Private park proposal faces opposition.

Byline: Bob Keefer The Register-Guard

CORRECTION (ran 2/25/05): An article on Page D1 of the Feb. 2 Register-Guard requires clarification. David Force, an attorney for Lane County landowner Jim Gillette, states that land on which Gillette is proposing to develop a recreation area was purchsed by Gillette in 1980 and 1981. Gillette's land use application to Lane County had stated Gillette bought the land in "approximately 1990." Also, the Lane County Board of Commissioners last year declined to hear an appeal by Gillette of an earlier similar land use application that had been denied by the county's planning director.

Jim Gillette wants to create a 300-acre private park for motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, mountain bikers, hikers and paintball enthusiasts on rural land he owns just south of the Eugene city limits.

His neighbors hate the idea.

Now it's up to Lane County to sort it all out.

In November, Gillette applied for a special use permit from the county planning department for his proposed "Trials Country Trails and Nature Park," which he wants to run on property south of Lorane Highway. "Trials" refers to motorcycle trials, a form of competitive cross-country riding Gillette enjoys.

But neighbors, who have fought Gillette's various proposals for his property for years, say his latest plan will generate too much traffic and that it constitutes a fire danger. They cite noise and dust they say already is generated by motorcycles and ATVs Gillette allows on his property.

They say Gillette is a scofflaw who has ignored county land use restrictions for years and that he has failed to pay $29,000 in fines and interest for previous violations of county ordinances.

A similar proposal from Gillette was turned down on appeal by the Lane County Board of Commissioners last year; part of the land in that proposed park was zoned for exclusive farm use. The new proposal limits the proposed park to the 300 acres of land Gillette owns that is not zoned for exclusive farm use.

Gillette says he doesn't understand why his neighbors are against his park proposal.

"That's all lies!" he said of about a dozen letters on file with the Lane County Planning Department opposing his plans and citing the possibility of fire hazards and noise pollution, as well as the legally uncertain status of ATV and motorcycle parks on forest and agricultural land.

A retired Eugene firefighter, Gillette often has been at the center of controversy. He was fired from the department in 1983 on a variety of charges, including sleeping - in public and in uniform - while on duty, jeopardizing a patient and swearing at a city employee. He was reinstated at the order of an arbitrator, who agreed with the decision to discipline Gillette but reduced the penalty to six months' suspension. Gillette said at the time that the action resulted from his criticism of the fire department.

In 1987, a methamphetamine lab blew up on rural property he owned near Dexter. Gillette said the property was rented to a tenant and he had no idea that the drug operation was there.

In 1997, Lane County commissioners, citing neighbors' complaints of a potential fire hazard, turned down his proposal to run a paintball park on the same land he is now proposing for the nature park.

Gillette, 65, is a tall, rangy man who lives alone in a modest home on the 500 acres he owns just south of Lorane Highway.

A veteran of the Marine Corps, he has acquired his property gradually over the years, he explains, buying timber parcels on his firefighter's income and trading up. He bought the current property around 1990.

One recent morning, he offered an ATV-powered tour of his property, which has been used in the past for cattle grazing and timber management.

Since Gillette has owned the land, he has spent hours each day cutting ATV trails, which loop up and down the oak-covered hillsides in a vast labyrinth.

The land now has about 70 miles of trail, he says.

"It's beautiful here," he says. "The land has unique rock formations. It has forested hillsides and oak savannah. I want to preserve all that. And I think the way to preserve it is not to subdivide it like so many of my neighbors who are fighting me on this."

As he rides around the property, Gillette talks at length about the wildlife he sees during his daily trail work. He stops a couple of times to point out the location of recent cougar kills, and says deer often approach him while he's working on his trail network.

Gillette's land also includes several cabins and recreational vehicles and some wrecked cars, all of which he says he is working to get rid of. In the past, he has said he had up to 40 families living on the property. Gillette claims that he was helping to house the homeless, though he says some were paying rent.

In 1996, the county insisted that he get rid of the tenants and ultimately fined him $12,000.

Gillette says the fines against him, which have resulted in a lien on his property, are unfair and unjustified. The original fine came about, he says, only because a county inspector was late showing up to certify his compliance with an order that he evict the "homeless" families from the land.

"Those fines are because they're crooks," he says.

Opposition to his current proposal simply betrays people's bias against motorcycles, he says.

"When they hear I'm going to let motorcycles up here they think noise, they think fire," Gillette says. "But it's not against the law for me to let 100 people come here and ride motorcycles."

Opponents of Gillette's park proposal cite his sometimes aggressive attitude. At a hearing on the previous park proposal, says a letter from a lawyer representing neighbor James Harrang, Gillette attempted to "intimidate" the neighbors.

Gillette denies any attempt at intimidation, but says he's simply determined to succeed.

"One way or another this is going to be a park," Gillette said. "They can't stop me. This is America."

At a hearing last week, about eight people testified against the proposal, said associate planner Thom Lanfear.

The planning department is accepting written testimony on Gillette's proposal until 5 p.m. Feb. 11. A decision will be made by the planning director sometime after March 4, which is the deadline for Gillette to rebut information in the file.

CAPTION(S):

Jim Gillette rides an all-terrain vehicle on property he is proposing to turn into a nature park. He has carved about 70 miles of trails on the 300 acres, and wants to open the land to ATVs, motorcycles, mountain bikers, hikers and paintball players. Stephanie Barrow / The Register-Guard Thomas Boyd / The Register-Guard Jim Gillette's land is just south of the Eugene city limits. He says wildlife is common on the property. L a n d u s e d i s p u t e