Citizen Portal
Sign In

Residents and council push to add Tenant Opportunity to Purchase (TOPA) to Phase 3 renter protections

Eugene City Council ยท October 28, 2025

Loading...

AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Housing advocates urged the Eugene City Council on Oct. 27 to include a Tenant Opportunity to Purchase (TOPA) policy in Phase 3 of the city's renter-protections work.

Housing advocates and tenants urged the Eugene City Council to add a Tenant Opportunity to Purchase (TOPA) framework to the city's Phase 3 renter-protections work during the Oct. 27 public-comment period.

"This is a common-sense, proven policy designed to keep people in their homes and preserve affordability in our communities," said Timothy Morris, executive director of the Springfield Eugene Tenant Association, urging council to direct staff to work with community groups and renters on a TOPA model. Multiple other speakers, including Celine Swenson Harris (chair, Democratic Party of Lane County), Molly Goulet (tenant attorney), and community housing organizers from Square One Villages and CASA of Oregon, described TOPA as a low-cost tool that gives tenants time and a process to form associations and exercise first-refusal or to partner with nonprofit developers to preserve affordability.

Council discussion after public comment focused on timing and scope. "The plan is probably mid to late 2026 that we would be coming back for Phase 3," Will Dowdy, Community Development Director, told the council, adding that council can direct staff to bring specific items forward sooner. Councilors including Lisa Evans (Council President), Councilor Yeh and others expressed support for including TOPA in the Phase 3 conversations or at least having staff prepare a work-session poll and background materials.

No ordinance or resolution on TOPA was adopted at the meeting. Councilors said they would use the Phase 2 implementation report (planned for 2026) as an opportunity to adjust the Phase 3 work plan and to add TOPA for formal study if the council so directs.

Advocates asked the council to seek local nonprofit partners and to consider housing-trust fund assistance for tenant organizing, down-payment support and notification systems. Speakers said TOPA has decades-long precedent in Washington, D.C., and state-level examples for manufactured-home parks in Oregon, and they urged Eugene to adopt a version for multifamily rental properties.