The board meeting we heard a presentation by Jason from the city planning department, about the Envision Eugene project and in particular the survey being done about land which might be available for housing in our neighborhood. The number of additional housing units that they have to plan for is set by county and state, and while the number is unlikely to be accurate, it’s what they have to work with. The crucial variable is the ratio of single-family to multifamily housing. In the last 10 years 60% of the new housing built here has been single-family homes. At that ratio Eugene would need 9000 new single-family homes over the next 20 years. If the ratio drops to 40% single-family homes, the number needed drops to 6000. Vacant land inside the urban growth boundary could supply about 4300 homes, and land that already has one house but could be further subdivided could supply from 2400 to 3100 homes. Several other strategies make up the difference with smaller numbers. Whether or not the urban growth boundary needs to be expanded for homes depends on the decisions made about these ratios. Our neighborhood has two areas which would be candidates for expansion of the boundary: on the south side of Crest Drive and along Lorane Highway.
Jason gave the Association a map showing vacant and partially vacant lots in our neighborhood. The Crest neighborhood has about 75 pieces of land that could be developed further. If you would like to examine this map, it will be at the September meeting, which will be held at Morse Farm on Tuesday, September 20. We also have several copies of the handout from the meeting, and a version can be found on the web at XX.
SHiNA 