In preparation for adopting a new urban growth boundary (UGB), the City is asking for community input on key decisions that will help determine how Eugene will grow over the next 20 years. Over the next several months, Planning staff will be collecting feedback on key decisions through online questionnaires, at community events throughout the city, and at community drop-in sessions.
One of the key decisions focuses on how Eugene will accommodate needed multi-family housing, which includes housing types like apartments, condos, duplexes, and townhouses. A new video and online questionnaire on options to accommodate Eugene’s multi-family housing needs over the next 20 years has been posted at www.EnvisionEugene.org for community members to review and respond to. The questionnaire will be available through the summer, and the information collected will be provided to the City Council this fall to help inform their discussions.
In addition to the online questionnaire, community members can learn more and provide their feedback in the following ways:
• Visit the Envision Eugene booth at upcoming summer events such as Sunday Streets and First Friday.
• Invite the Envision Eugene Team to Neighborhood meetings and picnics or attend an already scheduled event. A current meeting and event schedule is here: http://www.eugene-or.gov/2990/Get-Involved
• Attend one of the drop-in sessions scheduled for September 13th and 21st at the City of Eugene Atrium Building from 4-6pm. Planners will be available to answer questions on specific topics related to adopting our UGB, including the multi-family housing options, the areas proposed for expanding the UGB, and new comprehensive plan policies to guide growth in Eugene.
• Visit the City’s website, www.envisioneugene.org that includes draft documents for adopting our new UGB.
• Request an in person meeting, or have a planner come to a group meeting by emailing envisioneugene@ci.eugene.or.us. Community members can also send an email to sign up for our newsletter to get project updates.
Upcoming questionnaires will focus on new land use policies for the city and the proposed urban growth boundary expansion areas. See http://www.eugene-or.gov/2980/Whats-New.
Over the next 20 years, as Eugene’s population grows, about 15,100 new homes will be needed. Approximately 90% of those homes will fit on currently vacant or underdeveloped land across the city. The City is seeking input on how to accommodate the remaining 1,600 medium and higher-density homes that space is need for.
The online video and information, posted on the Envision Eugene website, describe the range of options available. Options that seem most likely to succeed based on the timeline and technical feasibility include:
• Accommodating about 1,000 high density homes downtown by continuing existing programs and development incentives for higher density apartment buildings.
• Amending the zoning code to allow only attached housing on existing land that is zoned and planned for multi-family housing. Typical detached single-family housing would no longer be allowed, which would raise the average number of homes built in these zones.
• Alternatively, amending the zoning code to require a higher minimum number of homes be built in multi-family zones.
Another option the City is seeking input on is the “key corridor” strategy of adding more housing along our key transportation corridors. In order to achieve more housing and provide capacity for the 1,600 homes in these areas, the City would need to take action to show that more development is likely to occur in the future, including adopting development incentives in one or more of these corridors.
There are many pieces required to adopt a new UGB, multi-family housing is one piece. Planning staff will be publishing information on each component of the urban growth boundary adopting package throughout the summer. More information and background on the Envision Eugene process, technical analysis, and community involvement are available at www.EnvisionEugene.org.