After nearly two years of contentious negotiations and unprecedented input from neighborhood residents, the East Campus area is on its way to a long-term change in character.
The Eugene Planning Commission voted unanimously Monday to recommend changes to the city’s East Campus area policy to the Eugene City Council. The decision paves the way for increased development on University lands in the East Campus area.
If approved by the city council, zoning in much of the approximately 12-block area will be changed from residential to government and education, allowing for student housing and other University services to be built in the now mostly residential area.
A transition of high-density residential and institutional buildings followed by a buffer of residential housing will separate the area from the surrounding Fairmount neighborhood.
“It was clear that it was time to get in a place so we could use those lands for expansion,” said Jan Oliver, University associate vice president of Institutional Affairs. The University purchased the lands, located east of Agate Street and south of East 15th Avenue, nearly 40 years ago with the intention of developing them, she said.
She added that while the University has no projects planned for the area right now, it wants to pre-plan for expansion to make the design process smooth.
The University estimates that it will need up to 600,000 square feet of new space in the next 20 years, according to the University’s East Campus Development Policy.
The policy, which the University began revising in January 2002, sparked the negotiations among the University, Fairmount residents and the city.
University officials attended 20 public meetings and events to get community input during the 18-month revision, hearing concerns about the impact of increased traffic, the effect University buildings would have on the neighborhood’s character and the possibility of eliminating student family housing.
“We want to maintain the neighborhood we love while allowing for density,” said Fairmount Neighbors Association Co-Chairwoman Kristen Taylor.
These concerns resulted in city-led mediations between the University and the Fairmount Neighbors. This process was a first for the city, which normally holds a public meeting for land use applications that gives the public limited input into the process, Eugene Senior Planner Allen Lowe said.
The mediation, however, gave equal weight to the concerns of all three parties.
“We thought there was an opportunity to avoid a fair amount of controversy and nastiness, so we decided to sit down and talk it out,” Lowe said.
He added that there were 45 areas of disagreement going into the mediations and only three coming out of it.
Lowe said the neighborhood association requested most of the final policies, including a plan for improving Agate Street and for studying how to reduce traffic problems in the area.
“From the point of the city, it went great,” he said.
Taylor agreed that it has been a positive process overall, though she said she would have liked more interaction with planning commission members and a neutral mediator to lead the negotiations.
While City Council approval for most of the policy changes is expected, Taylor and Lowe each questioned whether the city would be able to fund the projects.
“We really have to make a plea to City Council to make this a priority,” Taylor said.
The Eugene City Council is scheduled to hold a public meeting about the East Campus plan on January 26 at 7 p.m. at City Hall, located at 777 Pearl Street.