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Board initiates code amendments tied to Eugene's Urban Growth Strategies after city planners outline housing needs
Summary
City of Eugene planners told Lane County commissioners that Eugene must plan for more than 26,000 new housing units over 20 years under the state's 2025 housing analysis; the board voted 5-0 to initiate county code amendments to begin the public-adoption process for joint city-county changes.
City of Eugene planning staff presented an update on the Urban Growth Strategies project to the Lane County Board on Dec. 2 and asked the county to initiate formal code amendments for the county's Urban Transition Area land-use code as part of the city's 2026 adoption package.
Planners said the Oregon Housing Needs Analysis (ONA) requires Eugene to plan for more than 26,000 new dwelling units over the next 20 years. Using the 2025 ONA numbers, the city said it will need approximately 1,600 new units per year for the next decade to meet need projections'about 70% more annual production than the prior decade'and that roughly 700 of those annual units would need to be affordable to the lowest-income households. Planners emphasized that the figure reflects both a backlog of unbuilt housing and future needs and that meeting it will require a mix of redevelopment, capacity increases within the current urban growth boundary and eventual targeted urban-growth-boundary expansion if needed.
City staff described a menu of potential actions for 2026 and 2027 adoption packages: updating comprehensive-plan chapters and the parcel-specific land-use designation map, code amendments to allow new housing types such as microvillage housing, voluntary-annexation strategies, incentives and site-specific rezones, and targeted land-use-efficiency measures such as adjustments to parking and density standards. The presenters said land-supply studies scheduled for 2027 will quantify the impact of specific actions and that initiation of the county code amendments is a procedural step to begin the public-review process.
Vice Chair Seneca moved to initiate amendments to Lane County's Urban Transition Area land-use code (Lane Code 10.6-25) to align with updates to the Metro Plan and Envision Eugene and to comply with state law; Commissioner Buck seconded. The board voted 5-0 to initiate the adoption process. Staff said initiation does not imply final approval and that the Planning Commission and the board will hold hearings next spring as part of the public process.
