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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance No. 19727ORDINANCE No. 19?27 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER IV OF THE EUGENE-SPRINGFIELD METROPOLITAN AREA GENERAL PLAN To STREAMLINE THE PLAN AMENDMENT PROCESS AND ADOPTING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE. THE CITY 4F EUGENE DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: Section i. Chapter IV of the Metropolitan Area General Plan is amended to read and provide: PLAN AMENDMENTS AND REFINEMENTS The Metropolitan Plan is the long-range public policy document which establishes the broad framework upon which Eugene, Springfield, and Lane County make coordinated land use decisions. While the Metropolitan Plan is the basic guiding land use policy document, it may be amended from time to time. Likewise, the Metropolitan Plan may be augmented and implemented by more detailed refinement plans and regulatory measures. Findings,. 1. If the Metropolitan Area General Plan is to maintain its effectiveness as a policy guide, it must be adaptable to the changing needs and circumstances of the community. 2. Between Metropolitan Plan updates, changes to the Plan may occur through periodic review and amendments initiated by the governing bodies and citizens. 3. Refinements to the Metropolitan Plan are necessary in certain geographical pardons of the community where there is a great deal of development pressure or for certain special purposes. 4. Refinement plans augment and assist in the implementation of the Metropolitan Plan. Goal« Ensure that the Metropolitan Area General Plan is responsive to the changing conditions, needs, and attitudes of the community. objectives. 1. Maintain a schedule for monitoring, reviewing, and ordinance - 1 amending the Metropolitan Area General Plan sv it will remain current and valid. 2. Maintain a current land use and parcel information base for monitoring and updating the Metropolitan Area General Plan. 3. Prepare refinement and functional plans that supplement the Metropolitan Area General Plan. Policies. 1. A special review, and if appropriate, Metropolitan Plan amendment, shall be initiated if changes in the basic assumptions of the Plan occur. An example would be a change in public demand for certain housing types that in turn may affect the overall inventory of residential land. 2. The geographic information data base shall be maintained on a regular basis. 3. The governing bodies of the three metropolitan jurisdictions may initiate an amendment to the Metropolitan Plan at any time. Even though an amendment may only affect one jurisdiction, it must be referred to the other two jurisdictions for comment. 4. To enact a Metropolitan Plan amendment, all participating governing bodies must adapt an identical version of the amendment. 5. The three metropolitan jurisdictions shall jointly develop and adopt Metropolitan Plan amendment application procedures and a fee schedule. 6. Citizen initiated Metropolitan Plan minor amendment proposals may be submitted at any time. Minor amendments are limited to changes to the Metropolitan Plan Diagram. 7. Metropolitan Plan major amendment proposals may be considered twice a year at predetermined times as agreed to by all three governing bodies. 8. The planning commissions of participating jurisdictions shall consider plan amendments and may make recommendations to their respective governing bodies. 9. When the governing bodies are unable to reach Ordinance _ 2 consensus on a Metropolitan Plan amendment proposal, that proposal shall be ref erred to the Metropolitan Policy Committee for consideration and possible recommendation back to the governing bodies. l0. Metropolitan Plan updates shall be initiated no less frequently than during the state-required periodic review of the Metropolitan Plan, although the governing bodies may initiate an update of the Metropolitan Plan at any time. 11. In addition to the update of the Metropolitan Plan, refinement studies may be undertaken for individual geographical areas and special purpose or functional elements, as determined appropriate by each governing body. 12. All refinement and functional plans must be consistent with the Metropolitan Plan, and should inconsistencies occur, the Metropolitan Plan is the prevailing policy document. 13 . Refinement plans developed by one jurisdiction shall be referred to the other two jurisdictions for their review. Either of the two referral jurisdictions may determine that an amendment to the Metropolitan Plan is required. 14. Local implementing ordinances shall provide a process for zoning lands in conformance with the Metropolitan Plan. Section 2. The above Metropolitan Plan amendments control over any other inconsistent textual provisions of the Metropolitan Area General Plan. Section 3. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this ordinance is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct, and independent provision and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions hereof. Section 4. The findings contained in the attached Exhibit A are adopted in support of this Ordinance. Passed by the City council this Approved by the Mayor this 29t day of October, 1990 29th day o Oct b r, 990 ~i City Reco er ayor ordinance - 3 EXHIBIT A Findings in Support of ordinance 1977 Amending Chapter IV of the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Area General Plan. i. The plan amendment is consistent with applicable Statewide Planning Goals. The following are the applicable Statewide Planning Goals: Goal 1 - Citizen Involvement. Goal 1 is intended to ensure that citizens are involved in all stages of the planning process. Citizens have been involved in all stages of the development of these proposed amendments. The following summarizes the major citizen involvement opportunities in the development of the revisions to Chapter IV of the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Area General Plan and demonstrates how the revisions enhance citizen-initiated amendments to the Plan: 1. In August of 1984, Chapter IV of the Metropolitan Area General Plan was amended to provide for a semi-annual plan amendment process. This process provided that all citizen-initiated amendments, regardless of scope, could be initiated twice each year. 2. In June of 1987, the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Area General Plan was subject to the semi-annual plan amendment process. During this amendment process, proposed amendments to the Metropolitan Plan were subject to public hearings before the Metropolitan Area Planning Advisory Committee ~MAPAC~ and the planning commissions and governing bodies of the three metropolitan governing bodies. Dne of the proposed amendments concerned a small-acreage, Plan Diagram change to property located within the corporate limits of Eugene. 3. Following the conclusion of the semi-annual amendment process, elected officials voiced concern over the number of hearings required or a proposed amendment and the time limitation upon the initiation of small--scale, citizen- initiated amendments. 4. In october of 1988, the Metropolitan Policy Committee ~MPC~ directed metropolitan staff to draft changes to Chapter IV of the Metropolitan Plan to streamline the plan amendment process. Exhibit A - 1 5. Proposed revisions to the plan amendment process were developed by staff and reviewed by MAPAC and the three metropolitan planning commissions during the spring and summer of 1959. These meetings were noticed through mailouts to interested parties and by news releases to local newspapers. 6. on october 11, 1989, the Eugene City Council the Springfield City Council and the Lane County Board of County Commissioners reviewed the proposed revisions to the Metropolitan Plan amendment process at a j oint public hearing. The elected officials reached consensus on guidelines for the preparation of revisions to Chapter IV of the Metropolitan Plan and implementing code language at this public hearing. This public hearing was noticed through mailings to interested parties and through news releases to local newspapers. 7. on April 1G, 1990, the Joint Planning Commission Committee ~JPCC~ reviewed and approved revisions to Chapter IV of the Metropolitan Plan and implementing code language based upon the octvber l1, 1989 consensus guidelines. This meeting was noticed through mailings to interested parties and by news releases through local newspapers. 8. on May 24, 1990, the Eugene, Springfield and Lane County planning commissions, at a joint public hearing, considered and recommended approval of the proposed revisions to Chapter IV of the Metropolitan Plan. The three planning commissions considered and recommended approval, with slight modifications, of the implementing code language. Interested parties were notified of this meeting, a display ad was placed in the Register Guard newspaper 30 days prior to the public hearing, and a legal advertisement of the public hearing was placed in the Register Guard newspaper ten days prior to the public hearing. 9. on October ~9, 1990, the Eugene City Council, the Springfield City Council and the Lane County Board of County Commissioners considered the proposed revisions to Chapter IV of the Metropolitan Plan and implementing code language at a joint public hearing. Interested parties were notified of this hearing, a display advertisement of the public hearing was placed in the Register Guard newspaper 30 days prior tv the hearing and a legal advertisement of the public hearing was placed in the Register Guard newspaper ten days prior to the public hearing. Exhibit A -- 2 10. The revisions to Chapter IV enhances citizen involvement by allowing minor amendments to the Metropolitan Plan to be initiated and processed at any time. ii. The revisions to Chapter IV enhances citizen involvement by allowing for the single-jurisdiction review and approval of some minor plan amendments. Single- jurisdiction review allows the review of a proposed plan amendment to be expedited by avoiding the necessity of scheduling joint hearings at the planning commission and governing body level and the need for dispute resolution actions, Single-jurisdiction review reduces the level of participation by the other two jurisdictions, thereby reducing costs that might otherwise be passed on to citizens through application fees. Goal 2 - Land Use Planning. Goal 2 states that "Cpportunities shall be provided for review and comment by citizens and affected governmental units during preparation, review and revision on plans and implementation ordinances . " Goal 2 further provides that all land use plans and implementation ordinances shall be reviewed on a periodic cycle in accordance with a schedule set forth in the plan. 1. The proposed revisions to Chapter IV set out the framework whereby citizens may initiate major and minor amendments to the Metropolitan Plan. 2. Policy No. 10 of the revised Chapter IV provides for a scheduled review of the Metropolitan Plan that shall occur no less frequently than the state-required periodic review of the plan. Z. The plan amendment is consistent with the fundamental principles and applicable policies of the Metro Plan. Fundamental Principle 1, that provides that the Plan is a long-range policy document which serves as a framework for more detailed refinement plans, is the only fundamental principle applicable to draft revised Chapter IV. The draft revised Chapter IV is consistent with Fundamental Principle 1 in the following particulars; 1. Findings 3 and 4 recognize that refinements to the Metropolitan Plan are necessary and augment and assist in the implementation of the Metropolitan Plan. 2. It is an objective of the draft revised Chapter IV ~Cbjective 3~ that refinement plans be prepared to supplement the Metropolitan Plan. Exhibit A - 3 3, Policies 11, 12 and 13 of the draft revised Chapter IV recognize that the Metropolitan Plan may be updated through refinement studies, that all refinement and functional plans be consistent with the Metropolitan Plan and that refinement plans shall be referred to the other two jurisdictions far review. 3. The plan amendment is found to address one or more of the following: 1. An error in the publication of the plan; or 2. Circumstances have changes in a substantial manner that was not anticipated in the plan; or 3. Incorporation into the plans following acknowledgment of newly inventoried material which relates to a Statewide Goal; or 4. A change in public policy. The amendments proposed by the draft revised Chapter IV reflect a change in public policy. The new policy calls for streamlining the Metropolitan Plan amendment process to shorten the review time of some amendments and to lessen expenses to participating citizens and governments. exhibit A - 4