Planning Commission

AGENDA Phone: 541-682-5481 Meeting Location: www.eugene-or.gov/pc Hybrid Meeting (See How to Access this Meeting on next page) The Eugene Planning Commission welcomes your interest in these agenda items. This Planning Commission Work Session is in hybrid format with the ability for public comment virtually. Members of the public can watch or listen in using Zoom or phone in options. Information about online or other options for access and participation is available on the last page of this agenda. For the hearing impaired, assistive-listening devices or an interpreter can be provided with 72- hour notice prior to the meeting. Spanish-language interpretation may also be provided with 72- hour notice. These services may not be available during the Planning Commission meeting based on service availability but may occur as a follow up service. To arrange for these services, contact the Planning Division at 541-682-5675. TUESDAY, May 23, 2023 – Regular Meeting 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm Commissioners: Ken Beeson; Diane Behling; Tiffany Edwards; Lisa Fragala (Vice Chair); Dan Isaacson (Chair); Jason Lear, Chris Ramey The Commission will begin the meeting with the City’s Land Acknowledgement statement: Since time immemorial the Kalapuya people have been the Indigenous stewards to our region, building dynamic communities, maintaining balance with wildlife, and enacting sustainable land practices. This land acknowledgement is a way of resisting the erasure of Indigenous histories and to honor Native communities by inviting truth and reconciliation. Following treaties between 1851 and 1855, Kalapuya people were dispossessed of their Indigenous homeland by the United States government and forcibly removed to the Coast Reservation in Western Oregon. As we consider the impacts of colonization, we also acknowledge the strength and resiliency of displaced Indigenous people. The City of Eugene is built within the traditional homelands known as Kalapuya Ilihi. Kalapuya descendants are citizens of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians of Oregon, they continue to make contributions in our communities here and across the lands. We express our respect for the inherent political sovereignty of all federally recognized Tribal Nations and Indigenous people who live in the State of Oregon and across the nation. Therefore, the Planning Commission recognizes that what we do today will affect the many generations who will come after us. A. 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. Page 1 of 11  B. WORK SESSION: RIVER ROAD SANTA CLARA NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN UPDATE Staff: Terri Harding, 541-682-5635, THarding@eugene-or.gov C. ITEMS FROM COMMISSION AND STAFF 1. Other Items from Staff 2. Other Items from Commission 3. Learning: How are we doing HOW TO ACCESS THE MEETING This work session will be in hybrid format with the ability for public comment virtually. Planning Commission and staff will meet in person (or via virtually if needed). Members of the public can watch or listen in using Zoom or phone in options below. To watch a webcast of the meeting live: 1. Visit: https://www.eugene-or.gov/2109/Planning-Commission-Webcasts 2. Join on your computer, tablet or smartphone Visit: https://eugene-or-gov.zoom.us/j/88568352100 Sign up to speak by clicking once on the “raise hand” icon 3. Join on your phone Dial one of the below numbers and enter the Webinar ID: 885 6835 2100 +1 833-548-0276 (Toll Free); or +1 833-548-0282 (Toll Free); or +1 877-853-5257 (Toll Free); or +1 888-475-4499 (Toll Free); For higher quality, dial a number based on your current location. International numbers available: https://eugene-or-gov.zoom.us/u/kbEgyMKe59 Page 2 of 11  AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY May 23, 2023 To: Eugene Planning Commission From: Terri Harding, Principal Planner, Planning Division Elena Domingo, Assistant Planner Leah Rausch, Associate Planner Subject: River Road-Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan Update ACTION REQUESTED At this meeting, the Planning Commission will receive an update on the draft River Road-Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan, Action Plan, and Neighborhood-specific Code Amendments. Staff will present a summary of what’s included in the documents currently out for community feedback, and next steps toward plan adoption. BACKGROUND The River Road and Santa Clara Community Organizations, City and Lane County staff, consultants and neighborhood volunteers have been working together since the spring of 2017 to produce a neighborhood plan for the River Road and Santa Clara neighborhoods. The neighborhood planning process is divided into six key phases, with opportunities for the Planning Commission to learn about and provide feedback on the project along the way. A more detailed written explanation of the project phases and group roles can be found on pages 16-18 of the draft Neighborhood Plan. • Spring 2017 – 2018: The first three phases of the project - Reaching Out, Visioning and Neighborhood Priorities focused on asking community members what they value in their neighborhoods now and about their hopes and visions for the future. • 2018 - Spring 2019: The fourth phase, the Policy Development Phase, focused on drafting policies that relate to the vision and neighborhood priorities. The draft policies are organized under eighteen high-level goals. Both the goals and policies were written by the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) and vetted by topic area Working Groups and the project management team. The policy language has been refined by staff to incorporate initial legal feedback, to better reflect the actions associated with those policies and to provide general clarifying updates. • Summer 2019 - Spring 2021: The fifth phase, the Action Planning Phase, focused on drafting, evaluating and prioritizing actions, which the community identified as possible strategies to implement the Neighborhood Plan policies. The project team provided updates on the Action Planning Phase and received feedback on land use code related actions to focus on in the Adoption Phase at the March 22, 2021 Eugene Planning 1 Page 3 of 11  Commission work session and the April 6 and April 20, 2021 Lane County Planning Commission work sessions. • May 2021: The Eugene City Council and Lane County Board of Commissioners directed staff to move into the Adoption Phase and prepare the River Road-Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan adoption package for community review. A NEW PATH FORWARD Work continued from summer 2021 through fall 2022, primarily focusing on preparing and refining a draft corridor code with consultants, the project management team, and the CAC. By late fall 2022, several challenges to the project including the pandemic, staff changes, and new state rulemaking caused the staff team to reconsider the path to landing the project. While the vision statements, goals, policies, and actions remain largely intact, staff proposed shifting certain implementation tools such as zoning and land use code amendments to better align with new rules affecting middle housing, climate friendly development, and housing production in general. The project staff team spent five months between November 2022 and March 2023 discussing with the CAC how to best land the project within existing resource and state law constraints, while meeting as many of the neighborhood objectives as possible. Through that process, staff proposed a compromise that includes the most critical neighborhood-specific land use code amendments identified through the corridor planning work but does not create a new zoning district or rezone properties. This approach is consistent with a statewide shift toward more equitable zoning and code tools that remove barriers to building housing across Oregon. In March 2023, the CAC voted to send the draft Neighborhood Plan, Action Plan, and Neighborhood-specific Code Amendments out to the community for feedback. These components are described below and will be presented in more detail at the meeting. ADOPTION PACKAGE An overview of the Adoption Phase, including a timeline, is provided in Attachment A. The plan materials out for community feedback include: Draft Neighborhood Plan: Adoption of the River Road-Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan will provide policy direction to guide plan implementation. The Neighborhood Plan will serve as an adopted land use plan, implementing statewide planning goals and guidelines at the local level. The plan focuses on Economic Development, Transportation, Parks and Natural Resources, Land Use, and Community. Each topic area includes a vision statement, goals, and policies. The Neighborhood Plan will replace the current River Road Santa Clara Urban Facilities Plan, which was adopted in 1987. Associated Metro Plan Amendments are included as well, to remove text related to the 1987 plan. Draft Action Plan: The Action Plan includes community identified actions that are possible strategies to implement the adopted policies in the Neighborhood Plan. The Action Plan is not a 2 Page 4 of 11 formally adopted land use plan; rather it will guide implementation of the Neighborhood Plan incrementally over the long-term and will require continued coordination between the City, County, River Road and Santa Clara communities, and other community partners, as well as advocacy for additional resources. See this summary for the highlights of what’s included in the Neighborhood Plan and Action Plan (Attachment B). Draft Neighborhood-specific Code Amendments (Summary (Attachment C) or Full Text): This set of proposed land use code changes amends the C-2 Community Commercial and R-1 Low Density Residential zones within the neighborhood boundaries to incorporate the most critical items originally included in the Draft River Road Corridor Code and important to the neighborhoods. This includes building height limits, , prohibiting or limiting certain auto- oriented uses, and adding transition standards between commercial and residential zones for C- 2 zoned properties, and expanding small scale collective farm sales opportunities in the R-1 zone. Graphics illustrating the proposed transition standards are available on the website. GET INVOLVED The draft plan and code materials are out for community feedback through June 5. Community members have four primary ways to engage and share feedback: • Learning about the plan and asking questions at two virtual information sessions on May 17 and May 18 • Discussing the plan with neighbors at a Community Meeting at North Eugene High School on May 25 • Gathering for a discussion with friends, family, and neighbors using the Meeting Toolkit • Sharing feedback through an online survey on Engage Eugene by June 5 Recognizing the extensive collaboration and community engagement facilitated since 2017, public involvement during the adoption phase is focused on Informing and Consulting 1 with the River Road and Santa Clara communities and other project stakeholders. NEXT STEPS After the community feedback period ends in early June, the project staff team will gather and organize all feedback received in various formats and share it with the Community Organizations and the CAC to inform their recommendations in advance of the formal Planning Commission process. Staff will provide an update to the Lane County Planning Commission on June 6. 1 Informing and Consulting are two phases within the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) Spectrum of Public Participation. The goal of Informing is “to provide the public with balanced and objective information to assist them in understanding the problem, alternatives, opportunities, and solutions.” The goal of Consulting is “to obtain public feedback on analysis, alternatives, and/or decisions.” 3 Page 5 of 11 Later this summer, staff will return to both the Eugene Planning Commission and Lane County Planning Commission to present a summary of community feedback, along with a revised package of materials that responds to the feedback. The Commissions will then hold work sessions, a joint public hearing, and deliberate on the plan to form recommendations to the Eugene City Council and Lane County Board of Commissioners this fall. Following recommendations from the Planning Commissions, the Council and Board will hold a joint public hearing and take separate action on the plan and code amendments. For more information, see the project website or Engage Eugene project page. ATTACHMENTS A. Adoption Phase Overview B. Neighborhood Plan and Action Plan Summary C. Neighborhood-specific Code Amendments Summary FOR MORE INFORMATION Staff Contact: Terri Harding, Principal Planner Telephone: 541-682-5635 Staff E-Mail: THarding@eugene-or.gov 4 Page 6 of 11  Neighborhood Plan Project Overview Plan Adoption Phase Launched in fall 2017, the neighborhood planning process has been a collaborative effort among community members, River Road and Santa Clara Community Organizations, City of Eugene, Lane County, and other stakeholders throughout both neighborhoods. The process has six phases: Reaching Out, Neighborhood Visioning, Neighborhood Priorities, Policy Development, Action Planning, and Adoption, with opportunities for community and stakeholder feedback along the way. Project stakeholders completed most of the work creating the Neighborhood Plan from 2017-2021. Over the last two years, City staff and the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) focused on adapting the plan and implementation tools to evolving state requirements, including legislation affecting middle housing and more climate-friendly housing development. Plan Adoption Process In March 2023, the CAC approved bringing the draft Neighborhood Plan, Action Plan, and Neighborhood Specific Code Amendments out for community feedback. Community members have the opportunity to get up to speed and share feedback throughout the Adoption Phase – through newsletter updates, mailed notices, a survey, both in-person and virtual events, as well as involvement of the River Road and Santa Community Organizations. Community input will help inform recommendations from the River Road and Santa Clara Community Organizations and the CAC, which will be shared with the Eugene and Lane County Planning Commissions as part of the formal adoption process. There will be additional opportunities for input, including a joint public hearing with both Planning Commissions, who will each form recommendations to City Council and the Lane County Board of Commissioners. The Council and Board will also hold a joint public hearing, and then will separately deliberate and take action on the Neighborhood Plan and Code Amendments. Plan Adoption Timeline Winter Spring Summer Fall Winter 2023 2023 2023 2023 2024 Community Planning City Council Refine Community Recommen- Commission & Board Draft Plan Outreach dations Process Process Learn more at www.RiverRoad-SantaClaraPlan.org Page 7 of 11  What Will Be in the Formal Adoption Package? • River Road-Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan, which includes vision statements, goals, and policies across five topic areas • Neighborhood Specific Code Amendments, which propose limiting building heights and adding design standards in the C-2 Community Commercial zone and adding an allowance for small scale collective agricultural sales in the R-1 Low Density Residential zone, within the boundaries of the two neighborhoods • Refinement Plan Amendments repealing the 1987 River Road Santa Clara Urban Facilities Plan and adopting the new Neighborhood Plan • Metro Plan Amendments removing text related to the 1987 plan What Happens After Adoption? • Action Plan implementation will happen over many years. The Action Plan is a road map for future community-led, City, and County projects in the neighborhoods, approved by local decision- makers. • City and County staff will meet with community members during an annual coordination meeting to prioritize the next year’s actions. • Community members can support implementation by getting involved in your community organization for a variety of volunteer opportunities or by advocating to elected officials Get Involved The Community Advisory Committee wants your feedback to inform their recommendations on the final draft plan documents and code amendments before they go to decision makers. Join an upcoming meeting or share your thoughts, questions, and ideas for improvement at engage.eugene-or.gov/rrsc-neighborhood-plan. To participate in the adoption process, community members can join a public hearing and provide your testimony on the final neighborhood plan documents as they are presented to the Planning Commissions, City Council, and Board of Commissioners. Email project staff at RRSCPlan@eugene-or.gov. Page 8 of 11 River Road-Santa Clara Neighborhood Planning Overview The River Road and Santa Clara Community Organizations, City of Eugene and Lane County staff, consultants and neighborhood volunteers have been working together since fall 2017 to create a vision for growth and development in a manner that respects the area’s unique characteristics and opportunities, which will guide decision-making in River Road and Santa Clara for decades to come. The River Road-Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan focuses on the Topic Areas of Economic Development, Transportation, Parks and Natural Resources, Land Use, and Community. To reflect the community values, aspirations and priorities expressed during outreach, each Topic Area includes: • Vision statements which are aspirational descriptions of the community’s best outcome for how the neighborhood will look, feel and function 20 years and more into the future. • Goals that translate the vision, describing hopes for the future on a particular idea. • Policies that will be formally adopted by the City of Eugene and Lane County to provide a consistent course of action and move the community toward attainment of its goals. • Actions which are possible strategies identified by the community, captured in the Action Plan, to implement the adopted policies over time and will require continued coordination between various partners. Neighborhood Plan The River Road-Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan will be a legally binding land use plan, adopted by the City of Eugene and Lane County, that applies to the River Road and Santa Clara neighborhoods, including both City and County properties. The Neighborhood Plan: • provides policy direction for City and County decision-makers as they consider future legislative actions • guides City and County staff in: o formulating proposed changes to local land use regulations and other regulatory documents o developing other work programs and long-range planning projects o preparing budgets and capital improvement programs • calls for collaboration as well as continued or additional efforts from the River Road and Santa Clara Community Organizations and other community partners Page 9 of 11 Action Plan The Action Plan will guide implementation of the Neighborhood Plan incrementally over the long-term and will require continued coordination between the City, County, River Road and Santa Clara communities, and other community partners, as well as advocacy for additional resources. While some items in the Action Plan may be implemented after Neighborhood Plan adoption, certain neighborhood-specific land use code changes are proposed to be adopted concurrently with the Neighborhood Plan. The Action Plan includes general budget, feasibility, and timeframe estimates to help inform continued advocacy for resources and City, County and other community partners’ work plans and capital project development. Actions fall into one or more of the following project types: A. Land Use Code Amendments or Zone Changes: Require City or County staff resources and are typically implemented through a legislative process with community input and adoption by local decision-makers. B. Public Programs or Projects: Require City or County staff resources and funds from budget processes, capital improvement programs, bond measures or grant funding opportunities. C. Community Partnerships: Requires community volunteers or partnerships between the community, City, County, or other partners. The Action Plan Highlights summarizes the key community identified priorities for implementing the community vision for the five Topic Areas. Economic Development Transportation Parks & Natural Resources Land Use Community Promote a Welcoming and Support Local Businesses Increase Walking and Biking Enhance Waterways Develop Design Transitions Inclusive Community Grow Employment Organize Resilience Action Adopt New Street Standards Preserve Farm Land Support Housing Options Opportunities Teams Establish a Business Create a Thriving Mixed- Expand Transit Service Build a Parks System Coordinate Public Services Network Use Corridor Create a Thriving Mixed-Use Improve Beltline Highway Adopt Willamette Prioritize Recreation Promote Art and Creativity Corridor and River Road Greenway Standards Collaborate to Implement and Monitor Plan Outcomes (crosses all Topic Areas) Page 10 of 11 River Road-Santa Clara Neighborhood-Specific Code Changes Summary As a part of River Road-Santa Clara neighborhood planning, a set of changes TRANSITION STANDARDS to the City of Eugene’s Land Use Code are proposed. The purpose of the proposed changes is to: • Implement important land use policies and actions from the River Road-Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan and Action Plan. • Promote walkable neighborhoods through pedestrian-friendly building design standards. • Support a shift to less auto-oriented land uses in alignment with city-wide climate and transportation goals. Below is a summary of the proposed changes. You can find the Eugene Zoning Map online. Read the full text of the code amendments and see full-sized graphics illustrating the proposed changes to transition standards and building height in the C-2 zone. These changes apply only within the two neighborhoods. Community Commercial (C-2) Zone • Building Height: Limit building height to 60 feet (current limit is 120 feet). • Design Standards: Add design standards as follows: o Transition Standards: Apply transition standards (setbacks, landscaping, and/or fencing) to new buildings and building additions that increase the square footage of floor area by 20% or more for any development on property abutting Low Density Residential (R-1) zoned land. o Building Orientation: Require buildings fronting River Road to provide a main entrance facing that street or to the corner where River Road and another street intersect. o Building Façade: Increase the minimum percentage of the street facing building façade that must be within the maximum front yard setback, from 25% to 80%. o Building Walls/Window Coverage: Require minimum percentage of windows along the ground floor of street facing facades and prohibit blank walls of more than 20 linear feet of any façade. o Weather Protection: Require weather protection features over all building entrances. • Prohibited Uses: Prohibit the establishment of the following uses: o Motor Vehicle Sales/Rental/Service, excluding recreational vehicles and heavy trucks o Motorcycle Sales/Rental/Service o Recreational Vehicles and Heavy Truck, Sales/Rental/Service o Agricultural Machinery Rental/Sales/Service o Boat and Watercraft Sales/Service o Equipment, Heavy, Rental/Sales/Service – includes truck and tractor sales o Storage Facility, Household/Consumer Goods, enclosed Low Density Residential (R-1) Zone • Allow the “Display and Sale of Agricultural Products Grown Offsite” as a permitted use and include limits to size of display, hours of operation, and signage in keeping with “small scale.” Page 11 of 11