The formal adoption process will include work sessions and public hearings with Eugene <br />and Lane County Planning Commissions as well as Eugene City Council and Lane County <br />Board of Commissioners. The Planning Commissions will deliberate and form a <br />recommendation to City Council and the Lane County Board of Commissioners. The Council <br />and Board will then deliberate and ultimately take action to adopt the plan adoption <br />package. The Eugene City Council and Lane County Board of Commissioners have joint <br />decision-making authority regarding the Neighborhood Plan, but the City Council has sole <br />decision-making authority over any changes to Eugene's Land Use Code and any changes <br />in zoning to land within the city limits that occur as part of the River Road Special Area <br />Zone. <br />FINANCIAL TOOLS <br />The River Road Special Area Zone will implement the land use code and zone changes to <br />regulate how property may be used or developed within the city limits. However, new <br />development or redevelopment is likely to be slow and incremental based on current <br />market conditions, particularly for commercial and mixed-use development. Financial <br />incentives may be considered to improve the feasibility of commercial and mixed-use <br />development, affordable housing, and other types of development that support the <br />Neighborhood Plan policies. <br />The City of Eugene already has several incentives and programs available to support <br />desired development that may not be supported by the market unassisted. Some of these <br />tools can be used in their current form in the River Road corridor, others could be <br />expanded to include targeted areas in the corridor. <br />The City offers tools to support the development of Affordable housing and has some <br />programs to reduce costs on key transit corridors. The following tools are available in the <br />River Road corridor. <br />• System Development Charge (SDC) exemptions for affordable housing. The <br />City offers a limited number of affordable housing projects each year an <br />exemption from paying SDCs, using other local funds to cover those costs. <br />• Low-income Rental Housing Property Tax Exemption Program (LIRHPTE). The <br />City offers a 20 -year tax exemption for qualifying affordable housing <br />development anywhere in the City. <br />• Scaled Transportation SDCs. The City has scaled its Transportation SDC so that it is <br />lower in the downtown and along transportation corridors, to incentivize <br />development in those areas. <br />• Land Banking. The City uses federal funds to acquire land to be redeveloped as <br />affordable housing. Typically, the City gifts the land to an affordable housing <br />developer, to make the development financially feasible. <br />The City offers incentives to encourage redevelopment that have a specific geographic <br />scope. These tools could be expanded to include targeted areas in the River Road <br />corridor area. <br />RIVER ROAD CORRIDOR STUDY <br />125 <br />