Item 5 - PH on Laurel Hill Plan - Laserfiche WebLink

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Housing Type and Tenure, Policy A. 17 Provide opportunities for a full range of choice in housing type, density, size, cost and location. Residential development of this vacant property would increase urban densities in the area; however, such development has almost no potential to result in "effectively designed in-fill" (Policy A. 13) given the compromised nature of the location. The site is adjacent to the heavily trafficked interstate highway and is encumbered by a 150 feet wide electrical easements and a power line support structure. Policy A. 17 targets community needs for housing variety and options for individuals at all income levels. Given the relatively small size of the property, at 1.38 acres, remaining attractive features of the site for residential development are overwhelmed by negative impacts of the electrical services and highway, rendering it an unsuitable site for dwellings. As such, the designation of low density residential does not comply with this policy, and a designation, such as commercial, which is not so negatively impacted by the electrical system and interstate highway traffic, as described in the applicant's submittal materials, is worthy of consideration. With these findings, the proposal is consistent with the Metro Plan Residential Land Use and Housing Element Policies A. 13 and 17. Economic Element, Policy 6 Increase the amount of undeveloped land zoned for light industrial and commercial uses correlating the effective supply in terms of suitability and availability with the projections of demand. Staff concurs with the applicant's findings regarding this policy, which state, "The proposal (in conjunction with the related zone change application) will slightly increase the supply of undeveloped land planned and zoned for commercial uses. That increase in supply will not significantly change the supply-demand relationship of commercial lands in the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area and should partially off-set the reductions in the available commercial lands supply due to development of commercial sites over the past several years." Given that the approval of this proposal would facilitate the rezoning of the property to commercial, the proposal is consistent with this policy. (c) Remaining portions of the refinement plan. The applicant's narrative provides background history, available in the application file, on the creation of and amendments to the plan creating the East Laurel Hill Area component of the refinement plan. This portion of the plan contains policies regarding the area which includes the subject site. The policies identified below from the Laurel Hill Refinement Plan, are relevant to this request. Laud Use and Future Urban Design Policy #5: No additional sector o fEast Laurel Hill shall be designated for commercial purposes until a public need can be demonstrated. Planning Division Staff Report 7 September 2004 Page 9 of 13 (RA 04-1 and Z 04-4) 11