Eugene Planning Commission reviews Equity Atlas to guide housing and anti-displacement planning

At its Aug. 12, 2025 meeting, the Eugene Planning Commission received an informational presentation on the Equity Atlas, a research and mapping project city planners say will document historic harms related to land use and housing and inform the comprehensive plan, the state-required housing work and anti-displacement strategies.

The Equity Atlas presentation, given by city staff including Terry Harding and Senior Planner Leah Rausch, traces two centuries of local policy and social actions that shaped who could live and build wealth in Eugene and identifies next steps to translate that history into concrete planning outcomes. "This project is an important step for the city in taking actions to redress past and current harms caused by government sponsored displacement," said Terry Harding, who led the presentation.

Staff said the project was funded in part by a state grant for the initial work and will be used to comply with Oregon's housing planning requirements — including the Oregon housing needs analysis and the fair housing issue-area analysis — and to shape the city's Urban Growth Strategies. "Our hope is for city staff and the community to better understand a picture of Eugene's history that's not always been acknowledged," said Leah Rausch, senior planner, adding the atlas was inspired by Charlotte, N.C.'s Equity Atlas.

Planners walked the commission through a single illustrative "thread through time" that connects federal, state and local acts to present-day patterns. Stuart Warren, associate planner, summarized the thread by acknowledging early dispossession of the Kalapuya and later legal and social exclusion that limited land ownership and neighborhood access for Black, Indigenous, Chinese and other people of color. The presentation cited specific historic markers discussed in the atlas: donation land claims in the 1850s, the Oregon constitution's exclusionary provisions (adopted 1857, removed 1927), Chinese Exclusion laws (1882), the Dawes Act (1887), the social enforcement of racially restrictive covenants and "sundown" practices, the postwar Across-the-Bridge settlement and its demolition in 1949, Parkview Terrace public housing in 1964 and later land-use tools that had exclusionary effects.

Public commenters praised the project and raised related local concerns. Eric Richardson, a longtime Eugene resident, thanked staff and urged continuation of equity work: "Equity is very important to me," Richardson said during the public-comment period. Greg Bryant, a member of the South University Neighborhood Association board, urged the city to couple equitable housing with neighborhood-preservation measures such as tree protection, noting that "shaded trees and sidewalks can be 50 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than treeless ones."

Commissioners asked staff how the atlas will produce measurable outcomes. Commissioner Edwards said she wanted to see concrete outcome targets and metrics to guide policy changes. Leah Rausch and Stuart Warren described near-term steps: use the atlas to develop a contextualized housing needs analysis (staff cited the city's need to plan for a large number of housing units over the planning horizon), add a mapping element that layers historical displacement, current housing types, proximity to benefits and burdens, and develop quality-of-life indicators for monitoring. Staff noted a planned mapping phase, a goal of integrating the atlas into the comprehensive-plan community context, and ongoing efforts to secure additional grant funding to continue and expand the work.

Staff also described engagement plans: the draft story map will be shared with the city's community advisory panel and the Equity and Community Engagement Network; the historic-preservation program (led by Annie Lowe) is developing a separate historic context statement focused on Eugene's Black community; and staff said they plan to center oral histories and community-led storytelling in subsequent outreach. Harding noted the project began roughly a year earlier with research by an intern, Abraham Tapia, and that staff have already briefed the interdepartmental Equity and Community Engagement Network.

No formal commission action or vote was taken; the item was presented as an informational work session and commissioners had no formal motion. Staff will continue research, pursue mapping and seek funding, and return to the commission as those products are developed.

The commission's next meetings were announced: a virtual hearing Aug. 26 on a zone change and a September plan-amendment meeting; staff said the Sloperoom meeting space is expected to be completed by October and may be used for future sessions.