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City of Eugene Transit Oriented Development Overlay Zone

Regulations
Oregon
Unknown
Municipal
City Of Eugene   
Urban | Suburban |
The City Code of Eugene, Oregon provides for a Transit Development Overlay Zone (TD) in the hopes of encouraging mixed land uses in areas that have a high potential for enhanced transit and pedestrian activity. Eugene is located about 50 miles east of the Oregon coast, on the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, with a population of about 155,000. The city is the county seat of Lane County, and is the second largest city in the state. The Lane Transit District (LTD) is the area’s major public transportation system, providing over 90 buses with routes that cover 240 square miles of Lane County. The LTD also provides the Emerald Express, which is a rapid bus transit line that operates largely in its own lane, with its main transit station located in the city of Eugene.

In order to encourage compact urban growth, Eugene’s TD Overlay Zone has no minimum setback requirements, while imposing a maximum setback of 15 feet. Where a building has frontage on more than one street, it must provide at least one main entrance on the street located closest to transit facilities. The ordinance imposes a minimum 2.0 FAR requirement on lots within the TD core area, and a minimum 0.65 FAR requirement for spaces outside the TD core area. “Enhanced pedestrian spaces” may be used to satisfy the FAR criteria if they include amenities such as courtyards, outdoor cafes, benches and public art. To further develop a pedestrian-friendly atmosphere, the zone requires that all buildings have either landscaping or hard surfacing between the building frontage and street. If the building opts for hard surfacing, the area must contain pedestrian-oriented amenities such as drinking fountains, seating areas, and other design elements including kiosks and public art. Parking facilities that abut a street must devote at least 50% of the street level space to retail, office, or some other type of pedestrian friendly use.