Item 1: Ordinance on EWEB Downtown Riverfront Property

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EWEB DOWNTOWN RIVERFRONT LAND USE COMPONENTS D.3 Eugene, Springfield, and Lane County shall continue to cooperate in expanding water related parks and other facilities, where appropriate, that allow access to and enjoyment of river and waterway corridors. This policy is aimed at intergovernmental cooperation between Eugene, Springfield, and Lane County to expand parks and other facilities and public access opportunities. As it relates specifically to Eugene, the following findings are relevant to the proposal. As noted in the findings for Goal 8 under EC 9.7730(3)(a), a portion of the subject site is identified in the PROS Project and Priority Plan as a proposed Metropolitan Park site for acquisition. The applicant proposes the sale or transfer of 7.74 acres of land to the City for future cultural landscape, open space, and recreation purposes and to add to the supply of significant riverfront open space in public ownership. If the City purchases or accepts a portion of the property for parkland, an expansion of water related parks and other facilities that allow access of the river would occur following development of said land. As such the proposed amendments and zone change advances the City’s role pursuant to the above policy. Therefore, the proposed amendments and zone change are consistent with Policy D.3. D.5 New development that locates along river corridors and waterways shall be limited to uses that are compatible with the natural, scenic, and environmental qualities of those water features. As noted previously, the subject property includes 1,460 lineal feet of frontage along the Willamette River. The subject property is located on an outer, scouring bank. The entire river frontage is reinforced with revetments to provide bank stability and protect civil infrastructure. The vast majority of the subject site is prior developed and has been used for industrial/utility uses since the acquisition of the riverfront property in 1908. Since that time, large volumes of fill material have been imported and placed on the subject site. The proposal involves redevelopment of prior development areas. As noted previously, a portion of the subject site is identified in the PROS Project and Priority Plan as a proposed Metropolitan Park site for acquisition. The plan assigns the acquisition project a Priority 1 level and allocates $1,500,000 in capital costs to “acquire land to provide significant riverfront open space within [the] courthouse/cannery neighborhood.” The applicant proposes the sale or transfer of 7.74 acres of land to the City for future cultural landscape, open space, and recreation purposes and to add to the supply of significant riverfront open space in public ownership. The identification of a portion of the subject size for park acquisition demonstrates the proposed uses consistency with natural, scenic, and environmental qualities of the Willamette River. The Master Plan development process included extensive public involvement, as noted in the findings for Goal 1 under EC 9.7730(3)(a), and an iterative design process that resulted in a redevelopment concept centered on compatibility with natural, scenic, and environmental qualities, as described in the Downtown Riverfront SAP (Exhibit A Downtown Riverfront Specific Area Plan). The Master Plan envisions a green redevelopment of the subject property, with approximately eight acres of dedicated public open space, new construction and adaptive re-use of buildings, pedestrian-oriented streets connecting Downtown Eugene to the Willamette River, and a cultural landscape that displays the ecological, social, industrial, and civic history of the place. The Master Plan uses a modified version of the C-2 Commercial Base Zone permitted uses as a guide for determining future allowable uses on the subject site, which are the basis for permitted uses in the S-DR Zone (Exhibit B S-DR Downtown Riverfront Special Area Zone). The S-DR Zone includes height standards that restrict the maximum height of buildings as development approaches Cameron McCarthy FINAL SUBMITTAL | December 5, 2012 {00091176;1 }