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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance No. 20439ow COUNCIL ORDINANCE NUMBER 20439 ,ail AN ORDINANCE CONCERNING BUILDING HEIGHT IN THE UNIVERSITY AREA; READOPTING PROVISIONS FROM ORDINANCE NO. 20418 IN RESPONSE TO REMAND; AMENDING SECTION 9.2751 OF THE EUGENE CODE, 1971; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE AND A SUNSET DATE REJECTED: OPPOSED: ABSENT: EFFECTIVE: November 13, 2009 ORDINANCE NO. 20439 AN ORDINANCE CONCERNING BUILDING HEIGHT IN THE UNIVERSITY AREA; READOPTING PROVISIONS FROM ORDINANCE NO. 20418 IN RESPONSE TO REMAND; AMENDING SECTION 9.2751 OF THE EUGENE CODE, 1971; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE AND A SUNSET DATE. THE CITY OF EUGENE DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: Section 1 . Subsection (3) of Section 9.2751 of the Eugene Code, 1971, is amended to revise subsection (a) and to add a subsection (c) as follows: 9.2751 Special Development Standards for Table 9.2750 (3) Building Height. (a) Except as provided below, in the R -3 and R -4 zone, the maximum building height shall be limited to 30 feet for that portion of the building located within 50 feet from the abutting boundary of, or directly across an alley from, land zoned R -1. (c) For that area bound by Hilyard Street to the west, Agate Street to the east, East 18 Avenue to the north and East 20` Avenue to the south: 1. In the R -3 zone, the maximum building height shall be limited to 35 feet for that portion of the building located within 160 feet from the abutting boundary of, or directly across an alley from, land zoned R -1. 2. In the R -4 zone, the maximum building height shall be limited to 35 feet for that portion of the building located within 50 feet from the abutting boundary of, or directly across an alley from, land zoned R -1. It shall be limited to 50 feet for that portion of the building located within 175 feet from land zoned R -3, and shall be limited to 75 feet for that portion of the building located within 176 feet and 225 feet of land zoned R -3. Section 2 . The City Recorder, at the request of, or with the concurrence of the City Attorney, is authorized to administratively correct any reference errors contained herein or in other provisions of the Eugene Code, 1971 to the provisions added, amended, or repealed herein. Section 3 . The legislative findings to address the June 12, 2009 remand from the Land Use Board of Appeals, attached as Exhibit A hereto, are adopted in support of this Ordinance. Ordinance - Page 1 of 2 Section 4 . This Ordinance and the amendments authorized herein shall automatically sunset and be repealed on June 30, 2010. The City Recorder is requested to note the sunset date on appropriate City logs. Passed by the City Council this 12 day of October, 2009 tXAnn�nx n�,n� Acting City Recorder Approved by the Mayor this 13th day of October, 2009 Mayor —� Ordinance - Page 2 of 2 EXHIBIT A Findings Building Height Transition Code Amendment Eugene Code Section 9.8065 requires that the following approval criteria (in bold and italics) be applied to a code amendment: (1) The amendment is consistent with applicable statewide planning goals adopted by the Land Conservation and Development Commission. Goal 12- Transportation To provide and encourage a safe, convenient and economic transportation system. The Land Use Board of Appeals, in their Final Opinion and Order for the appeal of Ordinance No. 20418, found that "[w]hile it seems unlikely to us that the prior maximum building height limits in the R -3 and R -4 zone played much a role when the city's comprehensive plan and land use code were acknowledged as complying with Goal 12 and the TPR, we cannot be sure that it played no role in facilitating "transit oriented developments (TODs) on lands along transit routes," as OAR 660 - 012- 0045(5)(a) requires." LUBA remanded for findings that address OAR 660 - 012- 0045(5)(a). The complete text of OAR 660 - 012- 0045(5)(a) is provided below (in italic bold text): OAR 660 - 012 -0045 Implementation of the Transportation System Plan (5) In MPO areas, local governments shall adopt land use and subdivision regulations to reduce reliance on the automobile which: (a) Allow transit - oriented developments (TODs) on lands along transit routes; As explained below, the regulations that set maximum building heights in the City's R -3 and R -4 zones have played no part in the City's representations or DLCD's actions regarding acknowledgement for consistency with this OAR. Prior to 2001, the Eugene Code set the maximum building height in R -3 at 40 feet, but did not set a zone -wide maximum building height in the R -4 zone. For both the R -3 and R -4 zones, however, the maximum height was limited to 25 feet for that portion of the building within 50 feet from the abutting boundary of, or directly across an alley from, any of land zoned AG, RA or R -1 (the maximum height in the AG, RA and R -1 zones was 25 feet). A comprehensive update to the City of Eugene's land use code was adopted in 2001. The 2001 update set new building height maximums in the R -3 and R -4 zones of 50 feet and 120 feet, respectively. For both the R -3 and R -4 zones, however, the maximum height was limited to 30 feet for that portion of the building located within 50 feet from the abutting boundary of, or directly across the alley from, land zoned R -1 Low Density Residential (the maximum height in R -1 was 30 feet). The current (MiCAP) proposal further limits maximum building heights in the R -3 and R -4 zones within a 16 block area located south of the University of Oregon to provide a more graduated height transition between this R -3/R -4 area and the adjacent R -1 neighborhood. There is no evidence that suggests the height provisions discussed above were adopted or relied upon to demonstrate compliance with OAR 660- 12- 0045(5)(a). Written findings addressing compliance with Statewide Planning Goals and the Metro Plan were prepared for the 2001 land use code update (Ordinance No. 20224). Those findings discussed numerous code provisions that demonstrated consistency with Goal 12 - Transportation. The building height maximums were not included in those findings as a basis for consistency with Goal 12. Based on those findings, the 2001 code was acknowledged as complying with Goal 12 and the TPR, with no mention of the building height maximums. The City's consistency with OAR 660 -12- 0045(5) was not dependent on the building height maximums. It was actually the City's establishment of a /TD Transit Oriented Development overlay zone in 1993 under Ordinance No. 19946 that specifically addressed compliance with OAR 660 -012- 0045(5)(x). The 16- block area where the current (MiCAP) proposal would apply is not within the /TD Transit Oriented Development overlay zone and leaves DLCD's acknowledgement of that zone's consistency with OAR 660 - 012- 0045(5)(a) undisturbed. The current (MiCAP) proposal to require more graduated maximum heights in this 16 -block area is consistent with, and does not have any effect on the City's current acknowledgement for consistency with Goal 12 and specifically OAR 660 - 012- 0045(5)(a).