Item 3: Ordinance Concerning Jefferson/Far West Plan Amendments

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(c) New or amended community policies. (d) New or amended provisions in a federal law or regulation, state statute, state regulation, statewide planning goal, or state agency land use plan. (e) A change of circumstances in a substantial manner that was not anticipated at the time the refinement plan was adopted. The proposed amendments are not based on an error in the publication of the Jefferson-Far West Refinement Plan, new inventory material relating to a statewide planning goal or new or amended state or federal laws, regulations, or policies; therefore EC 9.8424(2)(a), (b), (d) and (e), above, are not applicable to this request. Consistent with EC 9.8424(2)(c), the proposed plan amendments are consistent with the related Metro Plan amendment to re-designate the subject property from Medium Density Residential to Low Density Residential. If it is found to comply with the applicable approval criteria, the Metro Plan amendment constitutes a new community policy in the context of this criterion. In addition, all of Eugene’s zoning districts have been repeatedly revised to allow increases in residential density as a means of achieving compact growth. In 1983, when the refinement plan was adopted, R-2 allowed one dwelling unit per 2,650 square feet. Allowable density was thus 16.4 units per net acre. In 1985, the City adopted small lot provisions, allowing lots in R-2 to be 2,250 square feet in size, and thereby allowable density was increased to 19.4 units per net acre. In 2001, when the 3 Land Use Code was updated, R-2 was revised to allow 14-28 units per net acre. A new provision for calculating density specified that when figuring maximum density, the resulting figure would be rounded up. When calculating the minimum density required on a particular lot, the resulting figure would be rounded down. An example 8,000 square foot lot in Area 15 zoned R-2 would currently allow six dwelling units (.18 acres x 28 du/acre = 5.14, which rounds up to 6). When the refinement plan was adopted in 1983, the R-2 provisions in place would have allowed three units (8,000/2,650 = 3.01, which rounds down to 3). The changes to the R-2 zone, although not specific to this neighborhood, are considered amended community policies in the context of the refinement plan amendment criteria. Lastly, although not criteria on which to base a land use decision, the City also adopted the Growth Management Policies in 1998, and many of these policies address issues relevant to these amendments. In particular, policies 6 and 9 refer to balancing the impacts of infill with the goal of densifying the city as a whole. Policy 6: Increase density of new housing development while maintaining the character and livability of individual neighborhoods. 3 Since 1987, the Metro Plan has called for “over 10 through 20” units per gross acre in the Medium Density Residential designation (Policy A.9). The Land Use Code update attempted to convert this intent to net acreage requirements.