Ordinance No. 19795 - Laserfiche WebLink

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According to the latest 1991 drafts of the !\1etro Area's industrial lands study and residential lands study, medium density residential land allocations are extremely tight, especially when contrasted with industrial land allocations. The draft residential lands study shoV\/s a projected medium density residential demand of 1340- 1440 buildable acres over the long-terITI planning period. The long-term, unadjusted gross supply of land designated either. in tIle plall or 011 a zOlling map, is 1 ,339 acres, less than the lower of the two projected figures. The actual supply of medium density land not subject to physical constraints, such as \vetlands, flood plains, and severe slopes, is 287, or less than 25 percent of the designated land. A further description of the in\lentory is provided by .land use consultant Jim Saul, which confirms that the supply is indeed very tight. By contrast, the draft study on Industrial Land supply and demand shows that the short-term supply exceeds both short-term and long-ternl demand. Short-ternl supply is 1,947 acres.. Short- term demand is 228 to 410 acres. Long-terlTI delnand is 650 to 1,170 acres. The gross supply of industrial land is 4,039 acres. The long-term buildable supply is 3,604 acres. Currently constraint-free land is 1,688 acres. This short-fall in the area's multi-family inventory does not help what has become a significant problem: affordable housing. During the 10 years since the Metro Plan was acknowled&ed, the lack of affordable housing has grown steadily worse, both nationally and here in central Lane County. Documentation of this situation nationally, is found in the National Housing Task Force report, State of the Nation's Housing. Locally, a variety of studies have 111ade si I11ilar findings. AITIong theIn are these: The 1989 Lane County Task force on HOlnelessness and Affordable Housing reported that tithe only residential housing construction that has occurred since 1979 "has been planned and designed for the higher income sector. II The rental vacancy rate in Lane County has declined markedly since the mid-eighties, while rents have steadily increased at rates substantially greater than average median incomes. Little new rental construction has occurred since 1979, and "what there is has been planned and designed for the higher income sector. II In)uly, 1989, for exan1ple, a description of recently proposed rental projects in Eugene projected the lowest rent for a two-bedroom apartment at $595 a month. Approximately 28,000 Lane County households are considered low-income, meaning those having incomes of less than half the tnedian ($14,750) family income for a family of four. 8