This month's EUG Planning Newsletter provides updates on: What Are Land Use Applications, the River Road-Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan, Growth Monitoring, Middle Housing, Urban Reserves, and Clear & Objective Code Amendments. 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 fourth article in the series is below.

Last month we discussed partitions and mentioned how partition and subdivision are not interchangeable terms in Eugene. We noted that partitions allow the creation of up to three parcels where there was previously one. Subdivisions in Eugene are used to create four or more lots, and while commercial and industrial property can be subdivided, we typically see subdivisions used to create lots for housing.

  

With the possibility to create any number of lots, subdivision approval criteria are more extensive than those of a partition. Of course, items like water service, sewer service, and stormwater treatment are still key factors to be considered, but the scope of review for subdivisions is expanded. Some of the additional factors for review include tree preservation, pedestrian and bicyclist access to nearby areas, and in some cases consideration of traffic from vehicles.  

Subdivisions often result in the development of large vacant pieces of property, though they can also create a smaller number of lots in an existing neighborhood. To sum it all up, land division in Eugene occurs through a subdivision or partition with subdivisions adding on additional review criteria due to the potential magnitude of development. Next month we will dig into some of the land use applications that are required by overlay zones such as planned unit developments and site reviews. 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.

The River Road-Santa Clara (RRSC) Neighborhood Plan project is excited to announce the launch of our RRSC Engage Eugene page! Engage Eugene is the City of Eugene’s online engagement platform used to gather community input, give project updates, and ask questions. We are using this platform for other Planning projects, including the Middle Housing Project and the Urban Reserves Project.

As the neighborhood planning process wraps up the Action Planning phase and moves into the Adoption Phase, we’ll be ramping up outreach and engagement again as we start to prepare the Neighborhood Plan Adoption Package. 

Register on the Engage Eugene platform now, share a story or ask a question, and stay tuned for River Road-Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan updates, surveys, and other project tools in the coming months.

The first update was to the Eugene Planning Commission, last Monday, March 22^nd. Watch the recorded webcast and read the agenda material here. The second update will be to the Lane County Planning Commission on Tuesday, April 6^th at 6pm. Find upcoming Lane County Planning Commission meeting materials here and register for the meeting here. 

The Eugene City Council update is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, May 12^th at 12pm and the Lane County Board of Commissioners update is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, May 18^th - time to be determined. Feel free to contact Project Manager Chelsea Hartman with questions and stay tuned for updates on the Engage Eugene project page.

Growth Monitoring is headed to City Council! The work session is scheduled for the April 14, 2021 at noon. Up to date meeting dates can be found on the Growth Monitoring webpage.

Staff will provide the City Council with a progress update on Eugene’s growth monitoring program. The program aims to collect and report on a wide variety of growth-related information such as population and jobs growth, housing production, and the status of our undeveloped land supply. This is a multi-year effort to get systems in place for regular reporting and so we can be better prepared for changing growth trends. This work session is an opportunity to learn more about the program in preparation for the first growth monitoring report. To learn more, watch the meeting webcast or view the meeting materials.

Beginning in August 2020, the Envision Eugene Technical Advisory Committee (EETAC) held the first of several meetings discussing methods for developing an updated inventory of the city’s undeveloped (or ‘buildable’) land supply. The updated land inventory will be part of the first growth monitoring report anticipated to be completed next year. EETAC meeting notes, webcasts and their meeting schedule are available on the EETAC webpage.

For more information on Growth Monitoring, please visit the Growth Monitoring Webpage or contact program manager Heather O’Donnell at 541-682-5488. 

Thank you to the 730 community members who took the Middle Housing Survey! Preliminary survey results were shared at the March 9, 2021, Planning Commission work session and a full summary of all outreach, including the survey, will be shared, soon.

Now that we've heard from the community, the project team is in the process of developing draft code language. One of the recurring themes we've heard in outreach is to explore ways to encourage middle housing affordability. Our next round of engagement in April with the Healthy Democracy Panel, Equity Roundtable, Boards and Commissions Roundtable, and Local Partners Roundtable will focus on affordability strategies within the Land Use Code amendments. Stay tuned!

Middle Housing is headed back to Planning Commission many times in the upcoming months! Currently, the project is scheduled for the April 13, 2021, April 26, 2021, and May 17, 2021 work sessions. The most up-to-date meeting information will be posted on the Middle Housing webpage.

Thank you for spreading the word about opportunities to engage with this project! More resources can be found on the project webpage, Engage Eugene, Facebook, Instagram, and by signing up for our Interested Parties List. If you have any questions about the project, contact Public Engagement Lead Sophie McGinley.

As part of the Urban Reserves adoption process mandated by state legislation, the City will be coordinating with special districts that provide sewer, water, fire protection, parks, transportation and storm water services within the proposed Urban Reserve area. This is because as our population grows there will be an increased need for Eugene, Lane County, and special districts to coordinate service provision. It is one of Urban Reserve’s objectives to help ensure a smooth transition of services in the future. 

Special districts are a form of government that are created by their local community to meet specific service needs. Special district boundaries are defined by the common needs of the communities and the types of services they are wanting to provide. Their boundaries can cross city and county lines. Local examples of special districts include Lane Fire Authority, River Road Park and Recreation district, and Lane Transit District. Oregon has more than 1,000 special districts that provide over 32 different kinds of services. 

Urban Reserves will not create any short-term changes in service provision. Land included in the proposed Urban Reserves will stay rural until there is a need to expand our UGB; at that time, the specific amount of land needed for new neighborhoods, jobs, schools or parks will be considered. To meet state requirements, city staff will be working with special districts on coordination agreements to ensure an understanding of Urban Reserves, and that service provision may change in the future, if land within their jurisdiction annexes into the City. 

To learn more about special districts in Oregon, visit the Special Districts Association of Oregon website. 

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 Planning Analyst Zoli Gaudin-Dalton with questions, or use the Q&A feature on the Urban Reserves Engage Eugene page.

The Clear & Objective Update is in the final stage of the formal adoption process! A proposed Ordinance to implement the proposed Land Use Code amendments is currently being reviewed by the Eugene City Council. The Eugene Planning Commission held the first of two required public hearings last October. The Commission deliberated and further refined the draft changes at five additional meetings after the hearing. Their thorough review culminated with a unanimous recommendation for City Council to adopt the proposed Ordinance. City Council then held the second public hearing on March 8, 2021. Staff is currently scheduled to return to Council on April 12, 2021, for possible action. We will provide an update on what the City Council chooses to do in the April edition of the EUG Planning Newsletter.

In the meantime, if you would like more information or want to stay updated, please visit the project website or contact Project Manager Jenessa Dragovich.

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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