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Wendell Lane and its infrastructure. He related that the Environment, Social, Economic and Energy (ESEE) <br />report stated that the property met none of the criteria with the exception of possible contiguous water. He <br />maintained that there was no water, noting that he had supplied the council with pictures of the property. <br /> <br />Roxie Cuellar <br />, 2053 Laura Street, Springfield, representing the Home Builders Association of Lane <br />County, requested the record be kept open for a minimum of one week or ten days, if possible. She related <br />that the Home Builders Association’s (HBA) big issue was the effect it could have on the buildable land <br />supply. She averred that the City determined the impact on an inventory that existed ten years earlier. She <br />said the City needed to look at the impact it would have on the inventory of today. She recalled that City <br />Attorney Glenn Klein said that running out of buildable lands would not present a legal problem but it would <br />present a policy issue. She asserted that the City would run out of buildable land before it got out of this <br />planning period and if the City ran out of land it would have been due to a choice the City had made. She <br />encouraged the council, on behalf of the HBA, to take a “good look at what the problem is.” <br /> <br />Ms. Cuellar said that the study completed in 1999 using 1995 data made assumptions that were not true. <br />She said one assumption was that every piece of vacant land would be available and would have a willing <br />seller. She said another assumption in the study was that housing could be built at the same density on <br />slopes as flat land, nearly seven units per net acre. She averred this just did not happen. She noted that <br />Springfield made the assumption that it would build four units per net acre on 25 percent slopes and she felt <br />this to be more reasonable. Ms. Cuellar said another assumption in the study was that single-family <br />detached homes would make up 40 percent of new construction during the 20-year planning period. She <br />countered that such homes consistently comprised 58 percent of new construction. She emphasized that the <br />builders were running out of land and the land available was increasingly sloped instead of flat. She <br />remarked that it took a long time to go from a decision to expand the urban growth boundary (UGB) to the <br />point where there are new lots to build on. <br /> <br />Doug Weber <br />, 1330 Flint Ridge Avenue, said he was speaking as a citizen but felt he should note that he <br />was principal engineer for Weber Eliot Engineers. He understood that State law required communities with <br />a comprehensive plan to keep a 20-year supply of buildable lands and keep the inventory updated. He did <br />not believe that the City of Eugene knew how much buildable lands were available. He thought it appeared <br />that staff and council had been avoiding or ignoring this requirement. He averred that simply manipulating <br />density figures on paper was an insult to all of the community. He said he lived in the Ferry Street Bridge <br />area and had been looking for a buildable lot in that area with no success. He asserted that a single builder <br />would subdivide land and keep all of the lots and because of this it was not possible for an individual to buy <br />a lot and build for themselves. <br /> <br />Mr. Weber observed that the cost of lots had increased dramatically and attributed this to the laws of supply <br />and demand. He pointed out that as a civil engineer he built infrastructure to serve new housing and <br />currently most of his business was in nearby towns such as Cottage Grove, Junction City, and Creswell. He <br />opined that the City was directly responsible for pushing Eugene workers into outlying communities, which <br />defeated the original intent of statewide planning goals of compact urban growth and a reduction in vehicle <br />miles traveled. He felt the residential lands inventory needed attention and using data from 1995 as the basis <br />for the current periodic review was evasive of public law and disingenuous on the part of the council as <br />holders of the public trust and a “transparent attempt to stamp your agenda on the community.” <br /> <br />Terry Connolly <br />, 1401 Willamette Street, representing the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce, shared the <br />chamber’s observation regarding ESEE findings for Goal 9 Commercial and Industrial lands. He wanted to <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 26, 2005 Page 6 <br /> Regular Session <br /> <br />