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answer you want to hear, maybe the answer you need to hear that the <br />broader interests of the City at large, which include consideration of more <br />than just what best serves the interests of specific neighborhoods, calls for a <br />compromise. Option B is that compromise. Architects, builders, property <br />owners and others feel that by signing on to this, they are giving away a lot, <br />and doing so in the true spirit of compromise. <br /> I departed from my prepared comments at the public hearing to <br />suggest that a complex mix of issues are at play. My reference to the LUCU <br />changes related to residential uses in commercial zones was an effort to <br />help you understand that many past actions have contributed to the current <br />state of affairs. (LUCU allowed residential use on upper floors, and a <br />percentage of the first floor in a mixed use arrangement. Too complex to go <br />into here, but other functional requirements such as parking, mean that <br />developing small lot residential infill on C zoned land is next to impossible, <br />today.) <br /> The erosion of owner-occupied single family homes in <br />neighborhoods near the U of O extends well past WUN and SUNA. Sue <br />Prichards Amazon neighborhood has a tremendous amount of student <br />rentals, as does Fairmount, South Eugene and Westside neighborhoods. I <br />believe the U of O brings inestimable value to the City - economically, <br />culturally, and intellectually, and the annual influx of students brings us not <br />only beer pong tables in driveways, but also the sort of wonderful youthful <br />exuberance exhibited by Lauren Hulses daughter at the hearing. We are <br />better off for having them here, all things considered. If I could ask the City <br />to do one thing to really help close-in neighborhoods, it would be to help <br />make it possible to provide decent, attractive housing close enough to the U <br />of O so as to be the first choice of students, and at a price such that buying <br />an existing single family house doesnt become such a logical and <br />financially prudent option to parents. If we rezoned property, increased <br />allowable densities, and took a hard-eyed look at a more equitable <br />distribution of the need for housing students on more than just two sides of <br />the U of O, we might see a reversal of the trend of converting SUNA to so <br />many blocks of absentee parental landlords. <br /> Others may poo-poo this as unrealistic, and point out the U of O <br />plans to create 1500 new dorms in the next ten years. However, even at <br />build out, the new units added are a small fraction of the total demand, and <br />these neighborhoods will continue to sag under the weight of housing <br />demand. Add in the Sacred Heart site redevelopment (with OHSU in the <br />mix), Northwest Christians growing enrollment, LCC downtown classroom <br />expansion plans, and increasing demand for near downtown housing is <br />inexorable. In my view, putting a lid on the ability to build more units on <br />what little medium and high density housing land we have may help a few <br />