On January 21st, Eugene City Council passed their second attempt to update Eugene's code to comply with state law that says single family homeowners who want to create an accessory dwelling unit should be allowed to do so. Unfortunately, the City once again did the bare minimum they thought they could get away with, and left in place many illegal barriers to Accessory Dwelling Units.
The Homebuilders Association of Lane County is appealing the City's attempt to the Land Use Board of Appeals. WE CAN members have lead the effort for twenty-five additional Eugene residents to also appeal. These residents represent diverse interests relating to ADUs-- from homeowners who would like to create an ADU but are blocked by the City's regulations to those who support ADUs for their potential to provide more sustainable and affordable homes in our community. Half-measures and continuing to drag our feet isn't good enough.
In particular, the City retained lot size minimums specific to ADUs and unique to Eugene which prohibit thousands of Eugene homeowners from creating an ADU if they want. In addition, while the City removed the requirement to provide additional parking for ADUs in the vast majority of the City, as required by state law, they left the parking requirement in place for the Jefferson Westside Special Area Zone. The Jefferson Westside area is one of the most walkable and transit accessible neighborhoods in Eugene, but someone creating an ADU in that area will continue to be forced to provide car parking, while homeowners in more car-dependent neighborhoods won't.
Eugene is facing a severe housing shortage. We need to be actively working on multiple ways to fix this. Accessory Dwelling Units are not the whole solution, but they are a piece. They are a logical first step-- they are primarily created by individual homeowners using smaller, local builders; they are less expensive to create that many other forms of housing; in many cases they can make use of existing buildings, such as unused garages; they have less impact on existing neighborhoods than many other types of infill development; and allowing them, with only reasonable regulations, is required by state law. Eugene City Council has shown it is unwilling to take even small first steps to address our housing shortage, and will keep in place all the barriers they think they can get away with.
This is the fifth time Eugene's regulations surrounding ADUs have been appealed to Land Use Board of appeals since the passage of SB 1051 in 2017. The Homebuilders Association, joined by 1000 Friends of Oregon, AARP, Housing Land Advocates, the Eugene Chamber of Commerce, and WE CAN appealed the cities first attempt at revising their code as insufficient. Three additional appeals have focused on if an individual property owner in Eugene is able to build an ADU on his property. LUBA found against the City in all four of those appeals.
Perhaps the fifth time is the charm. Maybe the next time the City takes up the question of ADUs, they'll proactively remove the barriers, poison pills, and roadblocks they've put in place, as opposed to asking the state and the residents of Eugene to force them to.