Eugene council OKs land-use changes, allowing UO’s East Campus expansion

This story has been updated to correct the timeline for appealing land-use decisions to the state Land Use Board of Appeals.

The Eugene City Council on Monday, May 11, approved a package of land-use changes proposed by the University of Oregon to build student housing east of Hayward Field.

Councilors voted 5-3 to greenlight the proposal, which UO first submitted more than a year ago. It includes a refinement plan amendment, code amendment and zone change for parts of the Fairmount neighborhood, an area known as East Campus.

The vote came after Councilor Alan Zelenka, who represents and lives in the area, made a motion to reject the proposal, which failed 3-5.

The university can move forward with the construction of a five-story residence hall between Moss Street and Moon Lee Lane and 17th Avenue, set for completion in 2028. Some buildings west of Villard Street, long a buffer between campus and the single-family neighborhood, can now get bigger and taller. 

Eliza Kashinsky, who represents downtown, made the successful motion to approve the proposal. Councilors Matt Keating and Lyndsie Leech, who supported Zelenka’s dueling motion to reject the proposal, joined him in opposition.

The existing refinement plan includes subjective language, including the need for a “meaningful transition” between campus and residential areas, Kashinsky acknowledged, but the UO has proposed “significantly more” of a transition compared to other high-density developments in Eugene. 

“It is likely that no matter what decision we make, this is going to go to LUBA either way,” Kashinsky said, referring to the state’s Land Use Board of Appeals. 

Specifically, the approval means:

• Height limits on parts of East 15th to East 19th avenues and from Columbia Street to Moon Lee Lane and Villard Alley will rise from the current 45-foot cap to 85 feet. 
• The width of the designated transition zone — a strip between the area proposed for a higher height limit and residential properties — would grow from 60 feet to 75 feet wide, but height limits in that zone would rise from 30 feet to 45 feet. 
• More land will be redesignated as “institutional,” and UO can now build residence halls in an area where, under past plans, that use was prohibited.

For land-use decisions like this one, the council’s votes are quasi-judicial, based on whether a proposal aligns with application–specific criteria, including state and city law, and the evidence and arguments submitted to the city. 

Last month, at one of the public hearings over the proposal, Zelenka stood alone in urging his fellow councilors to reject UO’s proposal and bring it back to the negotiating table, accusing city staff and the Planning Commission of wrongly determining the university satisfied the approval criteria. 

On Monday, he continued his plea, arguing that adding a pair of 800-bed dormitories will fundamentally change the Fairmount neighborhood despite UO’s enrollment staying “relatively flat.” 

University officials, who have planned for eastward campus expansion since the 1960s, estimate East Campus can accommodate more than 3,600 new student beds. UO’s enrollment has hovered between 22,000 and 24,500 for the last decade.

Zelenka, like Kashinsky, agreed that the proposal was likely heading to a LUBA appeal, unless the university works with Fairmount Neighbors, which is fighting the proposal, to reach a “mutually acceptable result,” as they did in previous East Campus planning and for the 2008 construction of Matthew Knight Arena.

“To be clear, this amount of people is like the equivalent of adding the entire populace of the city of Coburg in the Fairmount neighborhood,” Zelenka said.

The proposal has received much scrutiny from residents through Fairmount Neighbors, who feel the changes would erase hard-fought planning protections to preserve the character of the neighborhood.

Fairmount homeowner Robyn Hathcock, who said she is a UO alumna and longtime university employee, sat in the audience during the meeting and was visibly saddened by the council’s decision.

“I really would have liked to see the council allow parties that are most impacted to be able to go back to the drawing board,” she told Lookout Eugene-Springfield. “The neighbors are who are here forever.”

University stakeholders argue the development is necessary to accommodate its future growth, pointing to better outcomes for students who live close to campus.

Johnmartin Sherman-Lewis, UO’s director of government and community relations communications, told Lookout Tuesday that the university appreciates the city council’s action and the months of public engagement — including reviewing testimony, meeting neighborhood representatives, and revising proposals — that informed the process.

“The approved amendments will help the University of Oregon plan for future student and student-family housing on campus, which remains an important need for our students,” he said. “We will continue working with neighbors and the city as planning moves forward.”

A co-chair of the neighborhood association didn’t immediately return a request for comment. 

If Fairmount Neighbors wants to appeal the decision, it must file a notice of intent to LUBA within 21 days of the mailing of a Notice of Decision, and pay a $350 filing fee.

Lookout photojournalist Isaac Wasserman contributed reporting.

Find Lookout Eugene-Springfield’s past coverage of this proposal at the links below:

• Neighbors push back as UO seeks taller buildings in dorm development
• Land-use changes for East Campus expansion advance to City Council
• Eugene council weighs UO request to allow denser student housing in east campus
• Council wants more public feedback on proposed changes in East Campus
• Critics, fans of UO’s proposal to raise Fairmount building heights take case to council — again