On Real Estate & More – February 2024

OREGON’S WORK TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CONCERNS has been in progress for over a decade, starting with the establishment of greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets by the legislature in 2007. In the State of Oregon, the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions is from transportation. To help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the State developed a set of criteria called the Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities (CFEC).

These rules apply to the eight most populated regions in the state with populations over 50,000 people (Albany, Bend, Corvallis, Eugene/Springfield, Grants Pass, Medford/Ashland, Portland Metro, Salem/Keizer) and require communities within those areas to change their local transportation and land use plans to ensure Oregonians have more safe, comfortable ways to get around, and don’t have to drive long distances just to meet their daily needs. The rules are intended to support the state’s goals for reducing transportation-related pollution, which accounts for approximately 38% of Oregon’s climate pollution. These rules were adopted by the State Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) and put in place in July 2022.

The rules are a mix of requirements to reduce climate pollution and create more livable, equitable communities and are designed to be implemented over several years. Here is what the rules are intended to do:

  • Increase housing options and affordability in mixed-use neighborhood centers, transit corridors and downtowns, with easy accessibility to stores, schools, jobs, and services—without always needing a car.
  • Expand and connect a network of safe and affordable sidewalks, trails, bikeways, and transit facilities so people can conduct most of their regular activities without depending on a car.
  • Reduce parking mandates and improve parking management. It is estimated that we have nine parking spaces for every car—that takes away land that could be used for housing, increases the cost of housing because providing parking is expensive, and causes natural resources and trees to be unnecessarily paved over.
  • Local and regional transportation planning and spending is expected to shift from a primary focus on accommodating roads and cars to substantially increased focus on climate-friendly transportation options.

There are many components to the rules, including one for more populated cities/urban regions to develop climate-friendly areas. These denser areas are places of intense growth, which allow taller buildings with a greater emphasis on pedestrian and alternative modes of transportation. The scope and scale of these requirements vary by jurisdiction. Other regulations have more immediate changes, including:

  • Rules that require the waiver of parking mandates in areas within ½ mile of frequent transit or ¾ mile of a rail station, as well as waivers for certain development types.
  • In addition, the CFEC requires jurisdictions to augment recently approved state building requirements for electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure.
  • Finally, the CFEC rules require cities to amend their zoning/development regulations to either remove minimum parking requirements citywide or, at a minimum, remove them for areas or development affected by the rules that went into effect in conjunction with other parking management provisions.
  • These changes are to be accompanied by changes related to parking maximums, the creation of special standards for mid- to large-sized parking lots, and limits on the amount of a site used for surface parking.

Land use provisions in local plans are generally scheduled to be updated by the end of 2024; while transportation plans will be updated over the next several years, with all plans updated by 2029. Communities may ask for some flexibility around some of these dates.

Not all communities in Oregon have supported these changes. A group of thirteen Oregon cities and one county (Forest Grove, Grants Pass, Happy Valley, Hillsboro, Keizer, Medford, Oregon City, Sherwood, Springfield, Troutdale, Tualatin, Wood Village, Cornelius and Marion County) jointly filed a lawsuit against the State; the group argues the regulations would force them to change their land use rules in damaging ways and on an impractically fast timeline.

They take issue with the limits that the new rules place on the ability of local governments to set minimum parking requirements for new development. The lawsuit argues that some cities already face parking shortages and inadequate public transportation, and further restrictions would impact public safety and economic development while increasing the burden on low-income residents who have no choice but to drive their own cars. The lawsuit also asks the court to pause the implementation of the rules while that judicial review is pending.

If you have questions about these changes, either reach out to your local Planning Department or the State of Oregon has information about Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities on their website.