Middle Housing Code Changes | HB 2001
Implementing House Bill 2001
The Oregon State Legislature passed a law in June 2019 that requires large cities in Oregon, including Eugene, to allow more housing types of all shapes in sizes to be built in more places. Revising Eugene’s Land Use Code to comply with House Bill 2001 will shape how our community develops and expand opportunities for where people can choose to live and what type of home they live in. The Land Use Code will be amended to allow middle housing in residential areas by June 2022. To learn more about the project, explore the resources offered on this webpage, including the HB 2001 Frequently Asked Questions.
Preparing for the Code Changes
The city is entering an exciting phase of work in planning for middle housing options - the formal adoption process! Earlier this summer, the project team drafted middle housing land use code language, using the results of the technical analysis and community engagement work as a foundation.
Join us for an opportunity to hear about Middle Housing project and changes coming to the Land Use Code. Staff will review the requirements of House Bill 2001, the public engagement process, what’s included in the draft code, and how to get involved in the public hearings process. Afterwards, there will be time for questions. This session will be held twice over Zoom and both sessions will include the same presentation. The presentation and both Q&A opportunities will be recorded for those who can’t join us live. Meeting information is below.
Session 1: Tuesday October 19, 2021 7:00 - 8:30pm
Zoom link: https://eugene-or-gov.zoom.us/j/81848116549
Meeting ID: 818 4811 6549
Passcode: Triplex3
Phone-In: +1 971 247 1195 US (Portland)
Session 2: Thursday October 21, 2021 4:00 – 5:30pm
Zoom link: https://eugene-or-gov.zoom.us/j/85806239620
Meeting ID: 858 0623 9620
Passcode: Quadplex4
Phone-In: +1 971 247 1195 US (Portland)
The Code Adoption Process Has Begun! Public Hearing Set for November 16, 2021
Additional public meeting dates and information are published at the bottom of this webpage.
Review the Draft Code here. Highlights of the Planning Commission’s guidance to staff in preparing the draft land use code include:
• Focus on equity and inclusion as code choices are made.
• Encourage and incentivize middle housing across the community.
• Near transit routes, encourage compact development by reducing parking requirements.
• Pursue incentives and programs beyond the code as part of our ongoing housing work.
Project Background and Information
- Meet the Housing Types
- HB 2001 Rules & Model Code
- Lot Sizes Around Eugene
- Helpful documents
- Project Timeline
Housing Types in HB 2001
House Bill 2001 Minimum Standards and Model Code
The administrative rules implementing the requirements of House Bill 2001 (Middle Housing in Medium and Large Cities, Oregon Administrative Rules Chapter 660, Division 46) establish, at minimum, code standards cities need to implement to comply with the requirements of House Bill 2001. The administrative rules were developed and refined over the course of a year by four groups of planning and development experts: the HB 2001 technical advisory committee, HB 2001 rulemaking advisory committee, DLCD staff, and the LCDC Commissioners.
In addition to the minimum standards, the state also developed and adopted a Model Code. The Model Code is an example of a code that meets the minimum standards (and in some cases, exceeds them) and can be directly adopted by cities. If cities fail to adopt compliant code by HB 2001's June 30, 2022 deadline, the model code automatically applies until/if compliant code is adopted.
The technical and rulemaking advisory committees included representatives from local jurisdictions, planners, developers, housing advocates, and others. Meeting packets and recordings and a full participant list is on DLCD’s Rulemaking web page.
One component of the rules is that they require triplexes and quadplexes to be allowed in residential areas based on lot size. The map in the "Lot Sizes Around Eugene" tab, when clicked on, shows the various lot sizes of residentially zoned lots in Eugene. An introduction to the minimum standards was given to the Planning Commission at their January 12, 2021 meeting and an in-depth presentation on the minimum standards and model code was given at their February 1, 2021 meeting.
Residential Lot Sizes in Eugene
Project Products
Middle Housing Implementation Timeline
Public Engagement
As outlined in the Middle Housing Public Involvement Plan, we kicked off the project in the summer of 2020, and spent 10 months reaching out to an Equity RoundTable, Healthy Democracy panel, boards and commissions and local partners, and the general public. To learn more about our outreach efforts to date for this project, check out this infographic below. Click on the infographic for a link to a high-resolution PDF of the infographic. Outreach will continue as we reach more people and work our way through the formal adoption process. For more information about engagement done so far, read the February Outreach Report. An emphasis continues to be placed on online methods that comply with current health guidelines.
Components of the Public Engagement
Middle Housing Survey
One of the ways we engaged the community was through a Middle Housing survey. Thank you to the 741 community members who took the survey! Results and takeaways from the survey were shared at the April 13, 2021 Planning Commission Meeting.
Middle Housing on Social Media
the project team has maintained a social media presence on the EUG Planning Facebook page, Instagram, and through an AMA on Reddit. 5 Facebook Live events were held about Zoning's connection to larger issues-- transportation, climate, economics, equity, and engaging with Gen-Z. Follow along @EUGPlanning
More Ways to Engage
Additionally, introductory and background materials such as Fact Sheets, Frequently Asked Questions, and links to more information are available here on the Middle Housing project webpage. We also maintain an Engage Eugene page, monthly EUG Planning newsletter,
Provide Public Comment
We want to hear from everyone! The project team is planning a variety of outreach strategies to assist people in adding their voices at this important stage of the process. Look for a Guide to the Adoption Process, including a summary of the middle housing proposal, informational videos, links, FAQs, and ways to get involved in early October.
The project team has set up an email address for public comments about the middle housing project! Community members can send their comments to middlehousingtestimony@eugene-or.gov, and staff will compile the public testimony for sharing with the Planning Commission and City Council at their respective points in the process. Additional public meeting dates and information are published at the bottom of this webpage.
The City of Eugene partnered with Portland-based nonpartisan, nonprofit, Healthy Democracy, to assemble a Planning Review Panel that was composed of 29 random Eugene community members. The Review Panel is one of several ways that Eugene residents will be able to engage with the City, to advise the technical staff on how they should proceed.
Over 14 meetings in late 2020 and early 2021, the panel heard from 20 local experts, conducted thoughtful deliberation, and produced 4 reports containing recommendations to the City. The Panel crafted a list of guiding principles, two rounds of final code recommendations, and recommendations for future public engagement efforts.
The Healthy Democracy recommendations can be found here. More information and resources can be found on the Healthy Democracy webpage.
The Equity Roundtable included participants from organizations representing underserved communities and served to provide an equity lens to the project. Themes and highlights from this group include participants’ experiences with housing discrimination, racial profiling, accessibility concerns, needs for multigenerational households, and giving renters more housing options they can afford.
Boards and Commissions RoundTable
The Boards and Commissions RoundTable consists of representatives from the Planning Commission, Sustainability Commission, Human Rights Commission, Historic Preservation Board, and the Housing Policy Board and serves to provide a city-wide policy lens. Meeting summaries can be found here.
Local Partners RoundTable
The Local Partners RoundTable includes a variety of local stakeholders including Better Housing Together, the Eugene Chamber of Commerce, Better Eugene-Springfield Transportation, 1000 Friends of Oregon, Walkable Eugene Citizens Advisory Network (WECAN), Lane County Homebuilders, AARP, and the Neighborhood Leaders Council and serves to provide a community stakeholder lens. Meeting summaries can be found here.
The Planning Team partnered with University of Oregon's Real World Eugene class to work on public engagement of young adults. Real World Eugene is a class offered to undergraduate students that pairs students with City staff to work on actual City projects. Planning staff worked with students Darian, Brianna, Cody, and Camryn as they conducted focus groups, sent out a survey, and developed a proposal for how the City can better reach young adults in the community. The students received a total of 137 survey responses from young adults living in Eugene – a relatively high number for a short period of time. The survey results highlighted themes of environmental conservation and safety as housing solutions are considered by the City. The students’ recommendations for reaching young adults will informed outreach methods for the next phases of the project.
The Middle housing interns also produced a Middle Housing story map intended for a Gen-Z audience- check it out!
The Complicated History of Residential Zoning
- Zoning and Exclusion
- Segregated by Design Video
- Zoning Matters Video
- Planning Commission Work Session on Exclusion Video
- Resources to Learn More
To move forward, we must first look back and acknowledge actions in the past that have harmed and excluded members of our community. Residential Zoning has a complex history that resulted in exclusion of low-income, black, indigenous, and people of color from certain neighborhoods. In Oregon this history was especially harmful with direct exclusion of non-white people from the state from 1844 until 1926*. Although those exclusions are illegal today, their negative impacts are still affecting our community through the legacy of exclusionary zoning. Housing policy and code changes are an opportunity to mitigate those.
In The Color of Law, author Richard Rothstein tells how early zoning ordinances specifically banned blacks from certain zones. The Supreme Court outlawed that in 1917, but in many cities, Rothstein writes, “To prevent lower-income African Americans from living in neighborhoods where middle-class whites resided, local and federal officials began … to promote zoning ordinances to reserve middle-class neighborhoods for single-family homes that lower-income families of all races could not afford.”
*After the passage of the 14th amendment in 1866, this law was rendered moot, however, remained in the Oregon Constitution.
Upcoming Meetings & Events
City of Eugene Planning Commission- October 12, 2021, 5:30pm (meeting materials, watch live)
Joint Planning Commission and City Council Work Session- October 18, 2021, 5:30pm (meeting materials, watch live)
Middle Housing Information Session and Q&A- October 19, 2021, 7:00pm (zoom link)
Middle Housing Information Session and Q&A- October 21, 2021, 4:00pm (zoom link)
Middle Housing Information Session and Q&A- October 26, 2021, details to come
City of Eugene Planning Commission-November 16, 2021, 5:30pm (meeting materials, watch live) -- Public Hearing!
Past Meetings & Events
City of Eugene Planning Commission- September 28, 2021 (watch video)
City of Eugene Planning Commission- August 10, 2021 (watch video)
City of Eugene Planning Commission- June 28, 2021 (watch video)
City of Eugene Planning Commission- June 21, 2021 (watch video)
City of Eugene Planning Commission- June 14, 2021 (watch video)
City of Eugene Planning Commission- May 25, 2021 (watch video)
City of Eugene City Council- May 24, 2021 (watch video)
City of Eugene Planning Commission- May 17, 2021 (watch video)
Equity Roundtable- May 12, 2021
Healthy Democracy Steering Committee- May 6, 2021 (watch video)
Local Partners & Boards and Commissions Roundtable- April 29, 2021 (watch video)
Healthy Democracy Panel #15- April 27, 2021 (watch video)
City of Eugene Planning Commission- April 26, 2021 (watch video)
Healthy Democracy Panel #14- April 22, 2021 (watch video)
Healthy Democracy Panel #13- April 20, 2021 (watch video)
City of Eugene Planning Commission- April 13, 2021 (watch video)
Healthy Democracy Steering Committee- April 1, 2021 (video coming soon)
City of Eugene Planning Commission- March 9, 2021 (watch video)
Healthy Democracy Steering Committee- March 4, 2021 (watch video)
Land Use & Housing Economics: what drives the price of new construction?- March 4, 2021 (watch video)
Local Partners Roundtable- March 1, 2021 (watch video)
Boards and Commissions Roundtable- February 25, 2021 (watch video)
Healthy Democracy Panel #12- February 23, 2021 (watch video)
Equity Roundtable- February 22, 2021
Healthy Democracy Panel #11- February 18, 2021 (watch video)
Land Use & the Climate- February 18, 2021 (Facebook Live)
Equity Roundtable- February 17, 2021
Healthy Democracy Panel #10- February 16, 2021 (watch video)
Land Use & Equity: What are the Connections?- February 10, 2021 (Facebook Live)
Where the Code Hits the Road: Land Use and Transportation Planning- February 4, 2021 (Facebook Live)
Healthy Democracy Steering Committee- February 4, 2021 (watch video)
City of Eugene Planning Commission- February 1, 2021 (watch video)
City of Eugene City Council- January 25, 2021 (watch video)
City of Eugene Planning Commission- January 12, 2021 (watch video)
City of Eugene Planning Commission- December 14, 2020 (watch video)
Healthy Democracy Steering Committee- December 10, 2020 (watch video)
Equity Roundtable- December 8, 2020
Healthy Democracy Panel #9- December 5, 2020, (watch video)
Healthy Democracy Panel #8- December 3, 2020, (watch video)
Healthy Democracy Steering Committee- December 3, 2020 (watch video)
Healthy Democracy Panel #7- December 1, 2020, (watch video)
Healthy Democracy Panel #6- November 24, 2020 (watch video)
Healthy Democracy Panel #5- November 21, 2020 (watch video)
Equity Roundtable - November 19, 2020
Healthy Democracy Steering Committee- November 19, 2020 (watch video)
Healthy Democracy Panel #4- November 17, 2020 (watch video)
Healthy Democracy Panel #3- November 14, 2020 (watch video)
Healthy Democracy Panel #2- November 12, 2020 (watch video)
Healthy Democracy Steering Committee- November 12, 2020 (watch video)
Healthy Democracy Panel #1- November 10, 2020 (watch video)
Healthy Democracy Steering Committee- November 5, 2020 (watch video)
Local Partners Roundtable- October 29, 2020 (watch video)
Healthy Democracy Steering Committee- October 29, 2020 (watch video)
Boards and Commissions Roundtable- October 28, 2020 (watch video)
Healthy Democracy Steering Committee- October 22, 2020 (watch video)
Eugene Planning Commission- August 11, 2020 (watch video)
Eugene City Council- July 22, 2020 (watch video)
Eugene Planning Commission- June 22, 2020 (watch video)
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Terri Harding
Principal Planner
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Sophie McGinley
Assistant Planner