Item 3: Ordinance Concerning Jefferson/Far West Plan Amendments

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member of the Jefferson/Far West Planning Team that created the refin.ement plan and. who was a JAN co-chair at the time the letter was submitted. .Mr. Belcher has also recently publishe.d a letter reaffirming that "site review has proved inadequate to pre'vent inappropriate development" in this area. (JWN Neighborhood News, May 2006, available on-line at j,;vneugene.org.) Land use regulations in effect ",,'hen the JeffersonlFar West Refinement Plan was created and adopted < The "low- to medium-density" term is a critical element of the Area 15 policy, yet the term is not defined in the J/FW Refinement Plan or any related document. This land use category appears in a.sequence of residential categories that are listed in the follo\ving order on the J/FW Refinement Plan Land Use Diagram (page 18): o Low Densit)T Residential o Low-Medium Density Residential o Medium Density Residential o .High Density Residential All of Area 15.is designated as "Lo\v-Mediufil Densit:y" on the J/FW Refinement Plan Land Use Diagram. The "Low-Medium Densit)r" category is listed betweell the "Low Density" and "Medium Density" categories, and thus Area 15's designatioll as "Low-Medium Density" indicates development density for this area was intended to fall some\;vhere in the middle of the two ranges on either side. At the time the J/F\\7 Refinement Plan ",tas developed and approved, the R-2 zone implemented the medium density range of residential development, alld the policy for Area 15 explicitly prov~ided for con(iitional up-zoning to R - 2,10 although only> when there was also an associated site revrie\v (/SR) ov'erlay wllose purpose can be understood from the policy's other requiremellt as intended to maintaill the character of the area. Thus, the most rele\ratlt referenc.e point for the undefined. terms "Lo\\l-Medium Density" and "low- to medium-density" is the maxilnum densit), allowed by R-2 zoning in effect during 1980-1982 \\Then the J/FWRefinement Plan \vas developed. Tllisvalue establishes an upper limit to the "Lo\v-Medium Density" categor)T'S range. On May 24, 1982, less thall a mOllth before the J/FW planning tealndeli'Tered tlleirfinal draft of the refinement plan, Cit)t Council adopted Ordinance 18971 amending section 9.546 of the zoning code to re-quire a minimum of2,650 square feet per d,velling u-nit in the R.-2 zone. This same R-2 standard was in effect ,vhen Cit), Council formally ad.opted the J/FW Refinement Plan in January 1983 and for many )rearsafterwards. Mathelnatically, this is approximately 16.4 dwelling units per net ac-re (dulna), but it is essential toun.de;rstand th.at the zoning code irl1983 had nothing resel11bling ctlrrent zorling code's Hround up " provision, which greatly' inflates the e-ffective allowable densit~y, especially on small parcels, suell as those in Area 1.5. For example, under theR-2 10 Notably, the Area 15 policy did not a1l0\V upzoning to R... 3 or R -4. 6