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Springfield staff outline state-driven housing targets and a menu of tools for production and anti-displacement
Summary
City planners described state-required housing targets — 6,937 units over 20 years with an 8‑year production target of 470 units per year — and presented potential policy tools (regulatory, financial, tenant support, partnerships) for inclusion in climate‑friendly-area findings and the forthcoming housing production strategy.
Katie Carroll, Housing Analyst, and Chelsea Hartman, Senior Planner, presented a multi-part update to the Springfield City Council on housing trends, new state requirements, and possible local tools to meet production and anti-displacement goals.
Carroll summarized statewide and local supply-and-demand data and said Oregon's new methodology for housing needs allocates a 20‑year need to cities. "Springfield's 20 Year housing need as calculated by that ONA methodology is 6,937 new housing units over the next 20 years with an annual production target of 470 units every year for the next 8 years," Carroll said. Staff noted that 68% of the eight-year need is for households earning below 80% of area median income (AMI), and that housing at these income levels typically requires direct subsidy.
Hartman outlined how House Bill 2001 and related rulemaking change local planning responsibilities, including a contextualized housing need analysis, a housing capacity analysis, and a housing production strategy. She said cities must now identify "development ready lands" (annexed, zoned for housing, served by or planned for facilities, and not encumbered by protective regulations) and that updated buildable lands work will begin in 2026 to reflect final state rules.
Presenters gave local context: Springfield issued building permits for 1,756 housing units over the prior five years, with the highest single year at 521 units in 2023 (driven largely by Marcola Meadows). Carroll said rental vacancy and affordability indicators were strained: rental vacancy was 2.1% (lower than a healthy ~5%), homeownership vacancy about 0.4%, median monthly rent roughly $1,200, and Springfield renters' median income was about $32,000 lower than homeowners. Staff also reported that, since 2018, 108 units in Springfield were built that are reserved for households at or below 80% AMI. County data cited by staff estimated 1,208 people experiencing homelessness in Springfield in 2024, about 20% minors.
Councilors asked about timing, scope, and options. Councilor Rodley asked whether "development ready lands" could include repurposed commercial parcels; Hartman answered that property converted to allow housing with clear and objective standards could qualify. Councilor Blackwell and others asked how targets translate into near-term action; staff said a housing capacity analysis is due in 2027 and a housing production strategy by the end of 2029 under the current rule schedule.
Staff presented a menu of tools for the Climate Friendly Areas (CFAs) adoption findings and for further study in the housing production strategy. Tools were grouped into regulatory actions (preapproved plan sets, accessible design incentives, reexamining ground-floor commercial requirements), financial tools (fee waivers, low-income rental property tax exemption expansion, demolition taxes, construction excise tax), partnerships and redevelopment (public–private partnerships, conversion of underperforming commercial assets), and tenant support (renter assistance, tenant protections, tenant hotlines). Hartman noted that some options are existing city programs that could be expanded and that revenue impacts vary by tool.
On next steps, staff asked council direction on which tools to include in CFA findings and recommended a light touch inclusion of tools with further vetting during the citywide housing production strategy. Councilors expressed support for continued conversation, interest in pairing infill and UGB options, concerns about available subsidy to serve the large share of low-income targets, and a repeated theme that execution capacity will limit how many tools the city can effectively implement.
Councilors also discussed the role of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and informal multi-occupancy arrangements. Staff clarified ADUs must meet the definition of a separate dwelling unit (separate kitchen, sanitation, entry) to be counted as a housing unit in official capacity inventories; some smaller shared arrangements do not meet the unit definition and therefore are not counted.
Staff indicated they will return with the required analyses on the state timeline, begin buildable lands work in 2026 after state rule finalization, and incorporate council direction into CFA findings and the housing production strategy outreach.
