Item 5: Action - Ord. on Land Use Code Amend - Infill Standards

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Goal 10 - Housing. To provide for the housing needs of citizens of the state. Goal 10 requires that communities plan for and maintain an inventory of buildable residential land for needed housing units. Although the amendments address residential development standards, they do not impact the supply or availability of residential lands included in the documented supply of “buildable land” that is available for residential development as inventoried in the acknowledged 1999 Residential Lands Study (RLS). The following table provides the net density assumptions used in the RLS for multi-family (RLS, page 22) and the associated maximum allowable densities per Eugene Code Table 9.2750: Assumed Average Net Density for Maximum Allowable Net Density Plan Designation Multi-Family Housing (RLS) per Eugene Code Low Density Residential (LDR) 14.0 14.0 (R-1 zone) Medium Density Residential (MDR) 20.0 28.0 (R-2 zone) High Density Residential (HDR) 56.0 (R-3 zone) 35.0 112.0 (R-4 zone) The amendments pertaining to allowed intrusions, driveways and parking areas, garbage and recycling, and bicycling parking do not have an impact on the level of development or densities currently permitted through existing code and zoning regulations. The amendment pertaining to building height in the south university areas only apply to a limited number of properties. There is nothing in the record that raises concerns as to the City’s ability to remain consistent with the assumed densities for the area in question. While the amendment pertaining to the multi-family development open space standards removes an exemption to open space for higher density projects, this amendment also provides more design flexibility and clarity about where and how open space can be provided. For example, 10-foot wide interior yards can be used to accommodate required open space, whereas previously that was not possible. To qualify for the open space exemption (which allows a multi-family development to not dedicate a portion of the site as required open space), a project must meet approximately 80 percent of the maximum allowable density in the zone. For example, in the R-4 High Density Residential zone (which implements the HDR plan designation), a multi-family development that provides 90 units per net acre is exempt from providing open space. Given that the open space exemption is only relevant to those projects at the upper end of the allowable density ranges of the R-3 and R-4 zones, this amendment will have no material impact on the assumed densities, which are well below this level. Testimony was submitted asserting that as a result of the code amendments, particularly the removal of the open space exemption, achievable density for multi-family developments would be reduced by 15 to 20 percent. Additional testimony provided a list of multi-family projects and duplexes developed over the past several years by a local building design and construction company, including the number of units constructed and the estimated loss of units due to the code amendments. The majority of these projects were constructed in the R-3 Limited High Density Residential and R-4 High Density Residential zones, in a HDR designation. Although it is not possible to verify the accuracy of the estimated reduction in units, nevertheless, it does appear that the majority of projects would still far Findings of Consistency (CA 11-2) 4 of 11