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A Eugene-based advocacy group this week filed a notice of intent to appeal to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals concerning the process the city of Eugene followed to issue a building permit.

Connecting Eugene is challenging the permit for excavation and grading work for a 250-car surface parking lot that would be attached to a 79,800-square-foot office building. The group contends that the city is required under state law to hold a public hearing before issuing a building permit for any of the properties within a 67-acre area of land owned by the University of Oregon. The construction project is planned to take place within the area.

“The city made a discretionary land-use decision when it issued the permit,” said Paul Cziko, a graduate student at the University of Oregon who filed the appeal for . “It clearly states in both the 1989 conditional use permit and master plan that a public hearing needs to be held every time a discretionary land-use decision is made so the public has a chance to add to the discussion.”

Connecting Eugene opposes development of the building and parking lot – planned as the home of Eugene-based private research firm – and the possibility of other private development on university-owned land along the Willamette River.

“This precious resource of undeveloped waterfront land (is) in the heart of Eugene and it’s owned by the university,” Cziko said. “Any development that occurs needs to benefit the public or benefit the students.

“Right now it’s only benefiting the developer. It’s a loss to the university and a loss to the taxpayers.”

The university had grand plans for the 67-acre tract in the 1980s, when it started master planning the site to become a private research park with ties to the school. Riverfront Research Park was supposed to have 10 office buildings totaling 1.2 million square feet. But various hurdles have resulted in the university producing only two buildings – a total of 110,000 square feet – over the past 25 years.

Diane Wiley, director of the research park for UO since 1985, said the university expected the project to move along faster but isn’t giving up on the development. The university will continue to be selective when it chooses tenants, she said.

About two years ago, Trammell Crow Co. approached the university about developing one of the parcels for the Oregon Research Institute. The company then leased the land from the school and started planning the development, which drew opposition from not only Connecting Eugene but also the University of Oregon Senate and the Associated Students of the University of Oregon. The latter two organizations signed resolutions urging university officials to abide by the process set forth in the documents from the 1980s.

But the university and the city have continued to argue that the permit, the plan and an intergovernmental agreement between the two parties are no longer in effect. They say the agreement ended 10 years ago when the parties jointly decided to disband a riverfront commission intended to provide public oversight of the project.

In a meeting before the UO Senate, university President Richard Lariviere stood by this assertion and said the intergovernmental agreement was void.

“Students and faculty have opposed building next to the river for more than 20 years … they’ve even passed four separate resolutions in the last 16 months asking for formal public involvement,” Cziko said. “Now it seems that the administration has instructed the city not to hold a public hearing, and the president is refusing to answer questions on the matter.”

It will now be up to LUBA to determine whether the conditional use permit and master plan are still in effect, and whether a public hearing was required before the permit was issued to Trammell Crow.

The appealing parties, with the help of Eugene-based land-use attorney Anne Davies, now will prepare a brief and the university will respond. After 71 days, both sides will be able to state their case during a hearing in front of the LUBA board.