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Final Order: The Harry and Etta Chase House | HDM 21-1/ HA 21-3/ ARB 21-2 FINAL ORDER OF THE EUGENE PLANNING COMMISSION CITY FILE: THE HARRY AND ETTA CHASE HOUSE (HDM 21-1/HA 21-3/ ARB 21-2) ____________________________________________________________________________________ I. BACKGROUND The applicant has requested approval to demolish three houses located in the Chase Gardens Residential Grouping ensemble. The first house proposed for demolition is the Harry & Etta Chase House located at 158 South Garden way which is a National Register historic building, and a contributing structure to the Chase Gardens Residential Grouping ensemble. The second house proposed for demolition is the Harry and Etta Chase Rental Unit which is located at 160 South Garden Way and is not a contributing element to the ensemble. The third house proposed for demolition is the Frances Chase Brenaman and Jessie Brenaman House located at 132 South Garden Way which is also non-contributing with respect to the Chase ensemble. The applicant has requested to demolish the homes to allow for the development of a four-story multi- family building that will provide 123 units of low-income housing. The proposed housing will provide affordable housing for approximately 379 residents and the population to be served would include seniors, larger families with children, and survivors of domestic abuse. The City’s land use code (Chapter 9 of the Eugene Code) regulates the demolition and alteration of historic structures. These regulations provide specific approval criteria on which the City must base decisions about whether to approve, approve with conditions, or deny a request for the demolition or alteration of historic structures. Up until 2017, the initial decision on these types of applications would have been made by the Planning Director and the Eugene Code still identifies demolition and alteration of historic structures as Type II land use decisions with the Planning Director as the initial decision maker. However, in 2017, an update to the Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR) added a requirement that requests for demolition of structures listed on the National Register (such as the request to remove the Harry and Etta Chase House) must include a public hearing. Additionally, the update to the OAR added eight factors that a local decision-maker must consider when making a decision to approve, conditionally approve, or deny a request to demolish a National Register historic structure. The OAR now require a public hearing on the applicant’s request to demolish the Harry and Etta Chase House. The applicant has also requested concurrent review of applications for a Historic Demolition under the Eugene Code criteria, a Historic Alteration, and an Adjustment Review as allowed by EC 9.7055. To satisfy the new OAR requirement for a public hearing, and to accommodate the applicant’s request for their applications for demolition of the historic structures and the proposed building run concurrently, all applications were reviewed by the Historic Review Board according to the Type III review process outlined at Eugene Code (EC) 9.7300, with the hearings conducted in accordance with the quasi-judicial procedures outlined at EC 9.7065.