Habitat enhancement and riparian restoration activities are also favored under these /WR overlay <br />regulations and typically required to offset impacted areas as part of Standards Review approval. <br />Goal 15 is focused on the Willamette Greenway and only applies to cities and counties with land along <br />the river. Cities and counties are required to adopt local Greenway plans, along with criteria for new <br />development, new uses, and the intensification of uses within the Greenway. The City implements Goal <br />15 through existing provisions in EC 9.8800 through 9.8825 which establish compatibility review <br />procedures that are designed to protect, conserve, enhance, and maintain the natural, scenic, historical, <br />agricultural, economic, and recreational qualities of lands along the river, as required under Goal 15. <br />This does not mean that development in the Greenway is prohibited; rather, it means that property <br />within the Greenway Boundary is subject to special review procedures and a public hearing process <br />which address the compatibility of development that is otherwise allowed according to existing zoning <br />and plan designations within the Greenway. New development is currently subject to Type III <br />Willamette Greenway Permit review procedures, including a public hearing. <br />Floodplain Requirements <br />Floodplain regulations stem from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requirements as <br />administered by local agencies. The City requires a floodplain development permit for all development <br />within the floodplain. Floodplain development permit review is administered through building permit <br />review and is not a land use decision. Development within the Willamette Greenway and /WR <br />conservation areas require land use review and approval, if permitted. <br />Development is generally allowed in the floodplain (but not the "floodway" which is more narrowly <br />defined close to the channel banks) subject to additional standards for Special Flood Hazard Areas. <br />Eugene's land use code has provisions regulating development in these areas as mapped according to <br />the FEMA. See EC 9.6705-9.6709. In short, those regulations impose additional requirements such as <br />building the lowest floor to a height at or above the "Base Flood Elevation" and other design <br />requirements intended to minimize damage to infrastructure and buildings within the floodplain and <br />help protect human life and health more generally. Design requirements include special provisions for <br />anchoring, construction materials and methods, and required openings to allow for water flow below <br />the required first floor elevation. <br />Staff has not conducted any detailed analysis of the comparison of those boundaries to that of the <br />Willamette Greenway (Goal 15) or the protected resources within the /WR Water Resource overlay zone <br />(Goal 5), since the applicability of Special Flood Hazard Area regulations is based on a different and more <br />specific purpose and intent. The purpose of flood regulations is "to promote the public health, safety <br />and general welfare, and to minimize public and private losses due to flood conditions in specific areas," <br />while the purpose of the /WR overlay zone and the Willamette Greenway regulations is the protection <br />of natural resources such as wetlands and riparian areas or the scenic qualities of lands along the river. <br />How Other Communities Administer the Requirements <br />Staff has completed some comparative review looking at how other southern Willamette Valley <br />communities (Springfield, Corvallis, and Salem) administer Willamette River Greenway and Floodplain <br />Development regulations, as shown below in Table 1. The review includes the mechanism for applying <br />the regulations (zoning or building permits), review process, and decision-making authority. The <br />communities surveyed review development proposals for compatibility with the Willamette River <br />Greenway using quasi-judicial (Type III) procedures with the Hearing's Official or Planning Commission <br />acting as the decision-making authority. Springfield and Salem use Type II (Planning Director approval) <br />procedures for some limited and specific types of development proposals in conjunction with a <br />Page 11 of 91 <br />