This month's Envision Eugene Newsletter is a little different than usual. The health and wellbeing of our community are of utmost importance to us and we hold those affected by the circumstances in our thoughts. Therefore, due to ongoing public health concerns regarding COVID-19 the Planning and Development Department is moving towards remote work and online engagement. The information below will detail what we know so far and how we are preparing to safely engage our community in ongoing projects. 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.

The Planning Team is continuing to work on projects with most staff working remotely or non-traditional hours. We appreciate your patience as our reply to email and voicemail may be slightly more delayed than normal.  As of now, the easiest way to reach staff is through email. All Planning Staff emails can be found on our  website.

 

Public health is a priority and the State has directed that we not hold in-person public meetings as we have in the past. Because of this, we have temporarily suspended all public meetings, but  we still want to hear from you as we determine online or other remote options for participation. Citizen Involvement is Goal 1 of the Oregon Statewide Planning Goals; we will continue to integrate public comment and community engagement into all of our projects. We are anticipating that most of our engagement will be shifted online through our website and the City's newest platform,  Engage Eugene.  We recognize that not everyone has access to online engagement and are continuing to research safe ways to hear from you.

 

Looking ahead, our four major projects in Community Planning and Design are Urban Reserves, the River Road Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan, Growth Monitoring, and an upcoming Middle Housing project. Our next newsletter will give updates on projects and, if applicable, how our engagement will be evolving on each project.  If you have questions or suggestions for ways we can engage, please contact Sophie McGinley.

 

In addition,  the Permit and Information Center will continue to provide services to the community with some modifications . In-person lobby services have been suspended as of Thursday, March 19 until further notice. We will continue and expand our voice message line and email response services to continue to serve our customers. To reach us, please call or email staff at the appropriate message line listed under  Permit Information Center.

 

More information about COVID-19, the City's response, and helpful links can be found  here.

 

Wishing you and your loved ones good health during this difficult time.

Eugene Planning Team

It's very important to us that community members know when new projects are proposed and have a fair chance to review and comment. Signing up for land use updates is a great opportunity to learn about upcoming projects and issues that are important to you.