Item 5 - PH on Laurel Hill Plan - Laserfiche WebLink

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Refinement Plan Amendment - TRS 18-03-03-2-3, Tax Lots 199, 200, 300 January 13, 2004 Page 2 expressly amend the Metro Plan designations for lots in the refinement plan area. Applicants are applying for the proposed amendment because the site is not appropriate for residential use. The Applicants have been advised that, due to the site constraints described in the site context section below, it is not feasible to develop the site for residential uses. The existing overhead power lines on the site make a significant portion of the site physically undevelopable and makes the remaining portion economically unavailable for residential use. Quite frankly, the only residential use that might attract residents would be extremely low-cost housing offered to people who simply could not afford to live anywhere else. However, Applicants have been advised that development of the site as housing would likely be unfeasible even under those conditions. Furthermore, such a development would raise questions of environmental justice that the Applicants believe are contrary to the existing Metro Plan policies described below. Applicants' proposal would change the plan designation for the subject property to Commercial. While the overhead power lines would still pose restrictions about how the site can be developed, Applicants have been advised that the site is an economically viable site for commercial development due, in large part, to the site's proximity to I-5 and the near-by Laurel Hill commercial/residential node. This refinement plan amendment application is being submitted concurrently with a zone change application for the subject property to change the zoning from R-1, Low-Density Residential to C-2, Community Commercial. The Applicants are submitting the refinement plan amendment and zone change applications in order to be able to put their property into productive use. II. Site Context The subject property is a 1.38 acre (60,050 sf) parcel located at the Northeast comer of the intersection of Laurel Hill Drive and Moon Mountain Drive. Laurel Hill Drive provides the western boundary of the property and Moon Mountain Drive provides the southern boundary. The subject property is bounded to the north and east by an Oregon State Highway Division right-of-way for Interstate 5 (I-5). The property slopes steadily downward from the intersection towards the north and northeast. The on-site elevation varies from approximately 580 feet to 564 feet. The subject property overlooks I-5 and the Glenwood Boulevard overpass, which are located approximately 250 feet to the northeast and east. To the west, across Laurel Hill Drive, the land drops down in a steady, steep slope away from the subject property. The land to the south rises gently. Two public utility easements traverse the site in a northwest-southeast orientation. The easement lying to the north is a 50-foot strip of land granted to the Eugene Water and Electric II-B-2