Item 5: Ordinances on Minor Code Amendments

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Attachment C for the council’s consideration. The City Council previously adopted these building height and parking land use regulations in one ordinance on August 11, 2008, as part of the Minor Code Amendment Project (MiCAP). The ordinance was adopted with a sunset provision causing the ordinance to expire February 2010, and included an immediate effective date. The ordinance was appealed to the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) by the Home Builders Association of Lane County. On June 12, 2009, LUBA issued a decision remanding the ordinance back to the City, rendering the regulations ineffective. Since the date that the MiCAP ordinance went out of effect, no building permits for multi-family developments (apartments) have been submitted within the area affected by the MiCAP regulations. To readopt the height or parking regulations consistent with LUBA’s decision, the City Council must make positive findings addressing the state’s Transportation Planning Rule. Re-adoption of the parking regulations also requires positive findings addressing a policy from the West University Refinement Plan. The City Council originally adopted the MiCAP height and parking ordinance with the intent that it would serve as an interim measure. This interim period was to allow time for the Infill Compatibility Standards (ICS) project to conduct a more comprehensive review and analysis of the issues and policy choices, as well as identify long-term solutions. At this time, the ICS proposals for height and parking are drafted and will come before the City Council at a public hearing on November 16, 2009, with action scheduled for December 12, 2009. The ICS proposals represent a more in-depth analysis of the issues with input from a variety of stakeholders. In particular, the ICS parking proposal is a comprehensive package of solutions including a revised parking ratio (that is less restrictive than MiCAP), allowances for tandem parking, and parking reductions for low-income, senior and disabled housing. The ICS height proposal is similar in many regards to the MiCAP proposal, except that it recommends an even lower building height in the R-4 High Density Residential zones bordering the University of Oregon campus and expands the height limitation into the West University area. RELATED CITY POLICIES Findings addressing consistency with a policy from the West University Plan (Policy 3 of Chapter V), as well as the State’s Transportation Planning Rule, are included as Exhibit A to Attachments A and B. COUNCIL OPTIONS The City Council may consider the following options: 1.Adopt one or both of the ordinances 2.Adopt one or both of the ordinances with specific modifications as determined by the City Council 3.Adopt one or both of the ordinances with an immediate effective date 4.Take no action on one or both of the ordinances CITY MANAGER’S RECOMMENDATION The City Manager recommends the City Council adopt the ordinance concerning building height in the university area. The City Manager recommends that the City Council take no further action with respect to the ordinance concerning parking in the university area. Given the greater legal, policy and administrative implications associated with the MiCAP parking provision, the City Manager Z:\CMO\2009 Council Agendas\M091012\S0910125.doc