Making life better in Eugene, Oregon

    A neighbor told me that there was a middle housing land use
    division application with the city. Maybe we should look at it.

    It’s on about a tenth of an acre, used as a garden with a gazebo, on 22nd and Alder.

    With other neighbors we looked at the plan, and didn't quite believe it.

    The developer wants to build four houses on a postage-stamp sized lot, with four driveways,
    no room for soil or plants, removing a city heritage tree, no height restrictions ...
    basically an expensive set of rentals. This will add traffic and driveway problems,
    comfort and accessibility problems for pedestrians and the bicycle boulevard,
    and will move the neighborhood away from somewhat affordable home ownership
    towards market rate, out-of-state landlord rental ownership.

    In an email thread with a bunch of neighbors, one asked the city planner:

    “In what way could this project possibly enhance our neighborhood?”

    The planners response was simple:

    “None of the Middle Housing Land Division criteria requires an applicant
    to demonstrate how the proposal will “enhance” a neighborhood.”

    Well I did a search of the Middle housing code’s land use division criteria,
    and it said, specifically that the standards are meant to, and i quote:

    "Promote building and site design that contributes positively to a sense of 
    neighborhood and to the overall streetscape; and Provide a physical environment 
    that contributes to and enhances the quality of life."

    After pointing this out, in the thread, the planner responded as follows:
    “Just for everyone’s understanding, the Purpose Statements that exist throughout 
    the code are not the criteria for making decisions for Land Use approval or denial.”

    Wait. What?

    So, the planning department’s checklist for approval does NOT include any of the standards, 
    codes, goals, or policies that the city of eugene has spent decades working on, in engagement 
    with its citizens? 

    That’s traffic safety, or vision zero; that’s accessibility and comfort; that’s attractiveness 
    and enhancement; that’s saving heritage trees, for our climate goals; that’s limiting concrete 
    coverage so soil stays alive and storm drains don’t burst into the sewage system; that’s 
    protecting solar setbacks, so plants can grow and people can have gardens, and enjoy walking 
    by them; that’s not destroying existing buildings when possible, because of embodied carbon; 
    that’s affordable housing, which is made less affordable by the construction of market rate 
    housing, according to voluminous current research.

    The destruction and waste in our city has been endless, as everyone knows. But here we see 
    the city staff operationally putting business deregulation over health and human safety, 
    and quantity of permits over quality of life. This isn’t necessary. They can deny bad permit 
    requests. There are plenty of reasons to, in the city code. We just need to pressure staff, 
    and the city council, to protect the city, and stop trying to turn the best bits into ... some other city.

    We can reverse the damage done by developer interests in Eugene from the ‘50s to the present day. 
    We can refill the downtown surface parking lots with buildings in community trusts that limit 
    car ownership, to maintain affordability and walkability. But deregulation always makes these problems worse.

    What to do? I'm creating a website for information about action. 
    It’s https://eugene.life. 

    Please ask your neighborhood committees to collaborate, once again, on pushing the city 
    in an honest, accountable direction.

    Action:
    This is only one property. I'll start putting more here.
    Tell Nick Gioello at the City of Eugene that you are an interested party in MHT-25-0018.

    Think about this yourself. Research it for yourself. Think about the world you want.
    I'll put resources here.

    The market alone can't fix the housing crisis