The River Road-Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan is in the final stage of the project. After years of gathering community input for the visions, goals, and policies in the Neighborhood Plan, the project team is excited to share the draft Neighborhood Plan back out to the community.

For the month of August, the project newsletters have highlighted the five topic areas in the River Road-Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan each week – Community, Transportation, Parks and Natural Resources, Land Use, and Economic Development. This week’s focus is on the Economic Development topic area.

The community vision for Economic Development:

The River Road and Santa Clara communities support sustainable economic development, a variety of employment opportunities for all residents, and local entrepreneurship. Economic activity, especially that of local businesses, contributes to a shared neighborhood identity, while providing places to gather and build community. Natural assets, such as the river and fertile soils, benefit local residents and support thriving businesses. Residents can safely access essential goods and services within a short distance from home.

The Neighborhood Plan policies (statements adopted to provide a consistent course of action and move the community toward attainment of its goals) for Economic Development focus on:

• incentives for local businesses
• supporting redevelopment that fosters active mixed-use centers
• encouraging neighborhood-scale businesses in residentially zoned areas

The proposed draft code:

• encourages walkable mixed-use development and requires commercial development in certain nodes along the River Road corridor
• will allow urban farmers to collectively sell produce on-site

River Road-Santa Clara Special Area Zone

Commercial Frontage Overlay Highlight

The proposed zoning focuses on neighborhood centers, which are key commercial areas near future transportation improvements along the River Road corridor. Explore the proposed zoning map to see where the proposed zoning will apply and where current zoning will remain. The proposed zoning will only apply to properties currently within the city limits or as property owners choose to annex.

One of the new proposed zones is the Corridor Mixed-Use Zone, which:

• applies to current C-1 Neighborhood Commercial and key GO General Office zoned properties in neighborhood centers on the River Road corridor (as well as C-2 Community Commercial zoned properties and key large church properties in River Road-Santa Clara) to support potential future redevelopment
• encourages new buildings with appropriate height and relationship to the street that enable a long-term transition to a highly walkable, safe, and active streetscape
• combines engaging street side character with gradual building scale transitions between uses of greater and lesser intensity

The Commercial Frontage Overlay:

• applies to certain properties with proposed Corridor Mixed-Use zoning that are at key intersections near potential transportation improvements while considering potential development opportunities (e.g. vacant/partially vacant properties)
• establishes areas where ground floor commercial uses are required (e.g. retail, personal services, and restaurants)
• uses development standards to support an active street environment

Visit the code summary for an overview of other key code topics and to see an overview of the proposed zoning and development standards compared to existing zoning and development standards. Stay tuned for community outreach opportunities to provide feedback on the draft zoning and land use code!

Have Questions about the Neighborhood Plan?

• Come chat with the Neighborhood Plan project team to ask questions and share feedback by dropping in to virtual office hours on Tuesday September 6 and 20 from 11:30am-12:30pm on Zoom. Link to join: https://eugene-or-gov.zoom.us/j/87265174568.
• Visit the Neighborhood Plan’s Frequently Asked Questions page for answers to common questions.
• Don’t see your question? Submit one on the RRSC Engage Eugene project page.

For more information, project updates, and important dates visit the RRSC Neighborhood Plan project website and the Engage Eugene project page.