Urban Reserves
Planning for the Next Two Generations
Urban reserves are lands outside the urban growth boundary (UGB) that can be considered a first priority if and when Eugene needs to expand for its growing population. Land included in urban reserves will remain rural, and cannot be urbanized, unless it is brought into the city’s UGB through a formal process for expansion.
City of Eugene and Lane County have been working jointly on urban reserve planning since January 2018. In fall 2020, the Eugene City Council and Lane County Board of Commissioners moved to initiate the public review and adoption process for the proposed Eugene urban reserves, which is enough land to meet the projected needs of 27-years of growth beyond 2032, to 2059, while preserving the highest value farmland and additional properties with higher value soils.
City Council and Board of County Commissioners Adopt Urban Reserves!
On April 10, 2023, the Eugene City Council voted 7-1 to adopt Ordinance 20686 which establishes urban reserves for Eugene. Then, on April 11, 2023, the County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to adopt Ordinance PA 1388 establishing urban reserves for Eugene.
Prior to adoption, the Lane County Board of Commissioners and the Eugene City Council held a joint public hearing on February 28, 2023. On February 7, 2023, the County Board of Commissioners held a work session and on February 15, 2023, the City Council held a work session.
| To find out where your property is located in relation to the urban reserves, please visit the Eugene Urban Reserves web map or view a PDF version. |
Review the Adoption Materials
The proposed ordinances below will establish urban reserves for the City of Eugene.
To establish urban reserves, the City and County will consider amending the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan General Plan and the Lane County Rural Comprehensive Plan to include maps and policies that would apply to the urban reserves. They will also consider related amendments to the Envision Eugene Comprehensive Plan and the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Area Public Facilities and Services Plan.
Click on the links below to view the proposed amendments for each plan.
- Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Area General Plan
- Envision Eugene Comprehensive Plan
- Lane County Rural Comprehensive Plan
- Public Facilities and Services Plan (a refinement plan of the Metro Plan)
The City of Eugene and Lane County will adopt an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) regarding coordinated planning between themselves and with each of the following statutory special districts:
- Bailey Spencer Rural Fire Protection District
- Eugene #1 Rural Fire Protection District
- Goshen Pleasant Hill Rural Fire Protection District
- Junction City Water Control District
- Lane Fire Authority
- Lane Transit District
- Santa Clara Rural Fire Protection District
- Willakenzie Rural Fire Protection District
- Willamalane Park and Recreation
- Zumwalt Rural Fire Protection District
The agreements include provisions regarding the City providing advance notice to service providers related to actions that may result in a transfer of service and the transfer or expansion of services on land designated as urban reserves.
Oregon land use planning requires Eugene and Lane County to write Findings in Support of the Establishment of Eugene Urban Reserves. These findings detail how Eugene urban reserves are consistent with the applicable Statewide Planning Goals and meet state and local government criteria.
The following documents, listed below, are appendices to the findings.
The Public Engagement Summary is a synopsis of the Eugene urban reserves public engagement efforts used to inform the public and obtain feedback on the urban reserves planning efforts, from the technical analysis process to the proposed Eugene urban reserves adoption package.
The Eugene Urban Reserves Study documents the analysis of land for inclusion in Eugene urban reserves based on the steps required by State statute and rules.
Attachments to the Urban Reserves Study include the following:
Subarea Suitability Analysis Reports
To manage the suitability analysis described in the Study, the urban reserves study area was divided into 18 subareas, as shown on the map below. These subareas encompass the entire study area and were developed to organize the analysis into manageable areas of land that are affiliated geographically. There are 18 Suitability Analysis Subarea Reports:
Urban Reserves Serviceability Analysis Report
City, county and area service providers were asked to provide a narrative evaluation of the developable land in the study area in terms of whether the land could be served in an orderly and economic manner. The analysis was completed on a subarea level and first compiled in the Urban Reserves Serviceability Analysis Report [Findings Appendix 3]. The above Eugene Urban Reserves Study Subarea Reports (Exhibit F, Appendix 2, Attachments 1-18), utilized information from this report to evaluate the orderly and economic provision of public facilities and services for each of the 18 subareas.
The Eugene Urban Reserves Technical Memo describes the assumptions and methodology behind the two models used for Eugene urban reserves planning work: The Land Need Model and the Land Supply Model, and how this work informs the land selected for Eugene’s urban reserves.
Below is the legal ad and the two copies of the public notice that was sent out for the Joint Planning Commission Public Hearing on October 18 2022:
- Public Notice for Properties Within Urban Reserves
- Public Notice for Interested Parties or Properties Located Nearby
- Register Guard Legal Ad
Below is the legal ad and copy of the public notice that was sent out for the Joint Elected Officials Public Hearing on February 28, 2023:
Submitted testimony will be posted here in batches after it is forwarded to decision makers:
*An index and information for each batch of testimony is included as the first section of each batch. This is the testimony submitted and included in the record.
- How do I know if my land is being considered for inclusion in urban reserves?
- What will happen if my property is included in urban reserves?
- Will I get City services, such as water and sewer, if my property is included in urban reserves?
- If my property is in urban reserves, then brought into the UGB, will I be required to annex into the City?
Project Background
- Project Overview
- Technical Analysis
- Suitability Analysis
- Options Analysis
- Direction
- PC Recommendation
Technical Analysis
The Urban Reserves technical analysis included four major parts:
- Establishing a study area
- Estimating future land need (how much land do we need for homes and jobs over the next 50 years?)
- Estimating the land supply (how much developable land do we have for these future neighborhoods?)
- Conducting a capacity analysis (how many homes and jobs can be accommodated on this land?)
Envision Eugene Technical Advisory Committee
In August 2018, the City Manager appointed 13 community volunteers to serve on the Envision Eugene Technical Advisory Committee (EETAC), a new department-level advisory committee that has been playing a key role in both the Urban Reserves and Growth Monitoring projects. Members have a wide variety of interests and come from around the City, with one representative living outside the UGB.
The EETAC guided Urban Reserves Planning by reviewing technical information that is currently being used to inform policy decisions, providing feedback to staff on technical-related issues, and reviewing assumptions and analyses related to long-term growth management-related efforts. You can keep up to date on their work at the EETAC project webpage, which includes the member roster and meeting materials.
Suitability AnalysisAfter completing our technical analysis, we developed suitability criteria to further evaluate our study area. These suitability criteria were based on the state-directed outline of analysis and reflect the City’s Triple Bottom Line Framework. We subdivided the study area into 18 subareas and structured the analysis to explicitly address the suitability criteria. The suitability analysis evaluates all the developable land in the study area by considering it in terms of the following four factors (dictated by state rules), then dismisses land that, on balance, would be unsuitable for Urban Reserves based on this evaluation:
Land that is ‘suitable’ was moved forward for further consideration; it will not necessarily become Urban Reserves. The amount of suitable land in the study area is slightly more than the amount of land needed for the largest Urban Reserve option, so additional land was removed from consideration as the Urban Reserve options were developed. |
Option Areas
After completing the project’s technical and suitability analysis, a range of Urban Reserve Options were developed. These options were then taken—with the input we received from our Virtual Open House, Envision Eugene Technical Advisory Committee, Eugene Planning Commission, and Lane County Planning Commission—to City and County decision-makers for their direction on a preferred option.
Lane County Board of Commissioners DirectionOn November 10, 2020, the Lane County Board of Commissioners unanimously passed a motion to support the Eugene City Council’s initiation of a public review and adoption process to consider the establishment of Urban Reserves as described in Option 3, the 27-Year Option. Option 3 includes almost 6,000 acres of land, enough to meet approximately 27 years of growth beyond 2032, and strives to protect our highest value soils by removing from consideration all agricultural properties with predominant Class 1 land and directly adjacent agricultural properties with predominant Class 2 land. |
Eugene City Council DirectionOn October 21, 2020, the Eugene City Council passed a motion, in a 7 - 1 vote, to support Urban Reserve Option 3, which includes enough land to meet approximately 27 years of growth beyond 2032. The City Council’s direction is consistent with the recommendation made by the Eugene Planning Commission, the Envision Eugene Technical Advisory Committee’s recommendation to staff, the majority of public input, and the City Manager’s recommendation. Prior to passing the motion, the City Council held a work session on October 12, 2020, to allow for additional time to ask questions and receive information. You can watch the work session here. |
City Council and County Board of Commissioners Joint Work SessionOn September 21, 2020, staff presented four Urban Reserves Options to the Eugene City Council and Lane County Board of Commissioners at a joint work session. Staff also shared recommendations from the Envision Eugene Technical Advisory Committee (EETAC), Eugene Planning Commission, Lane County Planning Commission, and the results of our Virtual Open House survey. |
Planning Commission RecommendationsThe Eugene and Lane County Planning Commissions each recommended an Urban Reserve option for the City Council and the Lane Board of County Commissioners to consider before making a final decision.
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Envision Eugene Technical Advisory Committee RecommendationOn July 16, 2020, after seventeen meetings over the course of 22 months, the Envision Eugene Technical Advisory Committee (EETAC) provided their final input and recommendation to staff on the Urban Reserve Options under consideration. Two motions were passed. The first supports the urban reserves analysis as technically sound. The second motion supports the recommendation of Option 3, the 27-year option, that preserves Class 1 and adjacent Class 2 land, with the acknowledgment that the year-range is an estimate based on current population forecasts and existing land use code. |
Lane County Planning Commission Recommendation
On December 6, 2022, the Lane County Planning Commission voted unanimously (9-0) to recommend approval to the Lane County Board of Commissioners of the adoption package and staff recommended changes.
City of Eugene Planning Commission Recommendation
Following the Lane County Planning Commissions recommendation, on December 13, the Eugene Planning Commission voted unanimously (7-0) to recommend approval to the Eugene City Council of the adoption package and staff recommended changes. Watch the webcast of the meeting here.
- Lane County Board of Commissioners Work Session April 11, 2023
- Eugene City Council Work Session, April 10, 2023
- Joint Elected Officials Public Hearing, February 28, 2023
- Eugene City Council Work Session, February 15, 2023
- Lane County Board of Commissioners Work Session, February 7, 2023
- Eugene Planning Commission Deliberations, December 13 2022
- Lane County Planning Commission Deliberations, December 6, 2022
- Joint Planning Commission Public Hearing, October 18 2022
- Eugene Planning Commission Work Session, October 11 2022
- EETAC Presentation, October 6 2022
Contact Us
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Planning Division
Rebecca Gershow
Senior Planner
99 W. 10th Avenue
Eugene, OR 97401