Item 4: Ordinance Concerning State Motor Pool Site

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The Measure 37 impacts of the proposed plan amendment and zone change are unknown. While approval of the request does not appear to be likely to generate future claims under Measure 37, the council should be aware that any change in land use designation or zoning has the potential to be the basis for such claims. Because of the time that has elapsed between the November 20 City Council hearing and the date of council action, certain background information is repeated in this Agenda Item Summary for the council's convenience. The State of Oregon, as applicant, requests a Metro Plan amendment and zone change for a 1.7-acre downtown parcel currently used as a surface parking lot. The request is to change the current plan designation of High Density Residential/Mixed-Use to Commercial, and to change the existing zoning of Light-Medium Industrial to Community Commercial. No development is proposed at this time. No public On September 19, 2006, the Planning Commission held a public hearing on the request. testimony other than the applicant’s was received during the public comment period or the public hearing before the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission has recommended approval of the request. The only issue that raised a question for the Planning Commission was initially identified in staff’s September 12, 2006, Findings. Staff concluded that there was insufficient information in the original application to demonstrate compliance with Statewide Planning Goal 12, Transportation, which requires the applicant to identify the impacts of the proposed plan amendments on transportation facilities. There was a majority agreement among Planning Commissioners that additional data would be needed to demonstrate compliance with Goal 12. As requested by the Planning Commission, the applicant submitted trip generation estimates on October 10, 2006. On October 30, 2006, the Planning Commission determined that the proposal complied with all applicable approval criteria, including Goal 12, and voted to recommend approval of the request as revised by the applicant. RELATED CITY POLICIES Eugene Code requires that a Metro Plan diagram amendment and zone change be consistent with Metro Plan and adopted refinement plan policies. In addition, the Metro Plan amendment must be consistent with applicable Statewide Planning Goals adopted by the State. Several policies in the Metro Plan support the site's current plan designation of High Density Residential (Policy A.11, Metro Plan) ,(Policy A.19, Metro Plan), ("Living Downtown" Policy 1, Downtown Plan). However, because residential development is allowed under a Commercial designation, a Metro Plan change to a Commercial designation is also consistent with Metro Plan policies related to residential land use. Other adopted policies support the requested Commercial designation/zoning ("Strong Regional Center" Policy 2, Downtown Plan, Policy 6, 1992 Eugene Commercial Lands Study). The Downtown Plan, in particular, supports the requested re-designation in the following policy: "Facilitate downtown redevelopment by re-designating and rezoning underutilized properties, such as surface parking lots, to a commercial land use designation and a commercial zone such as C-2 or C-3" ("Building a Downtown" Policy 3, Downtown Plan). L:\CMO\2007 Council Agendas\M070226\S0702265.doc