Appeals challenge PeaceHealth project.

Byline: Matt Cooper The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - A long-standing local family and a group opposed to PeaceHealth's proposed hospital site will appeal the city's approval of the sweeping medical project planned for residential land in the Gateway area.

John and Robin Jaqua, who have farmed land opposite the proposed hospital site since 1953, filed a notice of intent to appeal Friday with the state Land Use Board of Appeals, arguing that the project is better suited to the urban core, not the suburban fringe.

And CHOICES, or the Coalition for Health Options in Central Eugene-Springfield, will file notice Monday, stating that the city's March 31 approval of the project runs afoul of Oregon land use law, coordinator Jan Wilson said.

Jaqua attorney Allen Johnson said oral arguments could be presented to the appeals board in July, although a decision isn't expected until September.

PeaceHealth plans to build a $350 million regional medical center and surrounding commercial, retail and residential development on 160 acres between Game Farm Road and the McKenzie River, with the hospital scheduled to open early in 2007.

CHOICES, as well as the land use watchdog 1,000 Friends of Oregon and even the state Department of Land Conservation and Development, have argued that PeaceHealth's project violates a number of state land use goals, including those that protect housing supply, transportation and an area's balance of economic development.

Wilson said her group's appeal - backed by three residents who live in the site area - will charge that the city's approval of Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend violates the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Plan, in part because the Eugene and Lane County governments weren't given a say in a project that will disrupt the metropolitan area.

The Jaquas, on the other hand, are concerned because they own land across the river from the hospital site, reaching up into the Coburg Hills.

John Jaqua, a partner with the Jaqua and Wheatley law firm and secretary on the Nike board of directors, and his wife, Robin, fear the sprawling hospital campus and surrounding development could alter river flows, damage the banks, reduce the area's ability to absorb flooding and obscure views of the Coburg Hills, Johnson said.

"They have a general feeling that hospitals don't belong at the edge of town," he added. "They belong in the middle of town."

PeaceHealth Planning Director Philip Farrington said the notices of appeal came as no surprise.

"We've been operating under the assumption that an appeal would be forthcoming at each and every step, and we proceeded with our master plan even under the expectation that someone might file an appeal," Farrington said.

Despite the threat of an appeal, PeaceHealth recently submitted the layout of buildings and roads for the entire site confident that a successful appeal would result in only minor changes to the proposal.

The planning commission and City Council will review the development plan in the fall, with a final decision expected by the end of the year.