This month's EUG Planning Newsletter includes updates on: Middle Housing, River Road, SDC Exemption Request for Affordable Housing Proposals, Urban Reserves, and  Planning and Development Department Job Postings. 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.

On July 28, 2022, Eugene Middle Housing volunteers and community partners gathered with city staff and state officials to celebrate the passage of the code amendments and the innovative process of including more Eugene residents in the decision making. Mayor Lucy Vinis accepted the State ACE Award for Achievement in Community Engagement on behalf of the project team, volunteers, panelists, and round table participants.  

According to the state, the ACE Award “recognizes organizations and individuals who have actively promoted and implemented the values of Oregon's Statewide Planning Goal 1 through an outstanding community engagement strategy.” 

The Eugene process included a 29- member lottery selected review panel facilitated by Healthy Democracy, an Equity Round Table facilitated by Alai Community Consulting, and local boards and commissions and partners roundtables facilitated by City staff, among other engagement efforts.  

Eugene Review Panel member Jose Melendez said in the award nomination that the middle housing engagement process is “worthwhile celebrating to encourage other jurisdictions to take on such an innovative approach that requires commitment of resources, and as such, shows evidence of where their values are.” 

Thank you to all of our local round table participants, panelists, focus group members, consultants, community leaders, and partner agency staff for making this project happen! 

On June 30, 2022 City of Eugene Ordinance 20667 went into effect to implement the Middle Housing Code Amendments. 

The Middle Housing Code Amendments implement House Bill 2001, legislation that requires large cities in Oregon, including Eugene, to allow middle housing (duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, rowhouses, and cottage clusters) to be built in all neighborhoods. This legislation is intended to increase our housing supply and allow for more housing types of all shapes and sizes in more places. 

The code is in effect, but the online code is still pending an update. Staff is working to have the online code reflect the changes as soon as possible. Until then, Ordinance 20667 contains the approved code amendments. 

For the latest project information, visit the project webpage. If you have any questions about the new code, contact Senior Planner Jeff Gepper.

The River Road-Santa Clara neighborhood planning process is in the final stage, the Adoption Phase, which will include broader community outreach before asking the River Road (RRCO) and Santa Clara (SCCO) Community Organization Boards for a community recommendation on the Neighborhood Plan adoption package.

On Wednesday, July 13, RRCO and SCCO held a joint meeting to hear an update from the River Road-Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan project team about what’s been going on with the neighborhood planning process, where it is, and where it’s headed. The recorded meeting is available here and includes an overview that touches on the outreach and project phases to date, what the Neighborhood Plan and Action Plan will do, and information about outreach efforts.

As a reminder, a draft of the Neighborhood Plan is available on the project website and the Neighborhood Plan Overview provides a short 2-page summary about the Neighborhood Plan and Action Plan.

Have questions?

• Come chat with the Neighborhood Plan project team to ask questions and share feedback by dropping in to virtual office hours every other Tuesday 11:30am-12:30pm on Zoom (August 2, August 16, August 30). 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 and sign up for our interested parties mailing list.

SDC Exemption Program Applications Due September 19, 2022

Qualified local affordable housing projects can now apply to be provided exemptions for local system development charges (SDCs) during the building permit process. Applications are available online and must be submitted by September 19, 2022. The SDC exemptions can go toward smaller single-unit projects, like accessory dwelling units or homes built for ownership, or toward larger, multi-unit housing projects. Past projects include Iris Place (52 units of affordable housing), The Nel (45 units of permanent supportive housing) and Habitat for Humanity homes throughout the community.

Funding will be prioritized based on several criteria including the percentage of units serving the lowest income households and the percentage of units that are accessible to people with disabilities.

Each year, the City of Eugene supports the creation of more local housing that is affordable to people with lower incomes through the SDC exemption program. SDC exemptions can be used for rental housing for households earning 60% of the area median income (AMI) or below (42,720 for a family of four); or for homeownership housing for households earning 80% AMI or below (56,950 for a family of four).

Exemptions are limited, and the amount applied for often exceeds the amount available. For fiscal year (FY) 2023, approximately $762,000 is available for SDC exemptions. The Request for Proposals is an open, competitive process. Proposals are reviewed, scored, and ranked based on the information provided in the application. More information on the Request for Proposal process and application is available online.

Staff are finishing the final touches on assembling the Urban Reserves adoption package. From writing findings to developing draft land use policies in coordination with Lane County and assembling the land study and technical analysis, staff are making progress towards beginning the public hearing process, which will begin with this fall with work sessions for both the City of Eugene and Lane County Planning Commissions. Stay tuned for dates in the next EUG Planning Newsletter.

Before the public hearing process begins, written public notice will be mailed to all property owners in and surrounding the proposed Eugene urban reserves as well as identified interested parties. If you would like to receive formal mailed notice for Eugene urban reserves public hearings, please sign up here. 

Since designating Eugene urban reserves is a joint city-county effort, public hearings will be held with the Lane County Planning Commission, the City of Eugene Planning Commission, the Lane County Board of Commissioners, and the City of Eugene City Council. There will be opportunities for community members to provide public testimony. Complete meeting details will be posted to the Urban Reserves webpage.  

As always, stay tuned to this newsletter for monthly project updates, and feel free to contact City Project Manager Rebecca Gershow with additional questions.

Assistant/Associate Planner (Limited Duration)

Do you want to help make the great City of Eugene, Oregon even more livable, prosperous, and equitable? The City of Eugene Community Planning and Design team is looking for a positive, productive and collaborative individual to help us turn our community vision into reality. The successful candidate will enjoy providing service to the community, thrive in a team environment, and demonstrate adaptability to a dynamic and fast paced work environment. The Assistant/Associate Planner position involves a wide range of work with a focus on long range planning projects related to implementing Envision Eugene and other work to further our community vision of a compact, connected, livable Eugene. Examples include policy development, comprehensive planning, neighborhood and area planning, implementation of Oregon’s growth management rules (such as Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities), and community engagement, as well as technical analysis such as urban growth boundary analysis, growth monitoring program work, and land use code improvement. To learn more and apply, click here.

Rental Housing Navigator 

The Community Development division of the Planning and Development Department has a full-time, permanent Rental Housing Navigator position open, which is one component of the Housing Implementation Pipeline (HIP).

Are you a positive, productive, and collaborative individual with excellent customer service, communication, and program development and implementation skills? Do you thrive in a fast-paced, team-oriented environment? Are you committed to supporting and improving the rental housing system by collaborating with renters/landlords/agencies, providing referrals to renters, including how and where to access various services, analyzing data and reporting? Are you energetic, creative, solution-oriented, and dedicated to helping Eugene be a place for renters in our community to call home? If so, we invite you to apply for this rewarding new job opportunity. Our work environment is dynamic, fun, and flexible, and relies on strong collaboration with other work groups, agencies, and community members. To learn more and apply, click here.

For all City of Eugene jobs, visit our careers webpage.

You can decide which email lists to be a part of by clicking update profile below. This will allow you to unsubscribe from this email list while remaining on other City of Eugene Planning and Development email lists. If you would like to unsubscribe from all City of Eugene Planning and Development emails, please click unsubscribe below. Thanks!