Springfield council declares two Linda Lane parcels surplus after public hearing; neighbors raise wetlands and emergency egress concerns

Jeremy Shearer, the city surveyor, asked the Springfield City Council on Sept. 15 to declare two tax lots in the Linda Lane area surplus, retaining an approximately 11.5-acre portion as a compensatory wetland site that the city must maintain in perpetuity under a restrictive covenant.

Shearer said the full property was acquired in 2021 for the Jasper Trunk project; it was purchased for $450,000 and was recently appraised at $830,000 excluding the 11.6 acres of wetland the city will hold. He said the city’s next step if council declares the parcels surplus would be to list them on the open market, solicit offers and bids, and covenant with a purchaser to ensure preservation of the wetlands area.

During the public hearing several nearby residents urged the council to keep the property or to preserve more of the adjacent upland and hydrologic connections that residents and a 2022 consultant report say are important to the wetlands’ ecological function. Renee Ellis of South 50 Eighth Street called the sale “a mistake,” saying the mitigation certification rests on current, undeveloped surroundings and warning that surrounding development could impair the wetlands’ ability to filter drainage that contributes to the Willamette River and local groundwater.

Residents also raised traffic and safety concerns. James Robert Moore and Vera Moore, both from Jasper Meadows, said the subdivision already has a single entrance/exit and that adding more housing served by the same access would exceed the city’s practical safety expectations. They described heavy driveway and street parking in the neighborhood and urged that emergency egress be carefully addressed.

City staff and the community development director said the subdivision process that produced the current configuration included a required emergency access or secondary access point. Jeff Paschal, community development director, said the secondary access for emergency ingress/egress exists on adjacent property and will be gated or bollarded and opened only in emergencies. He said a planned intersection farther south (Bob Straub) will be constructed when the adjacent property owner develops and that the city cannot compel the timing of that third-party development. Paschal added that any purchaser of the surplus parcels would be held to current Springfield code standards and the transportation system plan when proposing development.

Council discussion focused on safety and process. Councilors asked staff for a clear memo explaining how the prior subdivision approvals were processed and how emergency access and transportation requirements apply. Several councilors emphasized that any future developer would be required to meet the city’s transportation and access standards.

Action: The council voted to adopt a resolution declaring certain real property owned by the city of Springfield surplus (parcel references read into the record as “18-02040001511 and 18-02044201300”) and directed the city manager to list, negotiate and accept the strongest offer. The motion passed 4–0 (4 yeses, 0 nos). The mover/second were not specified in the transcript.

Quotes in this article come from testimony and staff remarks recorded in the Sept. 15 meeting transcript.