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Roll call vote; Item B of the Consent Calendar passed unanimously. III.PUBLIC HEARING AND POSSIBLE ACTION: An Ordinance Concerning Property Tax Exemptions for Multiple-Unit Housing; Amending Sections 2.945, and 2.947 of the Eugene Code, 1971; and Repealing Ordinance No. 20045 Richie Weinman, of the Planning and Development Department, said the multiple-unit property tax exemption was an incentive program for multiple unit housing, of five units or more, for either rental or home ownership. He said the exemption was a tool for increasing housing in the core downtown area of Eugene. He noted that the Downtown Plan, Growth Management Goals, the Greater Downtown Vision, and the current council vision and goals statement all called for increasing housing in the core downtown area. Mr. Weinman said the exemption offered would be for ten years. He said the land would still be taxed but the housing would be exempt for the specified time. He said this would "level the playing field" between less expensive "greenfield" property and more expensive core area property. He added that the ordinance would lift the current moratorium on accepting tax exemption applications. Mr. Weinman said, since the time of the adoption of the multiple-unit property tax exemption in the late 1970s, Eleven developments had been granted exemptions by the council for a total of 573 housing units. He noted that many of those were back on the tax roles because ten years had passed. He noted that, since the time that the moratorium was enacted, no new developments had taken place. Mr. Weinman said the Planning Commission had discussed the item earlier that day and had forwarded two requests to the council: 1. The Planning Commission requests that it act as a review body before applications are submitted to the City Council. 2. The Planning Commission requests that if the moratorium is lifted, the City Council remain open to revision of boundaries based on the results of the Downtown Plan update. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman regarding whether parking lots would be included in the exemption, Mr. Weinman said they would be exempt if the parking was integral to the development and the housing was connected. Councilor Bettman determined from Mr. Weinman that the definitions of Iow-income housing were consistent between the Residential Lands Study, the Metro Plan, and the ordinance. It was the same as the Housing and Urban Development samples. In response to a third question, Mr. Weinman indicated that a 20-unit housing project in the downtown benefit zone meeting all the qualifications would receive the full number of points and full exemption, which was $242,000 yearly. A unit not in the core area without accessible units would receive a $27,300 exemption annually. In response to a question from Councilor Meisner regarding whether School District 4J had been consulted since 1989 regarding the exemptions, Mr. Weinman said it had not. MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 28, 2002 Page 3 Regular Session