Eugene city councilors met Monday night amidst the muffled grumblings from South University area residents to discuss the plans of a seven-story, 52-unit apartment building that may be built just one block south of the University.
The proposed plan for the building has created a lot of concern among area residents, but they have been working with the city and the developers in trying to find an amicable solution that would make all parties involved content.
“This is not normal. This is definitely not normal,” Terri Harding, one of the city’s senior planners, said of developer Dean Pickett’s willingness to work with local residents.
The tower would replace the vacant blue and white Delta Upsilon fraternity house, which rises up on the sloping corner of East 19th Avenue and Alder Street. The plan would ditch traditional one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, and instead offer four- or five-bedroom units with two or three bathrooms and a central living room.
At the proposed seven-story height, the building would shoot up almost 100 feet in the air and encompass nearly half of the city block.
South University Neighborhood residents have expressed concern about the initial building proposal, saying it harms the integrity of the neighborhood by being too large and exacerbating the already difficult parking problem in the area.
“First off, there is a feeling of general frustration because the building is way out of scale for the neighborhood,” said Bob Peters, chair of the South University Neighborhood Association. “At the present time there doesn’t seem to be any safeguards to protect the community from such extravagant buildings.”
The seven-story building would be the largest structure in the area, but Eugene’s city code allows for buildings as high as 120 feet in the area – making Pickett’s proposed structure well below the city-mandated limit.
The alternative that area residents have suggested would be a four-story building with adequate parking.
Pickett has continually expressed his desire not to upset his future neighbors and has met with many of them to find a solution.
“We’re trying to be good neighbors as best as we can,” Pickett said. “But four’s tough – you can’t get the same out of four (stories) that you can get out of seven (stories).”
By reducing the number of units, Pickett reduces the building’s potential profit. He said there have been plans of lowering the ceilings in the apartments, which would reduce the height of the building to about 70 feet and still keep the number of units at 52, but even this reduction may not be suitable for residents.
In order to make a profit while lowering the building further, Pickett and area neighbors have decided to inquire if his building could be eligible for a property tax exemption the city has granted to buildings in the bordering West University Neighborhood.
That option would have to be granted by the city council, which discussed the issue Monday night but did not ultimately make a decision on the issue because of time restraints.
“When we’ve talked about the city growing up or growing out in the past, and we’ve said very clearly that we want to grow up – this is where the rubber meets the road,” Councilor Mike Clark said at the meeting.
But Clark added that when he went to see the property this weekend, it took him nearly seven minutes to find a parking spot in the area, and he questioned the current plan drafted by Pickett.
“(Cars) are going to be stacked on people’s front lawns,” Clark said.
Parking in the area is already a sore subject for most residents, and many say the new building could make the problem worse.
The building would house 212 bedrooms, but only 40 parking spaces have been included in the plans.
The developers are following city parking requirements because the law states only one off-street parking space is required for each unit, and that number can legally be reduced by 25 percent, setting this project’s minimum at 39 spaces.
New changes to the city code could be adopted that would affect the building, as an on-going but unrelated process by the city to amend 20 other planning codes is currently under way.
The parking requirement could change and be based on the number of total bedrooms in a building instead of units, as it is now.
Pickett has not yet submitted a building permit application to the city, and said he will look into the possibility of being granted a property tax exemption first.
The city council is scheduled to meet again on April 14 to discuss the matter further.
“This is a difficult one,” Councilor Chris Pryor said. “I’m interested in the character of the neighborhood,” but not interested in blocking what is an already feasible project.
[email protected]