Item B: Neighborhood Livability Working Group Report

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Neighborhood Livability Working Group SECTION V: CURRENT EFFORTS TO ADDRESS LIVABILITY s area livability. All parties (City, University of Oregon, neighborhoods and students) are already implementing a number of actions to maintain the quality of life in this area. While landlords and property owners do not have specific programs listed that they are leading, most are committed to ensuring responsible behavior of their tenants, support and participate in current efforts and maintain management practices to ensure their properties contribute positively to the neighborhoods. City Led Eugene Police Department (EPD) Rental Property Program: This free program offered by EPD generates an automatic email to participants any time a police incident is initiated at one of their properties, whether or not EPD was able to respond to the complaint. Since the beginning of last school year, the property owner of each location for which EPD received a party or loud noise complaint was contacted and an attempt was made to recruit them into the program. Response to this program has been overwhelmingly positive. Landlords are kept informed regarding activity at their properties, and tenants are learning that each time they have a loud party reported to EPD, their landlord is finding out! EPD deploys a group of officers coordinated by a supervisor to target the behavior crimes and violations in the West University Neighborhood that has been known to lead to riots and other disruption of the neighborhood. load of the City, the officers assigned to the West University are hired on overtime. The cost per one night of the deployment is approximately $2,726, or $5,252 for both weekend nights. Deployment of this team is generally concentrated in the Fall months, and then again in the Spring when the weather is conducive to outside activities. On average, EPD deploys officers in West University 12 to 16 weekends per year. The yearly costs of a periodic enforcement in the area runs from $100,000 to $120,000, including a large scale operation for Halloween weekend. the task group is deceptive as the emphasis has shifted from responding to disorderly parties, to targeting the alcohol and behavioral issues that have led ultimately to riots. EPD Crime Prevention Program: The EPD Crime Prevention Unit (CPU) has focused a great deal of effort in the near-campus neighborhoods as well as heavily student-populated neighborhoods such as Commons & Kinsrow over the last couple of years. Two-to-five-day crime prevention outreach events were held during move-in week in September, prior to winter break in December, and prior to spring break in March. The CPU has staffed a booth outside the UO bookstore, gone door-to-door in the neighborhoods handing out crime prevention literature and answering questions about how to safeguard property, sent emails to UO and NCU students via the schools and landlord distribution lists, given crime prevention trainings to landlords, and used local media to get their crime prevention message to community members. The Crime Prevention Specialist for the campus area regularly patrols the neighborhoods, looking for suspicious behavior and alerting neighbors to circumstances which could make them easy victims. University of Oregon (UO) Led Community Welcome event and communications: During the first week of classes in September, City, neighborhood, and university leaders canvass campus neighborhoods to welcome students back for the year and encourage them to be respectful neighbors. Leaders share materials provided by the UO and the city concerning neighbor relations, throwing a responsible party, the rental housing code, crime prevention and additional services. 14 Page