New Search
Land Use <br />preserve and enhance the economic, social, and environmental qualities of the community." <br />Included in the land use code is the city zoning code, which regulates development, including <br />building heights and setbacks, and uses allowed within each zone. <br />The city of Eugene also uses the 1997 Growth Management Study -Shaping Eugene 's Future <br />(Eugene 1997a) and the Eugene Downtown Plan (Eugene 1984) as policy guidance for <br />promoting the social and economic welfare of the city. The growth management study <br />establishes the policy of accommodating development within the existing growth boundary and <br />encourages reuse and redevelopment of underused land. The downtown plan seeks to further <br />activities that would "provide a more lively, active downtown area that will be attractive, <br />economically strong, and useful to the people of Eugene." <br />Land Uses within the Study Areas <br />The prevalent land use within the study areas is industrial, followed by commercial, public lands, <br />and special development areas. <br />Commercial and Retail Use <br />Commercial and retail activity on both of the alternative. sites is minimal to moderate, and neither <br />of the sites is located within or directly adjacent to major commercial or retail centers. Both , <br />alternative sites have some level of commercial and retail activity. <br />The Riverfront site contains an office park (dominated by medical and dental offices) and a few <br />other commercial and retail businesses. The Riverfront site is located just outside of downtown <br />core areas and is not in a major commercial center. <br />There is little to no retail activity within the study areas. Retail activity has suffered within the <br />cities of Eugene and Springfield as major retailers have moved to suburban malls outside city <br />limits. Redeveloping retail in the downtown cores of Eugene and Springfield is a major land use <br />goal for these cities, and redevelopment plans have focused on specialty retail shops to attract <br />shoppers back to city centers. Although this strategy has been moderately successful in Eugene, <br />there remain many vacant retail spaces in the downtown core, where the vacancy rate for <br />commercial property was 8.08 percent in March 1999 (Duncan & Brown 1999). The vacancy <br />rate for commercial property in downtown Springfield was significantly lower, at just under one <br />percent in 1999 (Pappas 2000 personal communication). <br />Public Lands <br />The alternative sites do not include any county, state, or federal office space. The Chiquita site <br />(formerly Agripac) is located immediately south of the Eugene Water and Electric Board but <br />contains no public lands within its borders. <br />Final EIS 120 New Federal Courthouse <br />