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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPUBLIC COMMENT - MICHAEL REEDER ON BEHALF OF JOE GONYEA, III (6-27-17)AG~ ARNOLD GALLAGH R ATT-oRNGYs AT LAW A PR()FFSSIONALC ORPORA"I ON Micheal M. Reeder mreed cr@arnoldgallagher.corn 541-484-0188 June 27, 2017 Eugene City Council c/o Planning Division/ Envision Eugene Team 99 West 101h Avenue Eugene, Oregon 97401 cnviisi0neuge3.t C--- .eugcne.c>r..us Lane County Board of Commissioners c/o Lydia McKinney 1050 North Delta Highway Eugene, Oregon 97408 1- di:z.s.mckintic, a)colarlc.or.Lis Re: Envision Eugene/Urban Growth Boundary/Urban Reserves Planning City Files: CA 17-1, MA 17-1, RA 17-1, `L 17-2 Willow Creek Hills/DAG Trusts Partnership Property Dear Eugene City Councilors and Lane County Commissioners: I represent Joe Gonyea, III and his Gonyea Family partners who own the DAG Trusts Partnership property (the "Willow Creek Hills Property" or the "Property") in west Eugene in the Crow Road area. The Willow Creek Hills Property consists of 76 acres located within the City of Eugene urban growth boundary ("UGB") and is also within the corporate limits of the City of Eugene, identified as Map 17-04-32-00, Tax Lots 1500, 1501 and 1503, and approximately 205 acres immediately to the south that is currently outside the City limits and UGB, identified as Map 18-04-05-00, Tax Lots 101, 2300 and 5000. Please see the attached maps for context. The purposes of this letter are: (1) to support the Planning Commission's recommendations that you, as the joint governing bodies, adopt the UGB package presented, (2) to urge you to support the City's commitment to Urban Reserves Planning that will ultimately provide a path to expanding the UGB for residential in the near future, and (3) to consider including the Willow Creek Hills into the Urban Reserves area and the UGB in the near future. Please include this letter into the record along with its attachments. 800 Willamette Street - Suite 800 - Eugene, OR 97401 - P: 541-484.0188 - F: 541.484.0536 arnoldgallagher.com - Correspondence: P.O. Box 1758 - Eugene, OR 97440.1758 Joint Governing Bodies June 27, 2017 Page 2 Why Adopt the Current UGB Package? Housing affordability in Eugene is at a crisis level. 'T'here is simply not enough housing for current and future residents, and this housing shortage is causing homelessness and straining household budgets. Simply put, Eugene residents' quality of life is being severely negatively impacted because of the housing shortage. It is not economically or politically feasible to solve this crisis alone with public expenditures of subsidized housing. The solution to the crisis requires multiple strategies, one of which is to provide additional housing through planning for and then expanding the UGB for residential land. As you well know, this current UGB expansion package does not include an expansion for housing. However, the consequence of expanding the UGB this go-round would be counterproductive. The reason is that the statewide land use system requires, with some rare exceptions that I have exhaustively identified in past hearings, a local government that does not have urban reserves to expand into "Exception" property that is already developed for low density residential (i.e. "Rural Residential"). Rural Residential property generally is poorly suited for redevelopment. Often owners have no interest in developing the property. When it eventually is redeveloped, the costs of redevelopment are generally higher than greenfield development. Additionally, expanding the UGB into Rural Residential property could eventually destroy an important and desirable housing type. For the most part, the statewide land use system prohibits the creation of new Rural Residential property. Rural Residential housing is a threatened species. In contrast, if the current UGB expansion package is adopted, the City can then move confidently on Urban Reserves planning and revisiting the UGB expansion for residential land. The sooner this process begins, the sooner a more effective, efficient, economical and desirable UGB expansion for residential can occur. The reason is because the statewide priority scheme for UGB expansion requires a local government to look first at Urban Reserves areas. Only if there is not enough Urban Reserves land to accommodate growth for the next 20 years may the local government expand into Exception (i.e. Rural Residential) land. The City has committed to forwarding an Urban Reserves package for your consideration within two years of acknowledgment of the current UGB expansion package. The City has also committed to delivering a report to City Council within three years of state acknowledgment of the current package that would update the residential buildable lands inventory and the community's need based on the most recent finalized Portland State University ("PSU") population forecast. It is generally presumed that an expansion for residential will be necessary at that point. AG Joint Governing Bodies June 27, 2017 Page 3 Urban Reserves Planning for Eugene Urban Reserves are a relatively new tool in the statewide planning system. Originally created by the Land Conservation and Development Coimmission ("LCDC") by rule in 1992, only a few jurisdictions have taken advantage of the Urban Reserves option. An urban reserve is land outside of - but contiguous to - an existing UGB. It is land specifically designated for future urbanization resulting from expansion of a UGI3. Urban Reserves must include land beyond the 20-year planning horizon for. UGI3s. It allows planning for up to 50 years and allows local jurisdictions greater flexibility in located UGB expansions. Unhampered by the general restrictions on expanding into farm and forest land, a local government may plan to expand on lands that, although they are designated as farm or forest, are not appropriate for such designation but are better suited for urban level development. The state specifically adopted the Urban Reserves rule to avoid bringing in Rural Residential lands. LCDC recognized that Rural Residential (and other Exceptions land) often impedes efficient urbanization, frustrating Goal 10 (Housing) and Goal 14 (Urbanization). Much of the background work that was done through the Envision Eugene process will be beneficial and useful in the City's Urban Reserves planning process. Additionally, the City Council has allocated $750,000 and has cuts n aed to proceeding with the Urban Reserves planning process. It is anticipated that the City will revisit the need for residential land three years after the current UGB package is adopted. The City will then be able to take advantage of the newest population forecast. The 2015 PSU population forecast for Eugene is significantly higher than the 2009 Lane County forecast. It is anticipated that a newer PSU forecast (perhaps 2018) will prove to be even higher than 2015. The higher the population forecast, the better. A higher forecast allows the City to provide an Urban Reserves area that includes the Willow Creek Hills area and allows it to be seriously considered for a UGI3 expansion for residential. Urban Reserves planning has another practical benefit - it allows better long-range planning for the future health and livability of the community. Expanding into Urban Reserves areas allows a local government to take advantage of economies of scale, rather than pigeonholing redeveloping piecemeal into Rural Residential areas that resist redevelopment and may lack adequate public services such as water, sewer and transportation. It is much easier and cost effective to plan transportation and other urban level services for larger areas such as the Willow Creek Hills area, than to "nickel and dime" on the fringes where Rural Residential areas are located. Urban Reserves allows for master planned communities that incorporate desirable features such as parks, trails and open space, a mix of affordable and market-rate housing, a mixture of housing types, schools, integrated neighborhood commercial and a transportation system that promotes alternative modes. In other words, a complete community can be designed, adopted and developed, improving the livability of the community and attracting and retaining employers and employees. Joint Governing Bodies June 27, 2017 Page 4 Background of Willow Creek Hills Property In 2012, the Eugene City Council directed staff to identify the Willow Creek Hills area as one of four study areas for UGB expansion for single-family residential. The City Council's direction came at a time when the City was seriously contemplating a UGB expansion for single-family residential. My clients have spent many years and resources to develop a complete community concept for the Willow Creek Hills area. See the attached maps for reference. Although the current UGB package does not include expansion for residential, I am confident that, with the adoption of Urban Reserves, a new UGB expansion for residential will be needed in the near future and the Willow Creek Hills area will be the primary candidate for expansion. Below are some of the reasons why the Willow Creek Hills area is the ideal candidate for expansion for residential. Master: Planning ODDortunity It is much easier, orderly and efficient to master plan and develop large, undeveloped properties with a single owner than it is to do so for parcelized and partially developed areas. The Property has one owner and is not limited by previous development. In addition, the owner greatly desires that the Piopeay be included in the UGB. Furthermore, the owners of the Property have, at their own, private expense, developed a master plan concept that can be further refined for creative implementation. In contrast, many owners in the Rural Residential areas (such as the Bailey Hill/ Gimpl Hill study area, as well as the Russel Creek/LCC Basin study area) are opposed to the expansion of the UGB in their area. Although Exception property is technically not considered by the state to be farm or forest property (hence the term "Exception"), the owners of Rural Residential property adjacent to Eugene consider their property suitable for small farms and ranches, as do many other Rural Residential owners in Lane County. No Mapped or inventoried Wetlands or Hydric Soils The Property owned by my client has no mapped or inventoried wetlands nor are there any hydric soils. In sharp contrast, many of the Exception study areas that were also considered for expansion for residential in 2012 have wetlands and/or a considerable amount of hydric soils. No Riparian or Floodplain Areas The Property has no riparian or floodplain areas. The Bailey Hill/Gimpl Hill study area, on the other hand, is at the headwaters to the Willow Creek Natural area and has three 111G Joint Governing Bodies June 27, 2017 Page 5 creeks than converge into the Nature Conservancy-owned property. Other study areas have some floodplain issues. Steep Slo es not a~ Sia-nificant Constraint The shape and the topography of the Property are conducive to both multi-family and single-family residential development. While some of the Property has some steep slopes, the majority (over 2/s) of the Property has slopes between 0 and 20%. On the other hand, some of the Exception study areas are constrained by steep slopes, making infrastructure difficult and expensive to construct. Compatibility with Farm, Practices There is very little, if any, farming near the Property and none on the Property. The Property abuts the UGB to the north and the east and is adjacent to mostly Rural Residential property to the south and southwest. The majority of the Resource property in the area is designated and zoned Forest with recent Forest 'T'emplate Dwelling approvals on property abutting the Willow Creek property to the west. Close to Employment /Retail and transit Corridor The Property abuts the Hynix property and is close to the industrial/ employment park on the north side of West 11t1, Avenue. This is a very advantageous location because while the Campus Employment property presents employment opportunities for nearby residents, Campus Employment uses are generally compatible with multi-family and single- family residential. One need only look at the newer., higher-end homes north of Chad Drive that are directly adjacent to Campus Employment to see that Campus Employment is an appropriate designation next to multi-family and single-family residential. Additionally, the new LTD EmY line that will run down West 11th Avenue, while not yet reaching the Property, could still be a benefit for future residents. The retail and other employment areas along West 11 t1, Avenue are reasonably close to the Property. Environmental -justice /Affordable Housing As discussed above, the Property is not located near Heavy Industrial designated property. In contrast, the Clear Lake study area for residential would be located close to Heavy Industrial designated, zoned and developed property. The City's Human Rights Commission ("HRC") provided the Mayor and City Council a memorandum on May 23, 2012, expressing concern about the City Manager's recommendation to expand the UGB in the Clear Lake and Russel Creek/LCC Basin study areas. The IIRC suggested providing incentives for developers that would encourage them to build affordable housing, including single-family homes. The Property is large and undeveloped and, as such, is a blank slate; it AG~ Joint Governing Bodies June 27, 2017 Page 6 is feasible to plan for affordable housing at the same time that market rate housing is developed. There is great potential for a mix of housing stock and ranges of affordability. Higher Priority Land than other Study Areas The Property, while its official land use designation is Forest, is not intensively managed for forest (or farm) uses. While the soils maps indicate that the Property has a majority of "good" soils for forest, there is much of the Property that is not good Forest soil. In the Goal 14 priority scheme, the Property is higher than other study areas. The Property is surrounded by low-density residential development and is therefore not a good place to actively farm or manage forest land. Summary On behalf of my clients, please adopt the current UGB expansion package so that the Urban Reserves planning process can move forward in earnest with the commitment from the City that the Urban Reserves adoption package will be ready for public hearing and your consideration within two years of the state acknowledgment of this current UGB expansion package. Urban Reserves planning provides the City with the greatest opportunity to provide more housing that will positively impact the affordability and availability crisis that Eugene is currently experiencing. The Willow Creek Hills Property is the prime candidate land to be included into any future UGB expansion. Respectfully submitted, Micheal M. Reeder MMR:jgh _flttachrnenft cc: Clients N:AA - I~ADAG Trusts 11623\F,mvision Fugene UGB 17623-26\Adoption Process\Reeder to joint tl.lectcd Officials 062717.docs AG~ U G B Expansion Study Area: Willow Creek DAG Properties Outlined in Red Rural Residential Exception Area Outlined in Brown Il f'{t 4". + v lix ? dry ~ ~ u R r r i ' ~~y' eA► i r P tc, 0?i~.~.y. Crr~°,s' : Y~'Y~! 1~ttttiq'. ti✓ 14 G4rj ','+s,~ ~h~~.,U~ ti T1c ~iV1 !elLllp _ ~~.v;,, n~ ~ r f~'~:~1 73 .y aj' . fT 3 r g~ .4 r m ~ M X41 ;MP ..s~~y, Iy-r ,rpm, S Y ~ ~ ~,f ~r.M w!?. • ~C i ~Df'-r !rte' ',tr'R,71~•mis ~ VAM AMR-, 1 • z ..x ~ ' a Micheal M. 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