HomeMy WebLinkAbout220309 WSMINUTES
Eugene City Council
Virtual Work Session
Eugene, Oregon 97401
March 9, 2022
12:00p.m.
Councilors Present: Claire Syrett, Randy Groves, Emily Semple, Jennifer Yeh, Alan
Zelenka, Greg Evans, Mike Clark
Councilors Absent: Matt Keating
Mayor Vinis opened the March 9, 2022, work session of the Eugene City Council in virtual
format.
1. WORK SESSION: Riverfront MUPTE Applications -Lots 3BC, 7, and 9
Community Development Director Will Dowdy and staff presented to Council on the
requests for Multi-Unit Property Tax Exemptions (MUPTE) for three of the Downtown
Riverfront redevelopment parcels -Parcels 3BC, 7, and 9. Council previously discussed
the applications at the February 22 work session.
Council Discussion
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Councilor Syrett -thanked staff for the presentation; expressed appreciation for the
independent review, noting it provides much reassurance and a deeper
understanding of the dynamics; asked about housing contributions for this project
being directed to the moderate income housing as opposed to the City's affordable
housing fund.
Councilor Semple -thanked staff for the presentation; noted she has changed her
mind on MUPTE in recent years, having formerly been against it due to its misuse in
other projects, but is now excited to see the funding it has generated; stated support
for these MUPTE requests; expressed appreciation for the commitment to using
local resources and green building standards; noted independent review is critical,
as is the assurance that these projects are not being used for more student housing;
discussed possible future adjustments to MUPTE program timelines; stated her
preference to see the entire riverfront remain as public land, but housing is needed
and she believes this will be a good neighborhood.
Councilor Clark -thanked staff and all involved for their long-term efforts; asked to
confirm this particular project will pay prevailing wages, and whether that is
determined at the state level and not a MUPTE requirement; asked for an
approximation of the percent differential and total dollar if labor for this was paid at
market rate vs prevailing wage; estimated that developers hiring locally at
prevailing wage will be almost as much as the MUPTE benefit, making this a clear
benefit to the community.
Councilor Zelenka -discussed previous work completed to ensure tangible, public
benefits would be received by granting MUPTE to developers; noted the additional
benefit from use of green building standards; discussed possible future reforms to
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Work Session
March 9, 2022 Page 1
the MUPTE program; stated the requirement for using 50 percent local labor and
targeting Minority-owned, Woman-owned, or Emerging Small Business (MWESB)
contractors is a good start, but more could be done; discussed decisions which led to
the independent review requirement; noted he has not voted for a MUPTE since
reforms, but is satisfied there is public benefit here; asked about setback
requirements and bike parking in the right-of-way instead of project site.
■ Councilor Evans -asked how the City will hold developers accountable to working
with MWESB; asked if developers can submit a history of tangible projects in the
past in which they were inclusive of MWESB contractors; expressed hope that as
much money as possible will stay in the local economy.
■ Councilor Yeh -noted she understands the limitations in requiring vs
recommending use of certain contractors but would also like to see data which
supports developers' use of MWESB contractors.
■ Councilor Groves -stated he is satisfied with the process and appreciates Council's
questions and staff's responses today; said he understands this project is unlikely to
proceed without being granted MUPTE, and while this is an important tool for
developers, it should never be a 'rubber stamp' as each case must be vetted in a
detailed way.
■ Councilor Zelenka -expressed support for this substantial investment in the
downtown area; noted it is a relatively small investment by the City to create 381
new units; discussed the positive impacts of using prevailing wages and MWESB
contractors; however, believes there should be clawback options if those goals are
not met.
■ Councilor Evans -stated the need to revisit a phasing approach to such tax
exemptions versus having a full 10-year exemption period, such as 5-7 year
exemption tiers; proposed a work session on phasing MUPTE with shorter
exemption periods and built-in criteria that incentivize developers to use shorter
terms.
■ Councilor Zelenka -stated his support for a work session on reviewing MUPTE
reforms, their efficacy and where adjustments or enhancements may be needed.
■ Mayor Vinis -recognized the council's collective desire to have another work
session on MUPTE reforms.
MOTION AND VOTE: Councilor Syrett, seconded by Councilor Zelenka, moved
to adopt a Resolution Approving a Multiple-Unit Property Tax Exemption For
Residential Property Located on Lot 2 and Lot 3 of the Town Run Plat in Eugene,
Oregon (Assessor's Map 17-03-32-22, Tax Lots 1800 and 1900) (Applicant
Eugene Riverfront District LLC) approving a multiple-unit property tax
exemption for Parcel 3BC. PASSED 7:0
MOTION AND VOTE: Councilor Syrett, seconded by Councilor Zelenka, moved
to adopt a Resolution Approving a Multiple-Unit Property Tax Exemption For
Residential Property Located on Lot 9 of the Town Run Plat in Eugene, Oregon
(Assessor's Map 17-03-32-22, Tax Lot 2500) (Applicant Eugene Riverfront
District LLC) approving a multiple-unit property tax exemption for Parcel 7.
PASSED 7:0
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MOTION AND VOTE: Councilor Syrett, seconded by Councilor Zelenka, moved
to adopt a Resolution Approving a Multiple-Unit Property Tax Exemption For
Residential Property Located on Lot 12 of the Town Run Plat in Eugene, Oregon
(Assessor's Map 17-03-32-22, Tax Lot 02800) (Applicant Eugene Riverfront
District LLC) approving a multiple-unit property tax exemption for Parcel 9.
PASSED 7:0
2. WORK SESSION: Middle Housing Code Update
Principal Planner Terri Harding presented on Middle Housing Code Amendments that
will be coming to the City Council for public hearing and action after the Council's
spring break. The work session included an overview of the public outreach and
Planning Commission review process, which resulted in a unanimous recommendation
for Council to adopt a package of land use and plan amendments which both implement
state law and respond to public outreach.
Council Discussion
■ Councilor Semple -thanked staff for the presentation and update; noted code
updates have to be signed by end of May in order to make the June deadline, which
is 10 weeks away; stated the code suggestions from the Planning Commission are
based off of the model code and not the minimum code, and she would prefer to
start with minimum code and have a chart referencing minimum code versus model
code versus Planning Commission suggestions; asked if there has been any
statistical analysis on public outreach performed to date, as she is hearing many are
unaware of these recommendations and, if people are caught off guard by them,
they may be shocked and push back enormously; asked for clarification on the
update to allowable height of buildings; stated she believes the Planning
Commission has gotten overzealous with recommendations; stated the state has
given a broad set of changes to implement and it would be better to start there and
revisit after a year with enhancements; stated these are good ideas but the City must
first start at the base and see where Eugene wants to go from there.
■ Councilor Groves -thanked staff and the Planning Commission for their
presentation and hard work; stated this is not an easy issue and many are emotional
on both sides of it, and there remains much misunderstanding; asked how House
Bill 2003 interfaces/integrates with House Bill 2001; stated his preferred approach
to first seek middle ground wherever possible, though he does like the idea of
starting with the minimum code changes and adding enhancements to it over time;
noted there is much concern over this issue and he would like to better understand
the consequences for these decisions before proceeding fully.
■ Councilor Zelenka -asked for additional information from staff, including 1) detail
of incremental changes from existing codes and standards, 2) further information on
the '¼ mile from transit quarter' incentives and 3) additional detail on the
Willamette greenway issue; expressed concerns with misinformation around
protections reportedly missing from new code, yet they are only absent because
they already exist in current code.
■ Councilor Yeh -expressed appreciation for the charts and information provided by
staff; agreed potential code amendments will not solve middle housing crisis; noted
many in the community seem confused with conflicting information streaming from
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Work Session
multiple sources; asked staff for a plan to get accurate, usable information to the
community as to allow for more informed feedback; asked staff to consider
additional outreach beyond online and social media platforms; asked for
clarification of the primary differences between parent and child lots.
■ Councilor Clark -asked if there is time to get staff responses to detailed questions
before a decision is required; discussed goals of code recommendations and
engagement and involvement and engaging public broadly; stated a better informed
public generally leads to less conflict as it is difficult to pass along misinformation to
the already informed; stated he would like to see further public engagement and an
analysis from the Department of Land Conservation and Development.
■ Councilor Syrett -thanked staff and the Planning Commission for the presentation
and their work; stated she is satisfied with the recommendations of the Planning
Commission as the City should strive for more than the minimum standard;
discussed concerns with misinformation to the public; noted that Eugene's
community outreach is more robust than any other community in Oregon currently
being required to make these changes; stated that more information is always good;
however, some members of community are determined to be in conflict over this.
■ Mayor Vin is -discussed complaints by some in the community that minimum code
standards do not address affordable housing, therefore the Planning Commission
has tailored its recommendations to do so; stated she understands the frustration of
those who, despite robust coverage of this topic, have yet to receive no or bad
information; discussed incremental development approaches.
■ Councilor Semple -clarified additions to the height maximum allowances in parent
lot versus child lot; expressed concerns over displacement of older housing in favor
of newer multi-family housing; expressed concerned about state Measure 49 and
waivers; stated it is great that outreach has been more expansive than other
communities, but there will still be issues if not all who need the information receive
it; asked for a detailed overview of the minimum code, model code from the state,
recommendations from the Planning Commission, and external suggestions .
■ Councilor Zelenka -clarified his previous request to staff for additional information;
advocated for the City to have a more customized approach to code changes which
consider specific circumstances and on -the-ground impact for individual
neighborhoods.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:31 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
~
Brooke Freed
City Recorder AIC
(Recorded by Jay Ferris)
Web cast of meeting available here .
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Work Session
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