Item 1: Ordinances on Infill Compatibility Standards Code Amendments

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December 6, 2009 Eugene City Councilors and Mayor City of Eugene RE: ICS Parking Recommendations Dear City Councilors: I am testifying in support of adopting the ICS Parking in the University Area proposed code changes. I am strongly in favor of the proposed code changes since they help to protect areas in WUN and SUNA from incompatible infill. The proposed changes allow for modest increases in off-street parking for apartments with larger number of bedrooms. But they also provide other efficient methods, such as tandem parking, for multifamily developments to provide off-street parking. These proposed changes are based on facts, not on fiction or hearsay. First, I would encourage you to consider the proposed land use code amendments on building heights and building height transitions in the context of the citizen-driven process that developed these specific changes. The Infill Compatibility Standards (ICS) Task Team process included input from dozens of neighborhood residents, builders, architects, and other citizens over an 18- month period. The proposed code amendments on building heights received broad public support during the entire ICS process. This support included a unanimous recommendation by the ICS Task Team to adopt these amendments. These proposed code changes were based on detailed information collected as part of the ICS process. This includes information on of-street parking, number of bedrooms, density, and other characteristics of recent multifamily developments in West University Neighborhood (WUN) and South University Neighborhood Association (SUNA). The most noticeable change is that the number of bedrooms per apartment in recent multifamily development has changed dramatically starting in 2004. Previously, most apartments were constructed with 1, or 2 bedrooms, with occasional 3 or 4 bedroom apartments. Now the norm has become 3-5 bedrooms per apartment. I am attaching tables of multifamily developments in WUN and SUNA compared with the changes proposed parking changes. It should be noted that over 80% of the recent multifamily units constructed in WUN would comply with the proposed code amendments. The density of the multifamily projects that complied with the parking proposals was also significantly higher (55 units/acre) than those projects that didn't comply (46 units/acre). Similarly, 91% of the multifamily units constructed in SUNA would also comply with the proposed code amendments. The difference in density in SUNA between the projects that comply (72 units/acre) and the project that would not currently qualify (48 units/acre) is even more dramatic. Furthermore, this data shows examples of multifamily projects in the R-3 and R-4 zones in WUN and SUNA that meet the maximum allowed density of 56 and 112 units/net acre with projects while providing parking in excess of the proposed code changes. These changes are designed to reduce negative impacts of infill on our neighborhoods. In particular, two issues stand out: 1.Residents with purchased RPP permits and visitors wasting fuel driving around hunting for parking spaces. Written testimony by Steven Baker on proposed ICS Parking amendments (November 6, 2009) Page 1