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Corvallis amends parking-locational code to ease development constraints in open-space zones
Summary
The council adopted a text amendment to the Land Development Code that exempts agricultural/open-space zones and certain accessory buildings from the vehicle parking locational standard and modifies how the standard applies to properties with three or more street frontages.
The Corvallis City Council adopted an ordinance on April 7 amending the Land Development Code (LDC) to refine where accessory parking may be placed and to exempt certain open-space zones from the city’s vehicle parking locational standard.
Assistant planner Doug Palmerinki told the council the proposed changes respond to site-specific conflicts that arise when the city’s locational standard — which generally requires parking accessory to a use not separate buildings from streets — is applied rigidly in AgOS (agricultural open space) and CoS (conservation open space) zones, or on lots with unusual configurations such as three or more street frontages.
The nut graf: staff and the planning commission argued the amendment preserves the standard’s intent to protect pedestrian-oriented streets but prevents unintended consequences in parkland, campuses, and lots with multiple frontages where enforcing the standard could push parking into protected natural areas or make small accessory buildings impractical.
Palmerinki summarized the main changes: exempt AgOS and CoS zones from the standard; make “community recreation” a permitted primary use in AgOS (removing a prior “public parks only” restriction); exclude accessory-use buildings from the locational requirement; allow properties with three or more street frontages to apply the standard to only two of the frontages; and update code text for clarity and to remove outdated references. He said the planning commission unanimously recommended approval following its hearing.
In the presentation, Palmerinki showed examples including small parks, school campuses and Martin Luther King Junior Park to illustrate how strict application of the standard could force parking to the center of sites, potentially into natural features or open space. He told council the amendment still leaves in place other pedestrian-oriented standards in zones where those apply.
Councilors asked technical questions about cottage clusters, park reviews and the prior plant-compatibility review (PCR) process; staff explained cottage-cluster parking is addressed in a separate chapter and said the change to community recreation use in AgOS reflects that many park projects already undergo significant public review.
After the public hearing (no members of the public signed up to testify), council adopted the ordinance amending chapters 3.3 and 4.1 of the Corvallis Land Development Code. The vote was unanimous.
What’s next: the ordinance takes effect on the date stated in the ordinance and staff will update development review materials and notify affected departments and applicants.
