This month's Envision Eugene Newsletter provides updates on Clear and Objective Housing Approval Criteria, Urban Reserves planning, and the River Road Corridor Study. Are you interested in serving on Planning Commission or another City committee? Applications are open through March 10. We hope you'll find this information useful and reach out if you have questions. As always, you can find more information on all of our work by visiting our website.

Eugene residents looking for new opportunities to get involved with the community can apply now for a number of City boards and commissions, including the Planning Commission. Each year, a number of openings occur and they are open to residents interested in helping to improve our city. The members of boards and commissions advise City Council and City departments on important community issues, making Eugene a better place for everyone. The following groups have openings in 2019:

City Council Advisory Bodies**

Other Advisory Groups

Apply online through Sunday, March 10.**Please note: applicants to these groups should plan to meet with City Council the evening of April 22 and the afternoon of April 24.

For questions or more information, contact Cas Casados at ccasados@eugene-or.gov or 541-682-5010.

The goal of the Clear & Objective project is to improve efficiency and effectiveness in our clear and objective review process for housing. We can achieve this through changes that mitigate barriers to housing, increase efficiency and predictability in the land use process, and effectively address development impacts. 

Last month, City Council moved the remaining preferred concepts for the Clear & Objective update on to the Draft Code Writing phase. The draft code language is broken into two batches based on level of complexity. The first batch of draft code language focused on maintenance and less complex topics and was recently reviewed by Planning Commission.

The second batch of draft code changes will focus on more challenging topics and will be available in March. This batch will be released for public comment prior to being brought to Planning Commission in April for input. After Planning Commission review, draft code language for both batches will be brought back together and presented to Council.

There are still opportunities to provide input. Check out the project website for updates, including links to meeting webcasts and project materials. To move the draft code language forward, Council will need to initiate a formal adoption process that will take six to nine months and include public hearings before Planning Commission and Council before any changes are put into effect.

To learn more, visit https://www.eugene-or.gov/3947/Clear-Objective or contact project manager Jenessa Dragovich.

As part of Urban Reserves planning, we are engaging with service providers to ensure we plan future growth in areas that can be served cost-efficiently. On February 14th, we held our first meeting with urban service providers. This initial meeting was with agencies that currently provide water, stormwater, wastewater, transportation, and fire protection within Eugene. Service providers brainstormed major issues with potentially expanding services into the study area. It was a great first discussion! We will be working with them to refine this information in order to help narrow down our study area.

On February 21st, the Envision Eugene Technical Advisory Committee (EETAC) reviewed and discussed our geospatial land model and the preliminary results of our capacity analysis, which is the first set of numbers estimating how many homes could be accommodated within the urban reserves study area. The EETAC is a group of citizen volunteers who review urban reserves and growth monitoring technical data. They provide valuable feedback on the methodology and assumptions we are using in our technical analysis. The next EETAC meeting will be March 21st at 5:30 pm, and community members are welcome to attend. 

To learn more, visit http://www.eugene-or.gov/UrbanReserves or contact project manager Rebecca Gershow.

The River Road - Santa Clara neighborhood planning process has highlighted the importance of the River Road corridor to residents of the two neighborhoods. River Road currently provides regional and local transportation connections and has the potential to support vibrant centers of activity where people can live, work and play.

The River Road Corridor Study is a component of the ongoing neighborhood plan and is a chance to study the corridor in greater detail to figure out the tools and strategies needed to bring the neighborhood vision to life along River Road. The study will identify potential land use code revisions that will meet neighborhood expectations around design and function. It will also address the economic feasibility of development and help determine what incentives and programming we might need to support housing, shops and services along the corridor.

The first workshop took place February 11-13th with the design team working throughout the day and holding a public open house each evening to collect feedback. SERA Architecture led the events, testing design concepts with residents and the Technical Advisory Committee. Members of the Neighborhood Plan Community Advisory Committee were also present throughout the three day workshop to make sure the ideas from the Neighborhood Plan were expressed as designs were edited in real-time. Another multi-day workshop will be held in late spring to move the discussion from design concepts to implementation strategies.

If you missed this workshop, there will be an opportunity to participate online. To learn more, visit the http://www.riverroad-santaclaraplan.org/ or contact project manager Eric Brown. 

It's very important to us that community members know when new projects are proposed and have a fair chance to review and comment. Signing up for land use updates is a great opportunity to learn about upcoming projects and issues that are important to you.

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