This month's EUG Planning Newsletter provides updates on: What Are Land Use Applications, The Urban Reserves Adoption Phase, The Middle Housing Project, The River-Road/Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan, and Meet the Interns. We hope you'll find this information useful and reach out if you have questions. As always, you can find more information on all of our work by visiting our website. We wish you and your families good health and hope to see you, soon.

Have you ever wondered how one of the housing types from our meet the housing types series got built, what a flag lot is, or even how to testify at a public hearing? This informational series hopes to answer some of these questions.

This series will focus more on what is being built today and will set you up to have fun conversations with friends about what can be built next to where they live, how zoning works, and what a Planned Unit Development is. Or, perhaps those are just the conversations we have with our friends. Our second article in the series is below.

Our November newsletter discussed zoning and how it has a role in creating the unique characteristics of neighborhoods and shopping areas that we can recognize. We focused on what we refer to as a Base Zone and gave examples of two of our commercial zones and noted how they regulate things like use, building height, and setbacks. But of course, zoning does more than that! Zoning can also set up a process that needs to be followed before someone can move forward with applying for a building permit. In Eugene this process can be required by Base Zones when a proposed use is unique, or when an area is unique Overlay Zones or Special Area Zones can require this process.

This gets us to our topic today: Land Use Applications. Land Use Applications can be thought of as a process for reviewing unique projects that need to have factors considered that are beyond the scope of a building permit. Land Use Applications range from simple to highly complex and are used to review things such as minor changes to an existing building to compatibility with an entire neighborhood and adopted plans. Other features frequently reviewed are existing natural resources such as trees, the need to provide public improvements, and traffic.

In Eugene we have several different types of Land Use Applications, with each having its own approval criteria that are used to evaluate whether a project can be approved. Examples of some of the Land Use Applications are Subdivisions, Planned Unit Developments, and Conditional Use Permits. Unlike building permits, a public notice and opportunity for comment is also provided to neighbors of a site. If you receive one of these notices and are interested in commenting, we encourage you to reach out to the listed staff contact early.

In the next newsletter we will dive into one of the Land Use Application types and discuss some of the unique features that are under review when an application is submitted. In the meantime, if you are interested in getting emails when the City receives Land Use Applications, you can sign up to receive our Land Use Activity email. 

To see the zoning of a property please visit our digital zoning map, below. If you are curious about standards and regulations for a particular zone, you can visit Chapter 9 of the Eugene Code. For more questions about zoning, you can contact Althea Sullivan.

Urban Reserve project staff are in the early stages of compiling adoption materials to share with the public and decision-makers later this year, based on the direction received from the Lane County Board of Commissioners and Eugene City Council on proceeding with a 27-Year Urban Reserve area. This direction is consistent with the majority of the input received through our public engagement process, the Envision Eugene Technical Advisory Committee, and the Eugene Planning Commission recommendation to the City Council.

The proposed Urban Reserve area includes almost 6,000 acres of land, estimated to meet the needs of growth for approximately 27 years beyond our 2032 urban growth boundary (or until 2059). The proposed Urban Reserve area strives to balance the needs of our growing community with protecting our highest value soils by removing from future urbanization all agricultural properties with predominant Class 1 land and directly adjacent agricultural properties with predominant Class 2 land.

For more information, please see our project webpage. As always, stay tuned to this newsletter for monthly project updates, and sign up for our Interested Parties Mailing List to be notified in advance of public meetings. Feel free to contact Project Manager Rebecca Gershow with questions, or use the Q&A feature on the Urban Reserves Engage Eugene page.

2020 was a busy year for the Middle Housing project and it was just the beginning! Fall outreach focused on sharing information about the requirements of House Bill 2001 and developing Guiding Values and Principles for the technical phase of the project. In that outreach, we heard from a randomly-selected panel representative of Eugene demographics, an Equity Roundtable, representatives from local partners and city boards and commissions, and students at the University of Oregon. A recap of outreach efforts can be watched at the December 14, 2020 Planning Commission Work Session and more information about outreach can be found on the new Frequently Asked Questions.

While we were conducting Phase 1 of outreach, we were waiting for the state to finalize the HB 2001 rules. This project is a little different than usual because it is state-directed so the Department of Land Conservation and Development, with the direction of statewide stakeholders, developed Oregon Administrative Rules to guide local jurisdictions’ compliance with the House Bill. Those rules were finalized on December 9, 2020 by the Land Conservation and Development Commission. We will be doing a deep-dive into the rules and model code at the February 1, 2021 Planning Commission work session. 

Now that we have finalized rules for implementing the House Bill, we want to hear from you—and your friends and neighbors! February will be a big month for engagement with the launch of a community-wide survey, a series of Facebook Live conversations, mobile meeting materials, Healthy Democracy meetings, Equity Roundtable Meetings, student engagement, and more. For the most up to date information about events and opportunities to get involved, visit the Middle Housing Engage Eugene page.

The Middle Housing survey is launching on Engage Eugene February 5, 2021!

Take the survey to help guide the code-writing process. The survey will be open on Engage Eugene through March 5, 2021, and participants will be entered to win one of two $50 grocery gift cards. 

Additionally, we are excited to announce and invite you to join us this February for a series of live virtual events that discuss what land use has to do with a variety of different topics. The first of these events is going to be taking place Thursday, February 4th from 5:30 to 6:00 p.m. and will be streaming on our Facebook. This first event will be focusing on the connections between land use and transportation. For this first talk, we will be joined by a panel of 3 local experts, Reed Dunbar, AICP and Senior Transportation Planner for Eugene, Andrew Martin, Development Planner at Lane Transit District, and Shane Rhodes, Transportation Options Coordinator for Eugene. 

Throughout the rest of February, we will be having more live events that focus on housing and equity, housing and the environment, housing and costs, as well as housing and the student perspective! Keep an eye out for updates on our Facebook and Instagram when exactly these will be taking place, and we hope to see you there!

There is a ton of work happening in the coming months on the Middle Housing project. To stay up to date, sign up for our Interested Parties List and visit our Engage Eugene, project webpage. If you have any questions about the project, contact Project Manager Terri Harding.

The Action Planning Phase is wrapping up and has focused on drafting, evaluating and prioritizing actions to implement the community vision for the future. Refining the actions has been a collaborative process among the Community Advisory Committee (CAC), River Road and Santa Clara Community Organizations, and City, County and partner agency staff. Check out the latest project newsletter, which highlights projects throughout the River Road and Santa Clara neighborhoods that made progress in 2020 and work towards the community vision.

Throughout the fall and winter, the CAC reviewed a draft of the Neighborhood Plan document, discussed priorities, and expressed support for a set of potential code concepts to consider as part of the Neighborhood Plan adoption process. Next steps include seeking input and direction from City and County decision-makers to begin drafting detailed code language for community review and input. The project team is exploring creative solutions for community outreach opportunities throughout the Adoption Phase. 

In December, the River Road Corridor Study wrapped up work with the consultant team and submitted deliverables to the Federal Transit Administration, which included a summary of project work, outreach, and draft recommendations for land use code concepts and transportation improvements. The draft land use code concepts will continue to be refined to ensure alignment with the River Road and Santa Clara community vision, citywide policies and compliance with House Bill 2001. Once refined, the recommendations will be included as part of the Neighborhood Plan adoption package.

If you have any questions about the River Road-Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan, visit the project webpage or contact project manager Chelsea Hartman.

Meet our newest virtual interns! Julian and Cody are helping with the Middle Housing project outreach. The Planning team has continued to take on interns during the pandemic and has shifted the experience online.

Our Planning Internship Program offers competitive internships for current students and recent grads. Our internships provide opportunities to earn academic credit toward completion of a degree, develop and work on thesis projects, and gain practical skills in a professional environment. To learn more, visit the Internship Program webpage.

My name is Julian Ozuna and I am pleased to be joining the middle housing team to finish out my studies at the University of Oregon. I am currently enrolled in my final term within the Planning, Public Policy, and Management (PPPM) program, with a focus in the non-profit sector. I am passionate about all things transportation and housing, especially in regards to density and practical uses of finite space. It is my hope that after this internship, I will be better prepared to work in a larger city such as Chicago or New York, and will be able to contribute this experience towards solutions for their housing shortages.

During my free time, I enjoy going on walks, riding bikes, cooking Korean food, and drawing. I also enjoyed going to the movies before the pandemic, and look forward to a time when that is possible again.

My name is Cody Kleinsmith and I’m in my final year of undergrad at the University of Oregon studying in the PPPM and Geography programs. My specializations in my studies are in environmental planning and policy, specifically related to natural resources and water, as well as equity in the planning and public involvement process. It is my attitude that housing is innately connected to both of these areas and I look forward to being a part of this team and growing in my professional capacity!

In my free time before lockdowns, I frequented the gym for recreational weight lifting and running, and look forward to eventually going back once it is safer to! I do a lot of reading in my free time as well, mostly history or historical fiction, and just recently started The Count of Monte Cristo. I also enjoy hiking and the outdoors and have a special love for Olympic National Park up in Washington.

It’s important to us that community members know when someone has applied to develop their property through the land use application process. City staff are always happy to discuss a project before the formal review, and can provide information about what the formal review process will be to ensure that you have a fair opportunity to review and comment on a project. Sign up to start receiving emails that list recently submitted projects.

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