About this project
What is this project about?
The state passed new Climate-Friendly and Equitable Community (CFEC) rules to help reduce climate pollution, especially from transportation. The new rules require cities over 50,000 to reform parking standards, plan for mixed use “climate-friendly” areas where residents, workers, and visitors can meet most of their daily needs by walking, bicycling or riding transit, and create more equitable and accessible communities, especially for those traditionally underserved and experiencing discrimination.
Summary of CFEC rulemaking (1 page)
What does this mean for Albany?
Parking Reform – To comply with the new rules, the city repealed parking citywide, set parking maximums, updated bicycle parking and parking lot standards. Learn more on the Timeline tab.
Climate Friendly Areas (CFAs) – In the winter and spring of 2023, potential CFAs were identified and revised based on community input. See the DRAFT Climate Friendly Areas Report. Learn more on the Community Engagement tab.
CFA Next Steps:
- Evaluate public comment on the revised CFAs, and anti-displacement strategies (June 2023 Questionnaire Input)
- Present DRAFT Climate Friendly Areas Report and latest public comments to the Planning Commission and City Council for their input.
- Revise the report and submit to the state by December 31, 2023.
- In early 2024, the City will make any necessary amendments to the development code and zoning maps to establish new CFAs.
- CFA summary handout: English | Spanish
Learn more about Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities on the FAQs and CFEC Background tabs.
How do I get involved / stay informed?
- This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.!
- View the public events meeting materials on the Public Events Tab above
- Invite staff to your meeting or event
Where can I get more information?
- Review this CFEC overview document (6 pages)
- CFEC overview presentation to City Council and the Planning Commission
- Review the Frequently Asked Questions
- Visit the state CFEC page
- Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 541-917-7560 to talk with City staff about this project
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
Climate-friendly areas (CFAs) are existing or planned urban mixed-use areas that contain or are planned to contain, a greater mix and supply of housing, jobs, businesses, and services.
CFAs are served or planned to be served, by pedestrian, bicycle, and transit infrastructure that provides frequent, comfortable, and convenient connections to key destinations within the city and region.
To the extent practicable, CFAs must be located along transit corridors close to existing or planned higher density residential uses and employment opportunities. CFAs must be in the city or contiguous to city limits. CFAs may be identified in developed areas, on vacant land, and/or partially vacant or underutilized land. One CFA must be 25 acres, others may be smaller.
Potential locations will be identified and evaluated and shared with the community for feedback over the next year. The study of potential CFAs is due by 12/31/2023.
The city then has until 12/31/2024 to make any development code or map changes needed to designate/create these mixed-use areas.
The adopted rules will primarily impact new development in areas designated as climate-friendly areas.
The rules will reduce required parking for some developments near transit corridors and may reduce parking for residential developments that are in or near your neighborhood.
If you live within the potential climate friendly area, contact city planning staff to find out if the designation would impact your property or neighboring properties. City staff does not anticipate redevelopment of existing neighborhoods, but the city gets “housing credit” for existing neighborhoods within CFAs.
The rules apply to cities, counties, and Metro in Oregon’s eight metropolitan areas, areas that collectively represent most of Oregon’s population. Albany is one of the eight metropolitan areas.
No. Most land zoned for single-family development would not be rezoned.
Albany will be required to identify new mixed-use climate friendly areas (CFAs) over the next year through public engagement and analysis of locations – in and outside the city limits.
Medium to high density housing does not preclude home ownership opportunities. While condominium ownership has some statutory obstacles (longer warranty), other housing types, like townhouses and smaller dwellings, enable fee simple ownership opportunities.
No. Much of Albany will remain zoned for single-family development. Housing allowed in the new CFAs will include attached housing types like townhouses and duplexes,-multi-family, and other types that can be constructed at the minimum densities set for each area – either at a minimum density of 25 units a net acre or 15 units a net acre.
While 25 or 15 units/net acre sounds like a lot, net does not include right-of-way, so small or narrow lot homes on smaller lots, or single-family homes with ADUs on smaller lots, or a combination of housing types like some attached and some detached, are possible at 25 units an acre, and even more variety of housing lot sizes are possible at a minimum density of 15 units a net acre.
Many factors affect housing prices – the cost of land, construction, parking, supply and demand, location, unit size, to name a few. The following rule changes may reduce housing costs:
Higher Density vs. “High Rise” Construction Costs. High rise buildings (5 or more stories) will not be required in the new urban centers, but we must allow for buildings up to 85 feet in one new urban area. Buildings over 4 stories have different construction requirements and can be more costly per square foot than buildings up to 4 stories. But when you factor in the price of land, the costs may be less per square-foot if more square-footage can be constructed.
Based on a recent market analysis for Albany east of I-5, most of Albany’s residential multi-story development is anticipated to be 4 or fewer stories. Staff will assume most construction will be 4 stories when we analyze our capacity of future jobs and housing.
Parking and Vehicle Ownership. Parking adds cost to development and people who don’t own cars pay indirectly for other people’s parking. Vehicle ownership is expensive. Carless households tend to be the poorest households. The new standards will reduce required parking for most residential uses and in mixed use areas where parking can be shared. Parking is not being restricted; lenders and market dynamics will determine parking needs.
We recognize that Albany transit system may currently not provide the stop frequency or locations to support car-free living and that most residents have cars and want parking.
The hope is that the rules may result in less parking or in decoupling parking from the cost of housing, which may in turn support increased transit ridership (and ultimately better transit service) and walking and biking for services and jobs in closer proximity.
EV Conduit: The new rules will require new buildings with 5 or more units to provide electrical conduit and electric capacity to be installed for 40% of provided parking spaces; however, the wiring and electric vehicle chargers are not required. (State law currently requires this for 20% of parking spaces in new developments.) The intent is to reduce costs to install charging stations later as demand for EVs grows.
Most commercial and service business types will be allowed in the new mixed-use areas; however, standards that require safe pedestrian access may discourage auto-depending retail.
Many factors influence the cost of doing business and starting a business –cost of labor, goods/materials, development costs, operating costs, marketing and more. Overall, reduced parking requirements may save money on development that may help the bottom line.
Parking. The new rules will reduce or eliminate parking requirements in designated mixed use areas and along frequent transit corridors. New standards will encourage conversion of underutilized parking areas and facilitate shared parking.
New parking lots over ¼ acre in size will be required to provide trees and/or solar panels, which will be more than what Albany currently requires for parking lot landscaping.
EV Conduit. State law currently requires commercial buildings in private ownership to accommodate 20% of new parking spaces with EV conduit and electrical service capacity (ORS 455.417). The new rules would require 40% of vehicle parking spaces provided for mixed -use buildings with 5 or more dwellings (to be accommodated with electrical service capacity and conduit.
Timeline
Timeline
The first phase is to study and determine potential locations of climate-friendly areas by December 31, 2023. Following this phase, development standards for these areas will be adopted by December 31, 2024.
2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026-2028 | 2029 | |
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Albany Area | Transportation Planning Rule major report (5/31) | Transportation Planning Rule minor report (5/31) | Transportation Planning Rule minor report (5/31/2026) and major report (5/31/2028) | Transportation Planning Rule minor report (5/31) | ||
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Parking Reform
There are three phases of parking reform (A, B, and EV Conduit). Parking Part A will go into effect on January 1, 2023. EV Conduit went into effect April 1, 2023. Parking Reform B amendments will be effective June 30, 2023. These last changes include repealing parking citywide, setting parking maximums, updating bicycle parking and amending parking lot standards for lots larger than one quarter of an acre to require solar panels or more tree canopy.
The city’s parking standards can be found in Article 9 of the Albany Development Code.
Why reduce parking requirements?
Parking is expensive to construct, and car ownership is expensive*. Transportation pollution accounts for 38% of Oregon’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Minimum parking requirements hide the costs of parking to households, housing, goods, services, and businesses. Free or ample parking leads to more people owning cars and driving than they would if they were aware of the true costs. Knowing these costs may lead to using alternative modes of travel.
Many communities let the market determine how much parking to provide and lenders usually require sufficient parking.
*According to AAA and Consumer Expenditures in 2019 by the US Department of Labor, the average vehicle costs more than $9,500 a year including loan, fuel, insurance, and maintenance.
What are the parking and transportation rules?
Parking A
Reduced parking requirements for certain uses, along transit corridors, and in mixed-use areas will go into effect January 1, 2023. These rules are intended to free up land for housing and services and help to create these mixed-use urban areas and support transit and alternative modes.
Parking B
Additional parking standards encouraging redevelopment of underused parking lots and shared parking, as well as require more tree canopy or solar panels in larger parking lots, and further reduce parking requirements will go into effect July 1, 2023 if not adopted by the city prior to that date.
EV Charging Capacity
By April 1, 2023, residential developments of 5 or more units will need to provide more electric vehicle charging capacity than the building codes currently require.
Transportation Systems Plan
By the end of 2029, the city will need to update or adopt a new Transportation System Plan that will prioritize systems that provide a wider range of equitable and climate-friendly transportation options such as walking, biking, and/or riding transit, rather than focusing solely on motor vehicle congestion.
Community Engagement
Community Engagement
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
6 p.m.
City Hall, Council Chambers
CFA Revisions and Anti-Displacement
The project team reviewed revisions to the candidate climate friendly areas (CFAs), the proposed primary CFA (Heritage Mall area), discussed how they overlap with any vulnerable areas, and provided input on anti-displacement strategies the city is considering.
February 21, 2023
6-7:30 p.m.
City Hall, Council Chambers
Albany in partnership with the Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments (OCWCOG) is hosting a public meeting to present potential Climate Friendly Area locations. The meeting will consist of a presentation on the proposed areas from OCWCOG representatives and a public input forum to gather community feedback on the potential sites.
- Presentation Slides
- CFEC Handout (English)
- CFEC Handout (Spanish)
- Survey (open until March 31)
Send questions and comments to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
November 30, 2022
This meeting provided an overview of the Climate-Friendly Areas (CFAs) project by Cascades West Council of Governments (CWCOG) staff, Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) staff, and city staff in an Albany breakout room. View meeting videos and slides.
- Climate Friendly Areas Overview Video by CWCOG and DLCD
- Albany Breakout Room Discussion Video
- CWCOG Overview Slides
- DLCD Overview Slides
- Q and A and Albany Discussion Notes
- Comunidades equitativas y respetuosas con el medio ambiente
Send questions and comments to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
CFEC Background
Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities (CFEC) Background
Oregon is not meeting its goals to reduce climate pollution. In 2007, Oregon legislators adopted a goal to reduce Oregon’s climate pollution by 75% by 2050 because that’s what the science calls for if Oregon is going to avoid catastrophic impacts to our environment, communities, and economy. Governor Brown issued Executive Order 20-04 in March 2020 which is the basis of the Oregon Climate Action Plan (OCAP), which directs many state agencies to address climate change in a variety of very specific ways.
The Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) is the state agency that oversees land use and transportation planning. Transportation accounts for 38% of Oregon’s greenhouse gas pollution. Land use patterns can impact climate pollution by offering transportation, housing, and employment choices in locations that are walkable, bikeable, and accessible by transit to reduce reliance on vehicles.
The Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) initiated the Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities (CFEC) rulemaking in September 2020. After almost two years of public engagement and modifications to draft rules, LCDC adopted the rules July 21, 2022. Visit the CFEC page for information about the new standards and state climate change resources.