Applicant Final Argument - Laserfiche WebLink

Eugene Hearing Official November 23, 2015 Page 6 Based on the discussion at the hearing, it is worth setting out the basics of the statutory scheme here. Then we will explain how the statute has been implemented in the Eugene Code. The requirement for clear and objective standards for decisions related to Needed Housing started with the LCDC's "St. Helens Policy" in 1979.1 The St. Helens Policy intended to ensure that there is enough land with the right zoning inside Urban Growth Boundaries (UGBs) to meet the city's need for the identified housing types. The policy required that standards, conditions and procedures for needed housing be clear and objective and not discourage needed housing through unreasonable cost or delay. See McIntyre-Cooper Co. v. Bd. of Comm'rs of Washington County, 55 Or App 78, 82, 637 P2d 201 (1981)(summarizing St. Helens Policy). The Legislature codified the St. Helen's Policy in 1981 with the adoption of the Needed Housing Statute. See SB 419, 1981 Or Laws, Chapter 884, Sections 5 and 6. After many amendments over the decades, the statute was reorganized, to be policy neutral, in 2011 by 2011 Or Laws Ch 354. "Needed housing" is now defined in ORS 197.303, which says in part: "197.303 "Needed housing" defined. (1) As used in ORS 197.307, "needed housing" means housing types determined to meet the need shown for housing within an urban growth boundary at particular price ranges and rent levels, including at least the following housing types: (a) Attached and detached single-family housing and multiple family housing for both owner and renter occupancy;" When the application is for needed housing, ORS 197.307 applies. The status of the St. Helens Housing Policy as the starting point for the Needed Housing Statute was explained by LUBA in Rogue Valley Association of Realtors v. City of Ashland, 35 Or LUBA 139, 155-158 (1998), aff'd 158 Or App 1, 970 P2d 685, rev denied 328 Or 594 (1999): "The legislative history confirms that the central concern of the legislature in adopting ORS 197.303 and 197.307 was that local governments should not be able to use their land use regulations to exclude certain housing types, particularly manufactured housing, which the legislature believed was needed to satisfy low and moderate-income housing demand. The legislative history also confirms that the current statute and administrative rule were derived (in many instances word-for-word) from the LCDC's St. Helens Housing Policy. A copy of the St. Helens Housing Policy is included in the legislative record of Oregon Laws 1981, chapter 884, sections 5 and 6 (SB 419). House Committee on Environment and Energy, SB 419, April 24, 1981, Ex E (LCDC Housing Policy) (hereafter cited as "St. Helens Housing Policy")." [35 Or LUBA at 156]