Agenda Packet 3-13-19 Work Session

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Housing Tools and Strategies Action Inventory 14 Recommended Actions A. Remove Barriers in the Land Use Code Action Impact Explanation Level of Support Does this action increase housing affordability, availability, and/or diversity The City’s local laws allow for reduced appeal fees from the appealing party if it is a City- recognized Neighborhood Association but only for decisions made at the local level (at the Hearings Official and Planning Commissions levels). The appealing party covers their own legal fees. The builder must cover legal fees, without any cost reduction, to defend the appeal. There are no negative financial consequences for the appealing party if the appeal has no legal merit. The cost and process of land use appeals varies depending on the type of land use application and the appealing party. The appeal process is based on state law. It is not clear at this time if the appeal process could be altered to reduce uncertainty to new housing developments. LU- 14 Allow Single-Room Occupancy (SROs) by- right in all residential zones. SRO’s are defined as a building with individual bedrooms that share bath and kitchen facilities. SRO’s are currently only allowed outright in R-3, R-4, C-2 and C-3 zones and a conditional use permit or an approved PUD is required in R-2 and Commercial (for assisted living and day care use). This action requires a land use code change. Less than half of the HTS working group supported this option (44%) in the preliminary vote. Yes - SROs are affordable options for individuals with very low incomes. Eugene has seen very limited demand for this housing type in the past and what has been built is primarily group homes for elderly individuals or for homeless veterans. Due to the limited demand for this type of development, the required administration for the land use code changes would likely not result in a large housing impact. LU- 15 Allow construction permits for as many homes as legal lots concurrent with open planning action. With the current processes this is possible but not encouraged. If building permits are submitted prior to subdivision tentative application, the building permits can be ready when the subdivision is approved. While this option may save the project time, it also comes with a lot of risk for the builder. From BHT Unknown – Builders have reported that concurrent permits could reduce time and administrative costs. But the existing process is designed to eliminate the need for any back-tracking, if changes are required to the land use permit. March 13, 2019, Work Session - Item 2