The Eugene City Council voted unanimously to request a public hearing on April 20 regarding the University of Oregon’s three land use applications, giving opponents the opportunity to discuss updates made by the university to its proposals.
UO is requesting the city’s approval for three land use applications: a code amendment, a zone change and a refinement plan amendment. If passed, UO could begin construction in the east campus area for the school’s Next Generation Housing development plan.
Neighbors surrounding the east campus area have expressed concerns regarding development plans in the area, and proposed amendments to the UO/Fairmount Special Area Study, a collaborative agreement between the university and the surrounding Fairmount neighborhood on future development.
The city previously held a public hearing on Jan. 20 to hear from supporters and opponents of the proposed amendments. After the public hearing, the council passed a motion to keep the record for any written testimony from concerned residents, and per state law, reserved the last seven days of the open record for the applicant.
During those seven days, UO submitted a proposal that modified its original amendment applications. Due to the last seven days being reserved only for the applicant, opponents were unable to submit written testimonies in response to the modifications.
At the March 9 public meeting held by the city council, the city manager recommended the council to schedule another public hearing and reopen the record so that concerned parties can have the opportunity to respond to the applicant’s modifications.
“In my nearly 20 years on the council, I’ve never seen this happen before, where an applicant so dramatically revised their proposal so it no longer looked anything like the original proposal,” Ward 3 Councilor Alan Zelenka said. “In this case, the applicant appears to have listened to — in part — to the objections of the opponents and removed some, but not all, of the objectionable opinions.”
The city attorney said that if the council rejected the application based on the criteria process, it was likely the applicant would appeal to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals.
The city council voted unanimously, 8-0, to open the record and schedule a public hearing on April 20.
