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<br /> May 20, 2019, Work Session – Item 2 <br />requirement is to ensure that communities provide a predictable path to approval for housing projects and that path does not rely on discretionary or subjective criteria. This may include development standards such as setbacks and building height that apply to housing at the time of building permit as well as land use application criteria that apply to land use applications, such as subdivisions, for the development of housing. Cities that provide a clear and objective land use application approval path may also adopt alternative or “discretionary” approval criteria that developers may elect to follow to, for example, allow greater flexibility in housing development proposals. Eugene has a two-track system currently, and this project is focused on the existing clear and objective approval criteria for our conditional use, partition, planned unit development, site review, and subdivision applications. The Clear & Objective Update was kicked-off in 2018 and consists of four phases. The project was designed to provide incremental review of proposed code changes, with public involvement and review by Planning Commission and City Council provided during each phase of the project. Stakeholders helped identify significant issues in Phase 1, helped generate possible concepts in Phase 2, and had opportunity in Phase 3 to weigh in on draft amendments. Planning Commission and City Council check-ins have occurred at key project milestones. Phase 4 will be the formal adoption process, where the public will again be able to provide input through Planning Commission and City Council public hearings <br />Draft Land Use Code Language The draft code writing phase is based on the Draft Preferred Concept Report (provided with the November 19, 2018, agenda packet), which was the outcome of Phase 2. The report presented staff recommendations on how to address the 37 key issues identified during Phase 1 of the project (and described in the Summary of Key Issues Report). The recommendations from the Draft Preferred Concept Report were derived using input from the working groups, research into the issues and possible concepts, consultation with internal staff who work with the land use application review process daily, and a concept evaluation rubric for the 19 significant issues. Planning Commission reviewed and provided feedback on all preferred concept recommendations over the course of four work sessions in November and December. The draft preferred concepts were split into two batches. Batch 1 includes all maintenance issues and less complex issues. Batch 2 includes the more complex issues. Approved concepts for both batches were advanced to the code writing stage by City Council. A summary of the approved concepts is provided in Attachment A. Based on the approved concepts, draft land use code language was crafted using the help of consultants (for tree preservation and transition standards), researching other examples and best practices, and with internal review from City staff who work with the land use code on a daily basis. It is important to note that the proposed code language is still draft, and staff expects language to change before and during the formal adoption process as we continue to receive feedback and analyze the draft language in order to best achieve the approved recommendations. Draft code language will likely also evolve through the formal adoption process in response to ongoing feedback; however, the proposed language provides a basic framework for implementing the approved concepts.