Affordable housing project draws pushback in Eugene’s Laurel Hill neighborhood

A previous version of this story incorrectly listed the creator of a website opposing the Laurel Hill project. It was created and is run by Lisa Kaye.

A 40-unit affordable housing development proposed for Eugene’s Laurel Hill neighborhood is facing early opposition from neighbors.

Nonprofit housing developer DevNW wants to build a mix of townhomes and single-family detached homes on 3.89 acres east of Floral Hill Drive, a subdivision called Floral Hill Terrace. 

Households earning up to 80% of the area median income — for four people, that’s about $78,700 — could own the homes under a community land trust model, intended to keep homes affordable by separating land value from housing cost. DevNW owns the land; homebuyers, who own the homes on it, would pay the nonprofit a monthly fee for the land.

Floral Hill Terrace homes are projected to sell for between $230,000 and $300,000, including a few as low as $199,000. That compares with median Eugene prices of more than $500,000, DevNW CEO Emily Reiman said. 

“There is not a lot of buildable land left inside city limits and inside the urban growth boundary, and especially not that is centrally located,” she said. “It’s really rare to find a parcel of this size that is so central to Eugene, close to great schools.”

Plans for the development include eight two-bedroom townhomes, 16 three-bedroom townhomes and 16 detached three-bedroom single-family homes. Each unit will feature a garage and covered porch. Reiman said the project will include open space, but the developers haven’t yet finalized designs.

The project is still in early stages. The developer needs the city’s signoff on required land-use applications and is seeking more than $8 million in state funding. The project totals about $20 million. If funds are awarded on schedule, the homes are expected to be completed and available for sale in late 2029 or early 2030.

But some Laurel Hill neighbors are already concerned.

More than 100 residents packed into a meeting room at the Northwest Youth Corps Wednesday, Sept. 2, to hear a presentation against Floral Hill Terrace led by a subcommittee of the neighborhood association Laurel Hill Valley Citizens. 

The subcommittee argues the area doesn’t have the infrastructure to support the addition of more people and traffic. Floral Hill Drive, the only street to access the subdivision, is a narrow one-lane road that lacks sidewalks. The area has a poor walkability score and isn’t close to any bus routes. Wildfire safety, landslide risk and emergency vehicle access are other concerns, as the hillside property features dense tree canopy, steep slopes and homes near heavy fuels.

“We’re not anti-affordable slash low-income housing in the least bit,” said Joe Young, the neighborhood subcommittee chair. “Our mission is to help these developments happen in places where they’re going to serve the communities that they intend to.”

A website was created by area resident Lisa Kaye in opposition to the project. It is titled “Is Floral Hill The Right Place?”

On Wednesday, yard signs with the same message dotted a few lawns in the neighborhood.

The neighborhood association has fiercely fought other local developments, mounting a yearslong campaign against the 374-unit Laurel Ridge development, and appealing city approvals of the Capital Hill development near Hendricks Park. 

“Everyone in the neighborhood pays attention to development because it’s the scariest thing that can happen,” said Helen Rosenau, a Laurel Hill resident of more than 45 years.

DevNW says the project is actually less dense than what current code allows. Another developer could build as many as 54 units on the site, and “likely would” to maximize profitability, Reiman said.

On traffic impacts, she said DevNW will improve and widen the part of Floral Hill Drive adjacent to the project, and would support advocating to widen the rest of the neighborhood streets. Reiman said the development and landscaping will incorporate fire-conscious materials to minimize risk.

“The future subdivision will be less of a risk than the current field of dry grasses and dying trees,” she said.

A shifting land-use landscape

DevNW applied to subdivide the Floral Hill site into 12 lots in May. The city deemed its application incomplete a month later. Carol Schirmer, the land-use consultant representing DevNW, said the design team will revise the plans and resubmit them. DevNW must do so by around November, per the city’s 180-day deadline.

Floral Hill’s subdivision and middle-housing land division applications will go through Eugene’s Type II administrative review, meaning the planning director will make a decision after a 14-day written public comment period, not a formal public hearing. The Laurel Hill Valley Citizens’ subcommittee is rallying neighborhood opposition against the project before that window. 

DevNW held a community meeting to discuss the project in early April, where representatives said they had been to three previous neighborhood meetings presenting the project, per meeting minutes. But Young and other neighbors said they feel their voices have been cut out from the development process. 

The developer has chosen Eugene’s clear-and-objective approval path for the project, a process in Oregon housing law that requires cities to evaluate development proposals using specific, measurable standards instead of discretionary or subjective criteria. The law exists due to the state’s housing shortage; Eugene needs 26,000 new homes over the next 20 years, according to the state’s 2026 housing needs analysis. 

Oregon House Bill 4037, passed in March 2026, seeks to fast-track development in part by eliminating public hearings and limiting third-party appeals of housing projects on the clear-and-objective approval path. 

Those provisions went into effect July 1, but they are already facing potential legal challenges. For now, only DevNW, not neighbors, can appeal city land-use decisions to the state’s Land Use Board of Appeals. 

“There hasn’t been inclusivity, and there hasn’t been transparency, and that leaves a sour taste to the community members who just kind of have this kind of thing shoveled into their laps,” Young said.

Reiman said DevNW is confident the project meets all code requirements and will move forward.

“We always worry that there is a chance that neighborhood opposition will stymie it, mostly in the form of added expense,” she said. “My hope is that we can do it efficiently and effectively, and that we can focus on building and not on delays.”

Property owners weigh in

Not all neighbors feel the same way about the project. 

Alan Coddington and Caroline Cox, who are married, sold the property to DevNW in January, according to property records. Cox is the co-chair of the Laurel Hill Valley Citizens executive committee.

Cox said she and her husband moved to the neighborhood in 1986. They had two children at the time and another on the way, and neither was working full-time, but they could afford to buy the land, she said, adding that Coddington built the house they live in.

“That’s just not possible now,” she said. “Prices in this neighborhood, just like all over Eugene, have just really gone up a lot, and we felt like it was an important part of the neighborhood that there be a place where young families can afford to live. It just makes the neighborhood a better place.”

The couple bought the Floral Hill property, which is adjacent to their own, in 2018. When they decided they wanted to turn it into affordable housing, they turned to DevNW first as Coddington used to serve on its board, she said. 

Cox said she is surprised at the “depth of opposition” to the Floral Hill Terrace project. 

“People don’t like change, and this is a change,” she said. “There are neighbors who support the development. There’s neighbors who oppose it. There’s a lot of people who I think don’t care one way or the other, and I respect all of those opinions.”

Young said the executive committee will vote to determine the neighborhood association’s stance on Floral Hill Terrace next week. He said he is optimistic a majority will oppose it. If so, Laurel Hill Valley Citizens will try to enlist other neighborhood associations to send in public comments against the Floral Hill proposal, Young said. 

Young said Wednesday the subcommittee is looking at alternate places the development could go, but they aren’t in the Laurel Hill neighborhood.

Rosenau said she has suggested replacing the development with an urban farm and donating the food to people living in other DevNW projects.

“It’s not like we don’t want to do good, but we don’t want to burn down in the process,” she said.