Planning & Development supports those helping ‘build the future of our city’

Presenter: Contrary to what you may hear, buildings are being constructed in Eugene.  Sept. 9, the city manager introduced the latest report.  Jenny Haruyama:

Jenny Haruyama (Eugene, city manager): So I’d like to do today is share a little bit with you in the community, what’s happening.

Sept. 14 will be a data center and zoning land use discussion. Specifically, Council will discuss how data centers are currently regulated in Eugene, potential community impacts, and how other Oregon cities are approaching regulation and whether Eugene’s regulations should be updated. And this work was requested through a Council work session and poll.

On Nov. 18, we’ll talk about automated red light cameras. This will be a presentation of potential automated enforcement program for red light and speeding violations at select high crash intersections. The program is identified in the Vision Zero Action Plan. It is intended to improve safety and change driver behavior. 

Dec. 9 will be an update on work to establish a city surveillance policy framework.

Today, you’ll hear the regular semiannual update on commercial, industrial, and multiunit development projects.

Presenter: Planning and Development Director Alissa Hunter: 

Alissa Hunter (Eugene Planning & Development, director): I am joined by some of our Building and Permit Services team, including Kandra Hostetler who is our plan review supervisor, Andrew Beattie, who is our building official, and Mina Roth, who is our permit review manager. 

We’re really excited to be here today and to share the work of this team… The work that you’re going to see here represents hundreds of millions of dollars of community investment in both jobs and housing. And that is pretty exciting.

And I think you’ll also see that in the work you’re going to see today, we’re going to do something a little different and that we’re doing a PowerPoint with a voiceover to it, because this is how this presentation is more or less given internally. 

Presenter: Following the recorded presentation, Andrew Beattie: 

Andrew Beattie: My name is Andrew Beattie. I’m the building official for the city of Eugene. Thank you, Kandra, for all of your work putting together that presentation. This presentation has touched on a few of the many projects being built on private property within our community.

Our emphasis here was to show examples of the larger, more complex, often highly visible projects being built, some of which you’ve probably already seen evidence of. When you drive around and you see the cranes and other construction evidence. There is also a significant amount of work being done within our community that was not covered within the previous slides.

Last year, The City of Eugene staff received 7,267 applications for permit. We issued 9,639 permits and we performed over 45,000 inspections. The result of all of the inspections was completed projects – 7,598 projects were completed in calendar year 2025.

Year to date, we have seen steady permitting with applications received of 5,074 year-to-date. Permits issued 6,687, almost 27,000 inspections performed through Sept. 1, and almost 5,000 projects completed so far this year.

Our work regulates construction on private property. It spans a wide range of permit types that are generally grouped into three main categories.

Approximately two-thirds of our permits are trade permits, which are limited in scope to cover the construction of electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems.

An example of this type of permit is an electrical permit, such as wiring a house or installing an EV charger at a home, or even wiring an entire new commercial building.

Plumbing permits trade permits could consist of remodeling a kitchen or repairing the piping under a home, or repair of a sewer or wastewater system.

Mechanical permits include installing new air conditioning or heating, either for a home or for a commercial structure.

The other types of permits we issue are regulating the construction of new or altered residential construction, primarily relating to one- and two-family dwellings and townhomes, and commercial permits that include commercial work, industrial and multiunit dwelling construction projects.

For every type of permit, we strive to promptly and efficiently receive the application process towards permit issuance and inspect towards project completion. In doing so, we are fulfilling our mission to help our community build safe and livable structures.

Presenter: Permit Review Manager Mina Roth:

Mina Roth (Eugene Planning & Development, permit review manager): As we wrap up, I just want to take a moment and pull back and look at the bigger picture. All the activity you just heard about, every application received, every permit issued, and every inspection completed represents the steady, thoughtful work happening every day to support our community’s growth.

Our team has been incredibly committed, and that dedication is what keeps projects moving forward and allows new homes, new spaces, and new opportunities to take shape across Eugene.

We’ve also been working on improvements that make it easier for our partners to engage with us: Enhancing our online permitting system, welcoming a new development and permitting liaison later this month, and expanding our community education series are all steps towards making the process clearer, more accessible, and more collaborative.

These changes reflect something simple but important: We want to support people who are helping build the future of our city, and we want to do that in a way that feels responsive and connected.

Presenter: Councilor Randy Groves: 

Councilor Randy Groves: Thank you very much for that presentation. I really like the format with the voice pre-recorded. Is this somewhere on our website where people from the general public can access it?

And the reason I’m asking that question is I frequently hear from people, ‘Nothing’s getting built in Eugene.’ And usually I can come up with about four of those just off the top of my head. But, you know, to have them all in one spot where we can direct people to, I think would be helpful.

Because this—this is impressive. The work that’s being done is impressive, and it’s so important to our community. This is part of our way out of our financial problems with a long-term view.

So anyway, the question: Is this available somewhere now or could it be? I find having access to things like this online are helpful for me as a councilor when I respond to constituent concerns because I frequently in my responses include links saying, ‘For more information, go here,’ and it’s been well received.

And so, it’s nice to be able to put our best foot forward. And I think this is a good shot at that.

I’m also very gratified to hear that you are working to find ways to make it easier in the permitting process, which can be daunting for even someone with a small project, especially if that’s not what they do for a living.

I mean, it’s it’s complicated at best. And the easier we can make that, I think the more we’re going to see good, appropriate development for our community.

And then the the last thing I wanted to say was, thank you, Alissa, for your decision on the Hynix situation. That’s a big thing for people, especially in my ward where the shuttered Hynix plant exists. And received a lot of input on that from people that are very, very concerned.

So I think it’s good that just, we’re going to get some time now to kind of look at this on a larger scale for our community as a council. And I know that’s coming up in September and it’s in the manager’s timeline here, so I appreciate that opportunity too and I appreciate you having an affirmative decision on that.

Of course, we’ll see if it gets challenged and what LUBA says or the Oregon Supreme Court. But at least I think this is a good starting point.

So again, thank you. I appreciate the work. I appreciate you and your staff.

Presenter: Councilor Eliza Kashinsky:

Councilor Eliza Kashinsky: I also want to note, just based on the math that I was doing as we were doing this, we have almost 500 units of affordable housing currently under construction in the community.

Given how much that’s needed in our community, that’s really good to hear and to sort of know, okay, we are actually building this housing that’s needed in our community. And then like another over looks like over 200 that are in an earlier phase of the process, not shovels in the ground yet, but on their way.

Presenter: Councilor Alan Zelenka:

Councilor Alan Zelenka: Following off of what Councilor Groves said, a lot of people say nothing’s ever being built here. If you were to listen to the Chamber of Commerce, this is the worst place in the planet to do business. But yet there were ten new business, big business projects being built. I think that maybe people should look at this presentation more closely.

Presenter: Eugene Mayor Kaarin Knudson: 

Kaarin Knudson (Eugene, mayor): I, as your mayor, I hear a lot of feedback from other communities and have over this past 18 months around where private sector projects have essentially dropped off a cliff and are no longer happening in other places, where people are not seeing the diversity of project types that have been presented in these 30 or so that we talked about today.

And I think it would help us to be able to see some of that larger context, because we are operating also within a regional market and building culture…

Thank you, staff, and please pass on our appreciation to the rest of your team that is working on projects like these, but also in adjacent work that helps us to be successful. And Andrew, I really appreciate your comment about livable and safe being at the heart of the work that we’re doing.

Presenter: The City Council praises the Planning and Development team, not only for blocking a data center, but also for continuous improvement in supporting ‘the people who are helping to build the future of our city.’