Planning Commission

AGENDA Meeting Location: Sloat Room—Atrium Building Phone: 541-682-5481 99 W. 10th Avenue www.eugene-or.gov/pc Eugene, OR 97401 The Eugene Planning Commission welcomes your interest in these agenda items. Feel free to come and go as you please at any of the meetings. This meeting location is wheelchair-accessible. For the hearing impaired, FM assistive-listening devices are available or an interpreter can be provided with 48 hour notice prior to the meeting. Spanish-language interpretation will also be provided with 48 hour notice. To arrange for these services, contact the Planning Division at 541-682-5675. MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 2015 – REGULAR MEETING (11:30 a.m.) 11:30 a.m. I. PUBLIC COMMENT The Planning Commission reserves 10 minutes at the beginning of this meeting for public comment. The public may comment on any matter, except for items scheduled for public hearing or public hearing items for which the record has already closed. Generally, the time limit for public comment is three minutes; however, the Planning Commission reserves the option to reduce the time allowed each speaker based on the number of people requesting to speak. 11:40 a.m. II. PLANNING COMMISSION ELECTIONS AND SUBCOMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS 12:00 p.m. III. WORK PLAN PREVIEW Lead City Staff: Robin Hostick, 541-682-5507 robin.a.hostick@ci.eugene.or.us 1:15 p.m. V. ITEMS FROM COMMISSION AND STAFF A. Other Items from Staff B. Other Items from Commission C. Learning: How are we doing? Commissioners: Steven Baker; John Barofsky; John Jaworski (Vice-Chair); Jeffrey Mills; Brianna Nicolello; William Randall (Chair); Kristen Taylor  AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY August 10, 2015 To: Eugene Planning Commission From: Robin Hostick, City of Eugene Planning Division Subject: Eugene Planning Division – Work Plan Preview 2015-2017 ISSUE STATEMENT This work session is an opportunity for the Planning Commission to preview the Planning Division’s in-progress work plan for 2015 through 2017. BACKGROUND The Eugene Planning Division implements a wide variety of programs and projects, including compliance with many federal, state and local regulations, as well as the directives of the Eugene City Council. For the past few years, the Planning Division’s work has been largely driven by review of land use applications and related project coordination, and implementing the Envision Eugene recommendations as directed by Council since 2012. We anticipate this framework for prioritizing work will continue. This work session is an opportunity for the Commission to preview the expected priorities over the next couple of years, as well as better understand the changing needs, expectations and resource levels we anticipate will affect our work. The City organization as a whole has experienced changes and a re-sizing of the “organizational footprint” since the 2008 economic crisis. The financial impact on local government was delayed by a couple of years due to the funding cycle of taxes and other revenues. Similarly, achieving stability in the City’s budget has also followed behind the recovery of the economy as a whole. While FY15 was the first budget cycle since 2010 that did not require creative solutions to address a multi-million dollar shortfall, the City is not expected to return to previous levels of funding or staffing. This is essential to maintaining a healthy, stable budget. Rather, the City will be working to develop a new, more efficient model of service delivery in coming years. For the Planning Division, the changes have been significant: a recent review showed a 35% reduction in staff levels since 2010. In addition, several staff members have taken other jobs or retired, which has required us to seek temporary arrangements and recruit and train several new staff to fill the gaps. This will be an ongoing process for the next year or two. The scope of the Envision Eugene work plan and resurgence of development activity will continue to challenge the capacity of the Planning Division. Many of the proposed activities are complex and affect a broad range of interests. The Eugene community and leadership place high expectations on the depth of public engagement and level of analysis for all local planning activities. To achieve these goals within the time horizon of Envision Eugene, multiple projects will need to be undertaken concurrently. In addition, several initiatives are expected to create a need for ongoing support, for example monitoring, analyzing and vetting key indicators related to growth in jobs and housing, and carrying out implementation of current and proposed area plans. Recent months have shown a significant increase in land use applications. Because the City is required by law to meet certain time lines for application review and related processes such as appeals, continued increases in demand for application review may require a re-allocation of staff time to cover these needs. This may reduce staff capacity to carry out the larger project initiatives of Envision Eugene. As the land supply narrows to more challenging sites, including redevelopment proposals, applications are also expected to become more complex and time- consuming. Providing high levels of technical rigor and service, in addition to new services such as design review and consultation, will require staff and project work to be adaptable and flexible. Despite these realities, the Planning Division is fortunate to have a highly adaptable, resilient, and experienced staff, and supportive leadership in the City and the community. In many ways we are better prepared to meet the challenges ahead than we were five years ago. In partnership with the Planning Commission, we will continue to learn, lead, innovate, and work toward achieving the community’s best outcomes. These outcomes are embedded in the 2015-2017 DRAFT work plan (Attachment A). Overall, the draft work plan consists of both long-range and short-range commitments and initiatives, based on legal imperatives, Council direction, and long-standing community priorities. The work plan combines these efforts in broad categories, which reflects the Planning Division’s transition to working as a single team with variable emphasis. NEXT STEPS While the draft work plan reflects our most current, high-level view of pending work, each item will need to be further scoped and reviewed for staffing. As future work items are refined and current work items evolve, we anticipate that some adjustments in the work list and time line will need to be made. ATTACHMENTS A. DRAFT Planning Team Work Plan 2015 – 2017 FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact Robin Hostick at 541-682-5507, robin.a.hostick@ci.eugene.or.us  Attachment A Eugene Planning Team All time lines are estimated DRAFT 2015-2017 Work Plan and subject to change August 2015 2015 2016 2017 Ongoing Planning Programs and Projects Land use application review Planning Commission adminstration Historic Review Board administration Land Use Implementation Code implementation and internal training Responding to public inquiries / project consultations Design review process implementation Project planning and design assistance (land use and community development) Intrerdepartmental coordination (city wide initiatives) Code Improvement Program Code maintenance (annual or semi-annual) Corridor Planning MovingAhead Station Community planning pilot RR/SC (TGM grant pending) Monitoring Program Program and database development/adoption Program and database administration Special Projects State Projects (Reporting, legistlative review, rule making) City Council /Manager assignments Cost recovery analysis/update Community Design Special project & initiative support (e.g. downtown design guidelines, W2W) Envision Eugene UGB Adoption Process South Willamette Special Area Zone (preceeds UGB adoption package) City Council adoption process UGB Adoption Package (Regulatory components) UGB Location, Plan and Code Amendments Clear Lake Overlay Zone Comprehensive Plan Phase 1: Intro, Chapters 1-3, 4, 9 Supporting Documents, Maps and Findings Envision Eugene Box Set (Non-regulatory components) Part I Community Vision Part III Urban Form Plan and Community Design Handbook Part IV Implementation Plan Envision Eugene Implementation Projects Urban Reserves Planning Develop and implement urban reserve project work plan Metro Plan boundary adjustments Area Planning River Road / Santa Clara area plan University area plan Area Plan Pilot Project Evaluation/Implementation (EWEB, Walnut, South Willamette) Additional area plan scoping and prioritization Code Improvement Program Needed housing update Zone transitions (citywide) Comprehensive Plan Phase 2 Remaining Chapters (livability, natural resources, public facilities, etc.) Parcel-specific land use diagram Related Metro Plan amendments Development Readiness Required Goal 5 protection measures for expansion areas Clear Lake Implementation Measures: Wetlands, EcoDevo Plan, CIP Crow Road Implementation Measures Investment Program: Enterprise Zone, SDC Re-Structuring, New Tools = timing dependent on UGB adoption process