Envision Eugene is our collective vision for how we will grow
while preserving what we love about our community.
Envision Eugene Newsletter
What's New with Envision Eugene?
October 28th, 2018
This month's Envision Eugene Newsletter provides updates on the progress of working group meetings for Housing Tools and Strategies as well as the Clear & Objective project.The first Envision Eugene Technical Advisory Committee meeting was held for Urban Reserves planning, and the River Road Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan is moving into policy writing. We hope you'll find this information useful and reach out if you have questions. Thank you to everyone who either attended or helped coordinate Making it Happen! The Planning Division Project Fair. As always, you can find more information on all of our work by visiting our website.
Planning Division Project Fair
On October 10th, the Planning Division showcased all of the ongoing Envision Eugene implementation projects at Making It Happen!—an open house-style project fair. More than 100 people attended the event at the Downtown Library. Nearly 50% of the attendees were new subscribers to the Envision Eugene newsletter - welcome!

Over ten Envision Eugene implementation projects were featured, and staff was present to share information, answer questions, and provide ways for the community to get involved. Information on Urban Design , Historic Preservation , and the Climate Action Plan 2.0 was also available at the event.

Each project had information to pass out as well as an interactive element like the paper city building game featured above. The project fair was a way to learn about how the City is implementing Envision Eugene, our community’s collective vision for how we will grow while preserving what we love about Eugene. The goal of this event was to streamline information sharing, encourage the community’s involvement in planning, and show how the various projects are interconnected.

Thank you to everyone who either attended or helped coordinate this event! Staff from Community Development, Human Rights and Neighborhood Involvement, the City Manager’s Office, Transportation Planning, and other offices, all played a role in making this event a success.

For anyone who was not able to attend, each project has published the materials they presented on their project website. View the Active Projects page to see all the projects that we showcased or contact Chelsea Hartman.
Housing Tools and Strategies:
Working Group Holds Second Meeting
A diverse group of stakeholders with broad perspectives regarding housing affordability, equity, development barriers, and community values are continuing focused conversations about the barriers to housing affordability, diversity, and availability. They are working to suggest, evaluate, and recommend possible strategies and tools to address these barriers. The working group has 36 participants who are listed on the project website, www.eugene-or.gov/housingtools . Mayor Lucy Vinis welcomed the group members, thanking them for their continued service to this issue and our community. At the October 4th meeting, the working group:

  • Completed work towards “Telling the Story” of housing affordability, availability, and diversity, which included: Identifying challenges to creating housing supply and creating a list of what they love about Eugene and why they continue to choose to live here;
  • Identified interests, (watch the recording to better understand what separates an interest from an option);
  • Brainstormed a list of options The right-hand column shows the potential solutions that the working group participants were curious about and wanted more explanation, data or evaluation;
  • Reviewed a list of options and ideas from Strategic Economics who is providing technical information and analysis

Please submit feedback regarding this second meeting by Tuesday, November 6 . This feedback will be summarized by the facilitator, shared with the working group and made available online.

The Housing Tools and Strategies working group will hold their next meetings at the Baker Downtown Center from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 14 and Wednesday, November 28 . The meetings are open to the public and anyone who is interested is welcome to attend and listen. After each meeting, a summary of the meeting discussion and materials will be posted on the project web page.

At the November 14th meeting, the group will review new information about the potential solutions given so far and begin deliberations and discussion to better understand and evaluate them. City Council is scheduled to discuss the recommended tools and strategies that emerge from this project at their December 10, 2018 work session. Please see the web page for additional information, updates, and to submit general feedback or questions or contact Anne Fifield.
Urban Reserves Update
Project Fair Recap
Urban Reserves was well represented at the Planning Division Project Fair on October 10 th! We had a steady stream of interested community members, including many people who live within the Urban Reserves draft study area. There were lots of great questions about what it means to be in the draft study area and how the final Urban Reserves area will get selected.

Attendees were able to use the draft study area interactive web map, which is available our project website along with all of the materials available at the Project Fair. We would love to hear from you if you still have questions! Reach out to project manager Rebecca Gershow at 541-682-8816 or RGershow@eugene-or.gov.
EETAC
On October 3 rd, the Envision Eugene Technical Advisory Committee (EETAC) met for the first time. This group of thirteen interested community members appointed by the City Manager will help guide Urban Reserves planning by reviewing the technical information that so much of our planning is based on and providing feedback to staff. The next meeting of the EETAC is November 1 st and all meetings are open to the public. Visit the EETAC page for meeting dates and more information on this new committee.
River Road-Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan Moves into Policy Writing
This fall the River Road - Santa Clara Neighborhood Plan is moving from high level vision statements to specific goals, policies and actions. We now have a set of 19 draft goals that were written by the Community Advisory Committee and edited by working group members. The goals can be seen on our topic areas page and will be presented back to the broader public at the next big community event this winter.

With our draft goals in place, community members set to work writing policies to support each of the goals. Participants at our August working group meeting received a primer on policy writing and then had the following month to meet among themselves and write the first round of draft policies. The September working group meeting was a chance to see what everyone had produced, identify areas of overlap, and begin revising the draft policies.

We continue to revise and rewrite the draft policies with the Community Advisory Committee taking the lead. This approach requires collaboration between project staff, working group members, and the Technical Advisory Committee.

Visit our Topic Areas page to see the draft goals and all the materials that were shared at our working group meetings and don't hesitate to reach out to Eric Brown with questions about the project.
Clear & Objective Update: Working Towards Solutions
The Clear & Objective Housing Approval Criteria Update project is nearing the end of Phase 2. During this phase, a series of working group meetings were held with a diverse group of community members, including folks from the building community, neighborhoods, and local advocacy groups.

The group learned about significant issues identified during Phase 1. Participants broke out into smaller groups that incorporated multiple viewpoints to have robust discussions around possible concepts for addressing each issue. Information, new ideas, and feedback coming out of this group work will be used to put together a staff recommendation on the preferred concepts to move forward. We will be returning to the Eugene Planning Commission and City Council in November to provide a project update and present the preferred concepts recommended by staff.

Visit the project website to see videos and information from the working group meetings and for information on upcoming project events. Contact project manager, Jenessa Dragovich, and sign up to receive project communications.
Take the Downtown Survey!
A vibrant downtown at the heart of our community is an important part of our community vision and we want to hear what you think. Is downtown improving? What is working and what isn’t? Is downtown becoming more safe, vibrant and welcoming?

Your feedback will help city staff supporting downtown evaluate their efforts this summer and shape future plans. Thank you for taking 5-10 minutes to take the survey.
If you would like to stay involved and receive updates on downtown events and improvements sign up to receive downtown update emails .
Upcoming Meetings
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99 W. 10th Avenue | Eugene | OR | 97401