September 9th: Last Public Forum before ADU Discussion
What: City Council Public Forum
When: Monday, September 9th, 7:30pm (sign-up to comment starts at 7:00pm)
Where: Harris Hall, 125 E 8th Ave, Eugene, OR
Tips on commenting
September 16th: City Council ADU Deliberations
What: City Council Work Session- ADU discussion and possible action
When: Monday, September 16th, 5:30pm (no opportunity to comment at this meeting)
Where: Harris Hall, 125 E 8th Ave, Eugene, OR
Can't make the meetings?
Send your comments via email to AHansen@eugene-or.gov and mayorcouncilandcitymanager@ci.eugene.or.us
In June of 2017, the State passed SB 1051, which said that each detached single family homeowner who wanted to shall be permitted to build an Accessory Dwelling Unit, subject only reasonable regulations related to siting and design.
It has taken over two years, at least three appeals to the Land Use Board of Appeals, and additional legislative action at the State Level, but Eugene is finally almost ready to remove unnecessary and illegal barriers to ADUs in our code.
The draft changes Council will be discussing removes the requirement to create additional parking when building an ADU, and removes the owner-occupancy requirement. SB 2001, which passed this summer, among other things clarified that parking and owner-occupancy requirements weren't reasonable regulations related to design and siting when it comes to ADUs, At this point, the City has no choice but to remove these requirements. However, the draft changes leave in place many of the other barriers to ADUs.
Changes passed in 2014 to our ADU code increased the barriers to ADUs in Eugene and prohibited thousands of homeowners from building ADUs if they so desired by increasing the minimum lot size for ADUs, applying density standards to ADUs, and prohibiting ADUs on alley access lots. Council's draft code does not address these unique and recently-created barriers.
Eugene is facing a housing crisis. We do not have enough homes for everyone who lives here. ADUs are a small piece of the puzzle, but an important one. Unless Council removes additional barriers before passing the new code, thousands of homeowners will not be able to create a new home on their property for a friend, a family member, or a new neighbor.
We can't just rely on large developers who can build a lot of units to provide housing in our community. We need to provide Eugene residents with options that allow them to do what they are able to help us solve our housing crisis. Many small individual actions, together, can create real progress. Giving more homeowners the choice to build an ADU and create one more home in our community is a good start. A week from Monday, Council has to decide if they are going to remove the roadblocks that keep many of our residents from being able to contribute to the solutions, or if they are going to continue to do the bare minimum as slowly as possible.