interests to be trumped by the hospital's.

Though we're mindful that there are no guarantees, clearing the way for a hospital in four days is not only unreasonable -...

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