Corvallis Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities

Oregon laws often have related, implementing rules known as  Oregon Administrative Rules (or OARs) . Different State agencies manage the rule adoption and amendment process. In the category of land use and transportation laws and OARs, the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) is responsible for adopting updates to the related OARs. LCDC initiated rulemaking at its September 2020 meeting. The 2020 rulemaking effort is known as  Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities .

The rulemaking affects the following three divisions of existing OARs -

• OAR 660-008 (Division 8) Housing
• OAR 660-012 (Division 12) Transportation
• OAR 660-044 (Division 44) Metropolitan Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets

Since the initiation of the rulemaking activities in September of 2020, the State has conducted numerous public meetings and outreach across Oregon, culminating in public hearings in 2022 and adoption of rule changes to Divisions 8, 12, and 44.

A series of public meetings were conducted by DLCD from 2020-2022. Visit the  CFEC Rulemaking page here  for a summary of meetings and materials.

How will the rules impact me?

The adopted rules impact city development codes and zoning maps, as well as certain elements of the development review process and the requirements that cities can impose on new development projects. Corvallis is required to update the Land Development Code, Official Zoning Map, and other elements of the development review process, in order to comply with the new State rules. 

If you are a property owner, the new rules affect some of the typical development standards that apply when you develop your property, such as vehicle parking and building height limits. Some of the rule changes development requirements across the city - other rules will only impact certain locations or properties. There is a lot of complexity to the rules which can be difficult to explain on a single webpage. For more information please  contact the Planning Division .

The adopted rules have differing implementation dates, depending the section of rule involved. Some portions of the rules must be implemented by the end of 2022. Other elements of the rules have effective dates later in 2023, or many years in the future. The timeline below gives an overview of when components of the rules will be implemented. This information is based on the timeline provided by the  DLCD Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities webpage .

The CFEC rules require Corvallis to establish one or more Climate-Friendly Areas (CFAs). The CFAs must allow a mix of uses at certain development scales, and they need to cumulatively be able to accommodate at least 30 percent of the total identified number of housing units necessary to meet all current and future housing needs (in Corvallis, this equals 8,174 dwelling units). Ultimately, the City must designate one “Primary CFA” that is at least 25 acres in size, and all CFAs must have a minimum width of 750 feet.

State rules require that by the end of 2023, a study of potential CFAs for the City of Corvallis must be completed, and one or more CFAs must be adopted by the end of 2024 (unless a time extension is granted).

The City's CFA Study, along with other CFA-related information, can be found on the City's CFEC page. The map below identifies the 10 potential candidate CFAs that were evaluated in the CFA Study. Some of these sites are already largely compliant with the CFA rules (shown in green), while others would require zone changes to become compliant (shown in tan).

Visit the  Corvallis Planning Division CFEC page  for up-to-date event information.

To keep updated on the local implementation of the Climate Friendly & Equitable Communities rules, sign up for the  "Climate Friendly & Equitable Communities News & Updates"  subscription list.

For more information about this project contact a Corvallis Planner at 541-766-6908 or  planning@corvallisoregon.gov 

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