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From:MUIR Susan L <br />To:HARDING Terri L; <br />FW: S-JW Jefferson Westside Special Area Zone <br />Subject: <br />Monday, November 16, 2009 4:38:57 PM <br />Date: <br />-----Original Message----- <br />From: Rick McAlexander [mailto:rick@AssociatedDesigns.com] <br />Sent: Monday, November 16, 2009 4:25 PM <br />To: *Eugene Mayor and City Council <br />Subject: S-JW Jefferson Westside Special Area Zone <br />Dear Mayor Piercy and council members, <br />I request you to consider the following when reviewing the proposed <br />Jefferson Westside Special Area Zone. <br />The additional level of complexity to development within this zone will <br />increase the overall cost of completing any project regardless of scope or <br />size. An individual wishing to remodel their home or developer wishing to <br />maximize the number of living units on investment property will be <br />encumbered equally. As a building designer with a great deal of experience <br />interpreting the land use code, I can say with confidence that this will add <br />hundreds if not thousands of dollars in expense to each project. <br />Also, the challenge of interpretation by both city staff and the design <br />community is exponentially complicated by this ordinance. If you have any <br />doubt about the added complexity look at section 9.3626 Special Development <br />Standards. Section 1 addresses density for Table 9.3625. Lot size, number of <br />bedrooms (bedrooms not being defined), and number of units all combine to <br />make for a very diluted density calculation. I would need to confer with <br />staff, but I believe if you have a 8999 square foot lot with an existing six <br />bedroom home I would not be allowed to build an secondary dwelling unit <br />(in-law suite) for my elderly mother in law as allowed in other zones by <br />Section 9.2741(2). If I am interpreting 9.3626(1)(c) correctly, I would not <br />even be able to add a bedroom for grandma. Of coarse I could convert one <br />bedroom to a Den, another to a sewing room, a third into a craft center, <br />etc. <br />If that does not make you scratch your head, take a look at 9.3626(4), <br />Interior yard setbacks. When a client calls and asks "How close can I build <br />to my property line?" my answer will sound like a high school geometry test. <br />From a point 5 feet horizontal and 8' above your property line your setback <br />is 10 inches vertically for each 12 inches horizontally or approximately 50 <br />