Attachment 1 <br />The Willamette River Greenway Code Amendments do not impact the City's supply of residential buildable land. <br />The Code Amendments do not include any amendments to plan designations, existing zoning, or the City's <br />adopted buildable lands inventory. No land is being rezoned or re-designated from a residential use to a non- <br />residential use, and the code amendments do not otherwise diminish the amount of land available for <br />residential use. Rather, as explained in more detail below, the Willamette River Greenway Code Amendments <br />are intended to reduce barriers to the development of housing within the Greenway, consistent with the clear <br />and objective requirements of ORS 197.307 and OAR 660-008-0015. The City Council finds that the Willamette <br />River Greenway Code Amendments will facilitate the review of proposed housing development in the Greenway <br />under clear and objective standards, and constitute the City's attempt to resolve a conflict between the <br />requirements of Statewide Planning Goal 15 and the "clear and objective" requirements of ORS 197.307 and <br />OAR 660-008-0015. <br />The City Council finds that both the statutes that regulate the Willamette River Greenway (ORS 390.310 et seq) <br />and Statewide Planning Goal 15 impose inherently subjective regulations on development within the Greenway <br />boundary. ORS 390.314(2)(b) requires that intensification and changes of use in the Greenway be limited so that <br />"such uses remain, to the greatest possible degree, compatible with the preservation of the natural, scenic, <br />historical and recreational qualities" of lands within the Greenway (emphasis added). In addition, Goal 15 <br />requires that the City's Greenway implementation measures will: <br />"Insure that the best possible appearance, landscaping and public access are provided" within <br />the Greenway, <br />• Ensure that to "the greatest possible degree" any "intensification, change of use or development <br />will provide the maximum possible landscaped area, open space or vegetation between the <br />activity and the river," and <br />• Ensure that that to "the greatest possible degree" "[n]ecessary public access will be provided to <br />and along the river by appropriate legal means." <br />Prior to the 2017 passage of Senate Bill 1051, ORS 197.307(4) and the Willamette Greenway laws worked in <br />concert. Prior to Senate Bill 1051, housing not located on "buildable land" was not entitled to clear and <br />objective standards. Lands within the Willamette River Greenway are specifically exempt from the definition of <br />"buildable land" by the Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC). OAR 660-008-0005(2). <br />Consequently, prior to the passage of SB 1051, housing constructed on land within in the Willamette River <br />Greenway was explicitly outside the scope of the clear and objective requirement. However, the historic <br />harmony between the state law requirements applicable to lands within the Greenway and the state law <br />requirement for clear and objective standards was disrupted by the passage of Senate Bill 1051. <br />In 2017, the Oregon Legislature adopted Senate Bill 1051, which amended ORS 197.307(4) to remove the phrase <br />"on buildable land." The plain language of ORS 197.307(4) now requires that local governments offer all housing <br />applicants the option to proceed under clear and objective standards; there is no longer an exemption from the <br />"clear and objective" requirement for housing that is not located on "buildable land." <br />To address this inherent conflict between the subjective requirements of Goal 15 and the "clear and objective" <br />requirements of ORS 197.307(4), the Willamette River Greenway Code Amendments create a two-track system <br />that is consistent with the clear and objective requirements of ORS 197.307(4) and (6), and OAR 660-008-0015. <br />This two-track system is also consistent with the City's treatment of applications for Conditional Use Permits, <br />Planned Unit Developments, Partitions, Subdivisions and Site Review, all of which include a clear and objective <br />track, as well as a discretionary track. The Code Amendments introduce a set of clear and objective approval <br />criteria for Willamette Greenway Permit applications in addition to the existing discretionary approval criteria. <br />Page 13 of 125 8 <br />