Item B: South Willamette Concept Plan Update

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South Willamette Concept Plan Consider the Design Excellence Principles established by the American Institute of Architects Southwest Oregon Chapter in the design review process Establish a design review process to allow flexibility in achieving design outcomes within the district, as an alternative to meeting clear and objective standards Updates to the Arterial and Collector Street Plan include further refinement of recommendations for street design and character of specific elements such as street lighting, furnishing, materials and trees Special Area Plan • Develop and adopt a Special Area Plan that incorporates and enables the content of the South Willamette Concept Plan, including policies supporting future action items not yet completed prior to, or as part of, adoption of the Special Area Plan. Plan Amendments • Adopt revisions to the land use diagram currently contained in the Metropolitan Area General Plan (Metro Plan) to reflect the uses and densities recommended in the South Willamette Concept Plan • Integrate recommended street typologies into the upcoming Arterial and Street Collector Plan (ACSP) update and /or into appropriate Public Works Administrative Rules to ensure future public and private improvements consistent with recommendations • Revise the city Right -of -Way Map as needed to coordinate with the established build -to line along South Willamette Street based on the final outcome of the long -term vision for that street • Revise the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Project and Priority List to include development of a small public plaza, approximately 1 /10 to 1/8 acre in size, in the South Willamette core area • Establish a public /private partnership program to promote other pocket -sized public or semi - public spaces; consider management agreements that leverage public resources, potentially in partnership with district -wide promotional efforts Monitoring • Build in a periodic assessment of growth and change in the district to determine effectiveness of implementation plan, • Periodically assess effectiveness of the special area zone development standards in facilitating desired urban form. Community Investment Program The Envision Eugene proposal calls for meeting the community's need for new commercial jobs and multi - family housing over the next 20 years inside the existing urban growth boundary. This will be accomplished mainly by increasing redevelopment along Eugene's core commercial areas and key transit corridors. Unfortunately, market conditions over the next 20 years are not expected to support the level of redevelopment needed to meet this goal, including approximately 1600 units of multi- family housing. The difference between actual, expected market conditions and those needed to stimulate needed redevelopment is called the "market gap." The South Willamette area, in addition to being a core commercial area located along a key transit corridor, is also one of four areas - also including downtown Eugene, the Franklin corridor, and the south Coburg Road area - where market conditions are expected to be closer to supporting redevelopment than other areas of town. However, the gap is still significant, and little or no redevelopment is expected in these target locations without action by the City. Envision Eugene identifies a variety of actions available to local government that can reduce or close the market gap. Market - changing actions typically aim to make redevelopment projects more feasible by boosting the certainty and speed of permit approval, lifting achievable rent and lease rates (e.g. by making certain areas more attractive for business and living), and lowering construction and operating costs. City of Eugene ■ 55