Springfield City Council
Ordinance #6465 was unanimously adopted by City Council at the Nov. 6, 2023 City Council meeting. The ordinance is attached in the documents below and will be effective Jan. 8, 2024.

Springfield City Council and Lane County Board of Commissioners
At a joint public hearing on Nov. 6, 2023, the Springfield City Council and Lane County Board of Commissioners heard the staff presentation and opened the Public Hearing; no comments were received on the proposed parking regulation changes. Councilors and Commissioners addressed their concerns and asked clarifying questions of staff and closed the public hearing. City Council adopted a motion for a final reading on Nov. 20, 2023. The Lane County Board of Commissioners adopted a motion and set a final reading for Dec. 12, 2023.

Springfield and Lane County Planning Commissions
At a joint public hearing on Aug. 1, 2023, the Springfield and Lane County Planning Commissions heard the staff presentation and opened the Public Hearing; no comments were received on the proposed parking regulation changes. The Commissions approved the proposed changes unanimously and forwarded their recommendation to Springfield City Council and Lane County Board of Commissioners. There will be a joint work session at 6:00 pm on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023 followed by the public hearing at 7:00 pm. The proposed Ordinance, Legislative Code Amendments, and Staff Report are provided in the documents below.

Project Background 

The State of Oregon is not meeting its targets for reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, so in March 2020, Governor Kate Brown issued Executive Order 20-04 directing state agencies to take actions to reduce and regulate greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change while also centering the needs of Oregon’s most vulnerable communities. In response, the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission directed the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) to draft updates to Oregon's transportation and land use planning rules. The Commission adopted the Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities (CFEC) permanent rules on July 21, 2022 and plans to modify the rules on November 2 or 3, 2023.  

 

This project is implementing the parking component of a state mandate consisting of prescriptive rules with little room for flexibility. The Springfield City Council directed staff to proceed with the option that makes providing on-site parking voluntary for new developments. The City Council chose the approach of not requiring any on-site parking with new development rather than developing a complicated, staff-intensive process to create new programs to manage parking that result in limited on-site parking requirements. 

 

The code amendments will generally maintain existing parking standards that will continue to apply to provided parking, making some amendments to those standards as required by the CFEC rules. Developers will continue to have the option of providing on-site parking. 

 

Although the state’s rules were recently adopted, Springfield has already laid the groundwork for parking rules. Springfield adopted a Transportation System Plan (TSP) in 2014 that includes policies explicitly intended to reduce dependence on the single-occupancy vehicles very similar to the climate goals of the CFEC rules. During 2016-2020, Springfield engaged with the community in an extensive process to figure out the right balance of tools for Springfield to meet these TSP policies – Springfield was stricter than the CFEC rules require in some instances and more lenient in others. Springfield lowered minimum parking requirements, added parking maximums, and increased opportunities for developers to seek “right-sized” parking requirements. A few of these provisions, though not all, will help Springfield comply with CFEC rule requirements, such as Springfield’s existing maximum parking requirements, bicycle parking standards, and maximum block length requirements. 

Project Timeline: 

Feb. – May 2023 Assemble internal Springfield CFEC code amendments project team, obtain approval of the Community Involvement Strategy from the Committee for Citizen Involvement, and draft code amendments. 

 

June. – Aug. 2023 Conduct community involvement and Planning Commission public hearing. 

 

Sept. – Nov. 2023 City Council and Board of County Commissioners meeting to read a proposed adopting ordinance, hold a public hearing, and conduct deliberations.  

 

December 2023 Notice of Adoption. 

 

January 2024 Implementation of new parking requirements

Meeting Recordings, Materials & Testimony  

The project scope and schedule provide opportunities for engagement that range from one-on-one communications with project staff to formal hearings.   

  

Project Contact Information  

City staff welcome all questions about the project. We are here to help you. Thank you!  

  

Project Manager  

Drew Larson, Planner 
541-726-3661 

ALarson@springfield-or.gov