Laserfiche WebLink
Eugene Housing Tools & Strategies Evaluation 10 <br /> INTRODUCTION <br />Purpose of Study <br />Enabling quality housing at a range of price points is a high priority for the City of Eugene. In May 2018, <br />the Eugene City Council passed a motion to have staff implement a process to identify barriers to <br />housing affordability, availability, and diversity, and to suggest, evaluate, and recommend possible <br />strategies and tools to address the barriers. <br />The process included the establishment of the Housing Tools and Strategies Working Group, a citizen <br />committee formed to make recommendations to City Council on options to improve housing <br />affordability, availability and diversity in Eugene. In support of all these efforts the City of Eugene hired <br />Strategic Economics to conduct research and analysis on housing policies and tools. This report is not <br />intended as a comprehensive affordable housing strategy or housing action plan, but rather provides <br />findings from a series of tasks coordinated with the work of the Housing Tools and Strategies Working <br />Group. For the process, Strategic Economics conducted the following tasks: <br /> Evaluated data on demographics and housing. Strategic Economics analyzed a wide variety of <br />quantitative data, relying on U.S. Census and American Community Survey estimates for <br />demographic data, and on sources such as Costar and Redfin for housing market data. The <br />City of Eugene also provided Strategic Economics with housing unit building permit trend data. <br /> Evaluated Accessory Dwelling Units. Strategic Economics performed multiple analyses <br />concerning Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in Eugene. Strategic Economics analyzed: 1) <br />parcel data to consider how current ADU policies may be limiting ADU production and the <br />overall potential of ADUs as a tool to increase Eugene’s housing stock; 2) the Eugene land use <br />code to identify areas of conflicting interpretation on ADU policy; 3) existing literature on ADU <br />production in other cities; and 4) the financial feasibility of building an ADU under various <br />scenarios. <br /> Evaluated the Construction Excise Tax (CET). Strategic Economics relied on building valuation <br />data from the City of Eugene to estimate the potential revenue of a Construction Excise Tax <br />(CET), and considered the impacts of a CET on the financial feasibility of development projects. <br /> Conducted financial feasibility evaluation. Strategic Economics considered the feasibility of <br />various housing development types, including large-lot single family, townhome, multifamily, <br />cottage cluster, and accessory dwelling unit projects. Feasibility was analyzed under various <br />scenarios including the status quo, with reduced system development charges (SDCs), and <br />with a CET. <br /> Interviewed homeowners, property owners, renters, developers, and city staff. Strategic <br />Economics contacted a variety of stakeholders and conducted interviews with city staff, <br />community members, and with individuals involved in the development community, including <br />professional real estate developers, architects, homebuilders, contractors, and homeowners <br />building ADUs. <br /> Prepared summary descriptions of housing tools and strategies (Appendix I). Strategic <br />Economics researched and assembled a matrix of housing-focused tools typically used by <br />municipalities. The matrix includes tools on zoning strategies for market-rate housing <br />production, as well as developer incentives and local funding strategies for affordable housing <br />production. <br />February 20, 2019, Work Session – Item 1