Evidentiary Technical Support Items for Residential (July Supplemental) - Response to Home Builders Association Letter

Mayor and City Council July. 5 2017 Page 2 way (e. g., the HBA and 1000 Friends of Oregon), the BLI does not make general assumptions or use "safe harbors" allowed by State law. Instead, Eugene's BLI is based on more specific assumptions that account for Eugene's regulations and the location/geography of the land on the BLI. The City provided a process through which stakeholders (with often-opposing interests) civilly engaged in a formal fact-finding and forecasting effort with City staff. This resulted in a BLI that far exceeds legal requirements. For example, the BLI considers residential development data related to land development that occurred under the new land use code adopted in 2001,1 that reflects a painstaking parcel-by-parcel effort to identify the land that has redevelopment capacity,2 and that uses a different assumption for future development capacity of flat land designated for "Low Density Residential" development if the land is above 900' in elevation versus if the land if it is below 900' in elevation.3 Still, HBA has submitted testimony that opposes adoption of the proposed BLI. HBA has been clear that it will attempt to hold up approval of the residential BLI as an inducement to City action on code amendments to the City's "clear and objective" standards for residential development. We believe the BLI is legally sound and that the code amendments sought by HBA are not required for the BLI's approval. Below is some clarifying background about the requirements of State law and a response to RBA's arguments. Ley,al Requirements for a Residential Buildable Lands Inventory (BLI)a To prepare the BLI, the State statutes require the City to "[1] [i]nventory the supply of buildable lands within the urban growth boundary and [2] determine the housing capacity of the buildable lands." ORS 197.296(3)(a). 1 State law would allow the City to use a more generic data set, collected between 2007-2012, with development approved under the old land use code and also concentrated on a period of economic downturn. ORS 197.296(5)(a). 2 The Residential Land Supply Study explains: "City staff and the TRG engaged in a parcel-by-parcel review of all larger sub-taxlot pieces that were initially categorized as developed to determine if any of these sites have additional room for development (i.e., partially developed) or if they are fully developed (e.g., buildings, parking areas, infrastructure, developed multi-family open space areas). Several resources were used to complete this analysis including aerial photos, tax assessor information, regional land use codes, and local knowledge. The analysis is much more detailed than the [state law] safe harbor provisions for partially vacant lands and represents a methodology that the TRG felt was more thorough and reasoned than the safe harbor assumptions would have been." Residential Land Supply Study, Part I, Page 9. 9 While state law requires the City to "consider" the extent that residential development is prohibited or restricted by local regulation and ordinance, it does not require the break-down in capacity assumptions included in Eugene's BLI. 4 The entire body of statutory law that regulates the preparation of Eugene's BLI is set out in ORS 197.296(3)(a), (4), and (5). The implementing OARS are OAR 660-024-0050 and OAR 660-008-0010. HBA seems to assert that the City is including too much land on its BLI based on HBA's theories about interplay between these BLI laws and other laws that govern the City's consideration of residential development applications. As discussed below, City staff, the Department of Land Conservation and Development ("DLCD"), and 1000 Friends of Oregon disagree with HBA's theories. City of Eugene + 125 E. 8th Ave. e Eugene, OR 97401 • 541-682-8447 . 541-682-5414 Fax www.eugerie-or.gov (00248692:1 }