City Council

WORK SESSION AGENDA VENETA CITY COUNCIL MONDAY, JULY 27, 2026 – 4:30 P.M. Veneta Administrative Center – J.W. “Bill” Smigley Room 88184 8th Street, Veneta, Oregon City of Veneta public meetings are accessible via computer, smartphone or telephone. Details available at the end of this agenda. This meeting will be digitally recorded. 4:30 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. LONG-RANGE HOUSING PLANNING PROJECTS OVERVIEW a. Agenda Item Summary (pgs. 1-6)...........................Associate Planner Daniel Findlay 5:30 3. OTHER 5:30 4. ADJOURN AGENDA PACKET MATERIALS CAN BE ACCESSED VIA THE CITY’S WEBSITE, WWW.VENETAOREGON.GOV Access the Meeting In-person or Via The Zoom Link Or Phone Number Below City Council Meeting ZOOM Link: https://tinyurl.com/VenetaCityCouncil One Tap Mobile: +16694449171 Meeting ID: 841 787 42739 Passcode: 418472 Zoom Waiting Room: All attendees will wait in the Zoom Waiting Room until the meeting begins. Attendees will not be permitted to address the council/commission/committee during the meeting unless they have registered to do so by emailing the City Recorder (see below). The City Recorder will unmute the microphone for registered public comments at the appropriate time during the meeting. Sala de espera de Zoom: Todos los asistentes esperarán en la sala de espera de Zoom hasta que comience la reunión. No se permitirá a los asistentes dirigirse al consejo/comisión/comité durante la reunión a menos que se hayan registrado para hacerlo enviando un correo electrónico al Secretario de la Ciudad (ver más abajo). El Secretario de la Ciudad activará el micrófono para los comentarios públicos registrados en el momento apropiado durante la reunión. Sign-Up To Make A Public Comment By Noon Of The Meeting Date Email City Recorder Jen Mirabile (jmirabile@venetaoregon.gov) by Noon of the meeting date with information about your comment on: (1) a non-agenda item, and/or (2) a specific agenda item. Meeting Agendas can be found on the City website at www.venetaoregon.gov/agendacenter Envíe un correo electrónico a la Secretaria de la Ciudad Jen Mirabile (jmirabile@venetaoregon.gov) antes del mediodía del día de la reunión con información sobre su comentario sobre: (1) un tema fuera del orden del día, y/o (2) un tema específico del orden del día. Los órdenes del día de las reuniones se pueden encontrar en el sitio web de la ciudad en www.venetaoregon.gov/agendacenter YouTube Meetings will be livestreamed with Closed Captioning on the City’s YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/@CityofVeneta Las reuniones se transmitirán en vivo con subtítulos en el canal de YouTube de la Ciudad: www.youtube.com/@CityofVeneta Times are approximate. Location is wheelchair accessible. Individuals needing special accommodations, such as sign language or foreign language interpreters, should make such requests by contacting the City Recorder at 541-935-2191(voice) or by e-mail at: JMirabile@venetaoregon.gov. Requests made after 10:00 a.m. two working days prior to a meeting may not be accommodated. Los tiempos son aproximados. La ubicación es accesible para sillas de ruedas. Las personas que necesiten un alojamiento especial, tales como lenguaje de señas o intérpretes de idiomas extranjeros, deben hacer tales peticiones poniéndose en contacto con el registrador de la ciudad en 541-935-2191 (voz) o por correo electrónico a: JMIrabile@venetaoregon.gov. Las solicitudes hechas después de las 10:00 a.m. dos días hábiles antes de una reunión no pueden ser acomodadas. VENETA CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Title/Topic: Long-Range Housing Planning Projects Overview Meeting Date: July 27, 2026 Staff Contact: Daniel Findlay Department: Community Development Email: dfindlay@venetaoregon.gov Telephone Number: 541-935-2018 ISSUE STATEMENT Overview of ongoing long-range housing planning projects. BACKGROUND Staff is currently working on two separate but related long-range housing planning projects: A Housing Capacity Analysis (HCA) and a Housing Implementation Plan (HIP) and development code audit. These projects were previously introduced to the Council, but this AIS will provide a more detailed overview of each of the projects. Housing Capacity Analysis (HCA) Each Oregon city is surrounded by an urban growth boundary (UGB), which designates where a city is allowed to grow into and incorporate into its city limits. Cities cannot expand beyond their UGB and development in areas outside of a UGB is heavily restricted. Generally speaking, a UGB is where development ends and resource lands (farmland, forest, etc.) begin. In Oregon, cities are required to maintain a 20-year supply of residential buildable land within their Urban Growth Boundary (UGB). A city can only expand its UGB when it falls short of this supply. Currently, Veneta’s city limits and UGB are coterminous (one and the same), so there is no new area to annex into city limits. To determine what a city’s current residential land need is and if it has a 20-year supply of buildable residential land, cities conduct what is known as a Housing Capacity Analysis (HCA). This is a long-range planning document that evaluates both the demand and supply of residential land. The City’s most recent study of residential land supply and demand was in 2013 and there has been a significant amount of housing growth since then. On April 27, 2026, the City Council directed staff to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the Lane Council of Governments (LCOG) to prepare a new HCA for the City. Previous studies of a city’s buildable land supply were relatively simple, but new state rules effective as of January 1, 2026, have expanded the scope of what must be included in this study. These new rules come from Oregon’s updated housing planning framework, known as the Oregon Housing Needs Analysis (OHNA). July 27, 2026 City Council 1 Agenda Packet Under the OHNA framework, communities are required to plan for housing needs using a new methodology that accounts not only for future population growth, but also for existing unmet housing needs, including housing needed for unhoused populations and the impacts of decades of housing underproduction. The OHNA breaks down needed housing into specific income categories based on a percentage of the regional Area Median Income (AMI). AMI is defined as the midpoint of a specific area’s income distribution – meaning half of households earn more and half earn less than the AMI. According to the OHNA 2026 Production Targets, Veneta will need to produce a total of 397 units over the next 20 years at various levels of affordability to meet current and projected housing demands. The methodology that determines these targets accounts for a wide variety of factors, including expected population growth, demographic changes affecting household size, loss of units for 2nd/vacation homes, current undersupply, and housing needed for homeless individuals. Broadly speaking, though, the income level targets are based on the current distribution of income. Veneta is part of the Willamette Valley region, which has an income distribution as shown in the graph below: The ideal situation per the OHNA is to have housing at affordability levels that would match the above graph (for example, 41% of housing units affordable to those making >120% AMI, 20% affordable to those making between 81-120% AMI, and so forth). The OHNA accounts for the affordability of existing units and the number of existing units, and then prescribes a target for each city that will, in theory, bring housing unit affordability distribution in line with the income level distribution in the region. 2 July 27, 2026 City Council 2 Agenda Packet As part of this project, LCOG is also preparing a Contextualized Housing Need (CHN). The funding for this portion of the project comes from a legislative grant to LCOG. This is a new component of Oregon’s housing planning framework that connects the statewide housing need projection targets mentioned above with local community conditions. The CHN is intended to help identify the types, characteristics, and locations of housing needed in the community, along with barriers that may prevent residents from accessing housing opportunities. The CHN examines a range of factors including housing affordability, demographic trends, household characteristics, housing tenure, fair housing issues, and the needs of historically underserved populations. The analysis also considers community feedback gathered through outreach to residents, service providers, housing professionals, and other stakeholders. The CHN will help inform the ‘demand’ side of the Housing Capacity Analysis. The ‘supply’ side will be informed by the Buildable Lands Inventory (BLI), a core piece of the HCA. The BLI provides an estimate of the land available for future residential development within the City’s Urban Growth Boundary. The BLI evaluates land throughout the City to determine whether it is suitable, available, and likely to accommodate future residential development. The analysis considers vacant land, partially vacant land, and also accounts for areas that may redevelop over time. It also evaluates factors that may limit development potential, such as areas constrained by natural resources, hazards, existing development or other commitments. The HCA will also include a Residential Land Need Analysis, which estimates the amount and plan designations of residential land needed to accommodate the next 20 years of growth. The CHN translates housing units into land demand by considering the types of housing needed, such as single- detached homes, middle housing, manufactured housing, and multi-unit housing. The analysis also considers housing characteristics and locations identified through the CHN to help ensure that future housing opportunities align with community needs and state housing requirements. Once these pieces are complete, they inform the next step, the Land Sufficiency Analysis. This compares the City’s residential land supply (the BLI) with the residential land demand identified through the Residential Land Need Analysis. The purpose of this step is to identify whether the City has sufficient land capacity to accommodate its projected housing needs over the next 20 years. The analysis evaluates not only the overall quantity of land available for housing, but also whether there is adequate capacity to accommodate the specific housing types needed by the community. For example, if the CHN identifies a need for additional apartments, townhomes, or manufactured housing, the Land Sufficiency Analysis evaluates whether enough land exists where those housing types can realistically be developed. The results of the Land Sufficiency Analysis help identify any gaps between housing need and land capacity. Together, these components form the Housing Capacity Analysis (HCA). If the study results in a land need, the City must begin the process of expanding its Urban Growth Boundary. Even if the study does 3 July 27, 2026 City Council 3 Agenda Packet not result in a need to expand the City’s Urban Growth Boundary, it will still inform the City of the current status of housing demand and supply, which will inform other policy actions, such as the ones explored by our other project, the Housing Implementation Plan and Development Code Update. Housing Implementation Plan (HIP) & Development Code Update This project is funded through a grant from the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD). The City is working with Cascadia Partners, a DLCD-assigned consultant. It has two main components: the Housing Implementation Plan (HIP) and a development code update. The HIP will build off of the work of LCOG’s Housing Capacity Analysis. Cascadia Partners will assess relevant data from the HCA to understand which households are likely to be underserved and what housing will likely be needed in the future; subtypes of households and housing needs; amount of buildable lands likely to support production of housing; and context on population and market trends. Cascadia Partners will prepare a summary of this information and an overview of the categories of housing strategies to consider including in the HIP. This framework is intended to help stakeholders understand the range of strategies being considered and the main advantages and disadvantages of each one. From there, Cascadia Partners will develop a preliminary list of the most promising actions the City could take to facilitate housing production, affordability, and choice. The HIP may also consider any opportunities, constraints, or negative externalities associated with the adoption of certain strategies or actions related to cost, regulatory standards, or other variables. The final HIP will serve as a policy guide to the City to better understand our housing needs, to create a plan for actions and strategies to support the City’s long-term housing goals, and to balance housing growth with maintaining what makes Veneta an attractive place to live. The development code update will begin with an audit of the City’s development code regulations to identify legal and policy issues related to residential development. This will include 1) standards permitting the development of housing in compliance with applicable statutes and Administrative Rules, 2) a clear and objective path for approval of residential development per ORS 197A.400, 3) standards or procedures that have the effect, either in themselves or cumulatively, of discouraging housing through unreasonable cost or delay, and 4) criteria or procedures related to housing that may create permitting or land use barriers to housing production. The key findings of the code audit and concepts will be summarized in a draft report that will be shared with the City. Based on feedback from the City, Cascadia Partners will refine the draft code audit and concepts and will eventually provide an adoption-ready code update. Depending on the timing of the project, Cascadia Partners will either walk these code updates through the adoption process or hand off the code updates to City staff to do so. This development code update will serve to both further the goals of the HCA and the HIP as the City chooses, but will also better position the City to regulate future housing development. Housing regulations that are not compliant with state law puts the City in a weak position to enforce such 4 July 27, 2026 City Council 4 Agenda Packet regulations. Savvy developers could potentially take advantage of these weaknesses in our code to develop housing that is not in accordance with the City’s development code, and challenges to these codes could be costly, especially if the City is acting outside the bounds of state law by enforcing these codes. Community Engagement An important part of both projects is community outreach and engagement. For the HCA gathered through the engagement process will help inform the identification of housing needs, needed housing types, housing characteristics, and preferred housing locations within the community. Both LCOG and Cascadia Partners have a variety of methods of community engagement, which are: 1. Project Advisory Committee. City staff has formed a project advisory committee (PAC) comprised of stakeholders and those with experience with housing development and needs. This PAC will meet occasionally throughout the project timeframe to provide input and recommendations as the projects are being developed. 2. Community Partner Survey. As part of the Contextualized Housing Need (CHN), LCOG is reaching out to specific community partners and service providers such as Mid Lane Cares to provide input on local housing needs and challenges. 3. Community Survey. As part of the CHN, LCOG conducted a survey for City residents to provide input on housing needs and challenges in Veneta. Cascadia Partners will use the findings of this survey to inform their own project as well. This survey was advertised on the City’s social media pages and was sent out with the July newsletter. 4. Open Houses/Community Events. LCOG and Cascadia Partners plan to attend the Harvest Festival in September to get input on the two projects from community residents. LCOG’s engagement plan also includes holding an open house in the winter of 2026 to Cascadia Partners is also scoped for two community meetings, so a second open house may be held further on in the project (likely early 2027) to gather community input on a more polished version of their project. 5. Planning Commission/City Council Meetings. Both LCOG and Cascadia Partners will be attending Planning Commission and City Council meetings to present their projects and gather input from the decision-making bodies. The first work session for these projects will be next month’s meeting, where Cascadia Partners will be presenting their draft code audit. RELATED CITY POLICIES Veneta Comprehensive Plan • Appendix B – Residential Buildable Land and Housing Needs Analysis, 2014 Veneta Zoning and Development Code 5 July 27, 2026 City Council 5 Agenda Packet COUNCIL OPTIONS Informational only; no action needed. 6 July 27, 2026 City Council 6 Agenda Packet