The Planning Commission discussed the testimony and the carve out option, and then took a <br />straw poll on the carve out option. Six Commissioners voted in support of the carve out option, <br />and the attached code amendments (Attachment D) have been revised to include this option. <br />2. Land Use Code Amendments — Building Height <br />Reducing the maximum height of buildings in the corridor has been a high priority expressed in <br />community input from the beginning of the neighborhood planning process in 2017. Early <br />corridor study workshops resulted in a concept of roughly five -story buildings, 60-75 feet in <br />height along the corridor, transitioning to roughly three-story buildings 35-50 feet near the <br />corridor, and finally the currently allowed 30 feet (37 with a pitched roof) buildings in the R-1 <br />Low Density Residential zoned areas of the neighborhood. Based on the totality of the work <br />from 2017 to current, the originally proposed reduction in building height to 60 feet was pulled <br />forward from the draft Special Area Zone and included in the neighborhood -specific code <br />amendments. <br />Public testimony and Commissioner questions led to a revised staff recommendation to reduce <br />allowable building height to 65 feet in the C-2 zone throughout River Road and Santa Clara. <br />Example buildings in the Walnut Station Special Area and at Amazon Corner on Hilyard Street in <br />South Eugene were provided and discussed. The lower building height provides a pedestrian <br />scale to the buildings that was important throughout the corridor study process. However, <br />Commissioners also noted the severity of the housing crisis and concerns about limiting housing <br />capacity in a large area of the city, even though there is a limited amount of C-2 zoned property <br />in the area (see Neighborhood Plan Map in Attachment B, page 6). Commissioners were split <br />on the issue of limiting height to 65 feet or keeping it at 120 feet. <br />The Commission's straw poll vote resulted in 4 in favor of 65 feet, and 3 opposed (preferring to <br />keep the 120 -foot limit). Based on the straw poll, the code amendments and findings in <br />Attachment D were revised accordingly. <br />The Commission also briefly discussed the desire for more neighborhood -serving retail and <br />services in the C-2 zoned areas of River Road and Santa Clara. While the idea of providing a <br />height bonus as an incentive was discussed at various points in the process, this issue needs <br />further research and should be considered at the city-wide scale. Another incentive, such as tax <br />relief or a fee reduction, might be more effective than additional building height, especially <br />when 120 feet is currently allowed and not being utilized. Staff recommends including the idea <br />of incentivizing neighborhood serving retail along mixed use corridors in upcoming citywide <br />planning efforts. <br />3. Repeal of 1987 River Road Santa Clara Urban Facilities Plan <br />Originally, the proposed adoption package included repealing the 1987 Urban Facilities Plan at <br />the same time as the new Neighborhood Plan was adopted. Based on a variety of testimony <br />submitted on this issue, along with analysis of the relationship between the two plans, staff <br />agreed that the 1987 Plan could remain in place alongside the new Neighborhood Plan, as the <br />two plans serve different functions. <br />