Agenda Packet 2-20-19 Work Session

Home Browse Search

February 20, 2019, Work Session – Item 1 EUGENE CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Work Session: Regulation of Secondary (Accessory) Dwelling Units and Consideration of Remand Issues (Ordinance Nos. 20594 and 20595) Meeting Date: February 20, 2019 Agenda Item Number: 1 Department: Planning and Development Staff Contact: Alissa Hansen www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 541-682-5508 ISSUE STATEMENT This work session is an opportunity to provide direction regarding the City’s response to a State Land Use Board of Appeals remand of Ordinance Nos. 20594 and 20595 that were adopted by City Council in June 2018 as the first phase of the City’s response to the accessory dwelling unit requirements of Senate Bill 1051. The remand nullifies the ordinances and refers the matter back to the City Council with instructions for re-adopting the ordinances. In response to LUBA’s remand, the City Council is asked to consider the existing land use code’s secondary dwelling regulations as directed by LUBA. Council’s discussion at this work session will assist in staff’s preparation of an ordinance that can be addressed by the community at a public hearing. BACKGROUND In 2017, the Oregon Legislature adopted a new law, Senate Bill 1051,1 as part of its efforts to promote housing affordability statewide. Pertinent to this work session is the portion of the new law that addresses “accessory dwelling units.” The new law defines “accessory dwelling unit” as an “interior, attached or detached residential structure that is used in connection with or that is accessory to a single-family dwelling.”2 It requires: “A city with a population greater than 2,500 . . . shall allow in areas zoned for detached single-family dwellings the development of at least one accessory dwelling unit for each detached single-family dwelling, subject to reasonable local regulations relating to siting and design.” In January 2018, the City Council initiated a two-phased approach for land use code changes to implement this new law. Phase 1 would address the new law’s requirement that the City allow accessory dwelling units in more areas of the City (the “where” phase). The intent was to address, 1 The relevant sections of Senate Bill 1051 are now codified at §197.312(5) of the Oregon Revised Statutes. 2 Eugene’s code does not refer to accessory dwelling units. Under Eugene’s code, there are two different types of accessory dwelling units. Depending on the applicable zone, an accessory dwelling unit might be allowed as simply another one-family dwelling on a lot, and/or it might be allowed as a “secondary dwelling.” A “secondary dwelling” is defined as “a dwelling unit that is located on the same lot as a primary one-family dwelling that is clearly subordinate to the primary one-family dwelling, whether a part of the same structure as the primary one-family dwelling or a detached dwelling unit on the same lot. Either the secondary dwelling or the primary dwelling must be occupied by the property owner.”