1000 Willamette Valley Office • PO Box 51252 • Eugene, OR 97405 • (541) 520-3763 • fax (503) 223-0073 <br />friends Portland Office • 133 SW 2nd Ave, Suite 201 • Portland, OR 97204 • (503) 497-1000 • fax (503) 223-0073 • www.friends.org <br />of Oregon Southern Oregon Office • PO Box 2442 • Grants Pass, OR 97528 • (541) 474-1 155 • fax (541) 474-9389 <br />Central Oregon Office • 155 NW Irving Ave • Bend OR 97703 • (541) 797-6761 <br />June 19, 2017 <br />Honorable Mayor Lucy Vinis Honorable Chairman Pat Farr <br />Eugene City Council Lane County Board of Commissioners <br />City of Eugene Lane County <br />99 W. 10th Avenue 125 East 8`h Avenue <br />Eugene, OR 97401 <br />Eugene, OR 97401 <br />Re: UGB project, city files CA 17-1, MA 17-1, RA 17-1, Z 17-2 <br />Dear Mayor Vinis, Councilors and Commissioners: <br />1000 Friends of Oregon is a nonprofit organization dedicated to working with Oregonians to <br />enhance our quality of life by building livable urban and rural communities, protecting family <br />farms and forests, and conserving natural and scenic areas. We have been an active partner in <br />Envision Eugene since 2010, and we have deep appreciation for the tremendous effort put <br />forth thus far by Eugene's leaders, staff and community members. Please place these <br />comments in the record for each of the following file numbers: CA 17-1, MA 17-1, RA 17-1, <br />Z 17-2. <br />1000 Friends is proud to support this proposal; we commend the Eugene staff for their <br />thorough, detailed work. We offer the following comments for your consideration: <br />Housing (Ordinance #2) <br />We concur with the proposed housing needs analysis' conclusion that Eugene has sufficient <br />capacity to accommodate new housing, and believe the city has met its obligation to <br />demonstrate an adequate 20-year supply. In fact, Eugene may have enough land for more <br />than 20 years, if its remaining supply is used wisely. <br />However, there are warning signs that Eugene's land is not being developed in the most <br />efficient way. Envision Eugene assumed that vacant low density land would accommodate <br />only 4 units per acre in flat areas and 2.5 units per acre on hillsides. These figures are based <br />on recent historical averages; they are substantially lower than the densities achieved by many <br />other communities in the Willamette Valley. <br />The city and county should be concerned about this, and strive to understand and remedy the <br />reasons for what appears to be under-utilization of Eugene's precious land resources. When <br />land cannot be developed at adequate densities, the per-unit cost of land and infrastructure is <br />increased to unreasonable levels. This reduces affordability and may make some prospective <br />developments financially infeasible. <br />