• Identify focus areas that are ready for change, economically viable, and poised for <br />success. <br />6. Assess whether additional parks, plazas and other public open spaces will be needed in <br />or near key transit corridors and core commercial areas as densities increase and develop <br />strategies to meet that need. <br />(pg 14) <br />Notes from River Road Corridor Studv 12/2020 <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 City <br />offers a limited number of affordable housing projects each year an exemption from <br />paying SDCs, using other local funds to cover those costs. <br />(pg 63) <br />• Low-income Rental Housing Property Tax Exemption Program (LIRHPTE). The City <br />offers a 20 -year tax exemption for qualifying affordable housing development <br />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 development in <br />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 developer, <br />to make the development financially feasible. <br />38 <br />