City planners outline how state climate rules will reshape Bend land-use and transportation planning

Growth management staff told the Bend Energy and Climate Committee that recent state rule changes are tightening the links between land use, transportation and climate goals and that the city's upcoming comprehensive-plan update will try to align local policy with those new statewide requirements.

Susanna Jolber, a transportation planner in the growth management division, and Brianne Gail, a senior planner, walked the committee through Oregon's planning framework, the state's Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities (CFEC) rules, recent housing-rule changes and how those translate into the city's transportation system plan (TSP) and the planned growth-plan update.

The presentation said CFEC rules, implemented through the Oregon Administrative Rules and agency guidance, require jurisdictions over 50,000 to identify "climate friendly areas" (CFAs) and set performance measures tying land-use designations to transportation investments and greenhouse-gas targets. Growth management staff told the committee their CFA study (completed in 2023) indicates Bend likely needs about 275'to'350 acres of CFA designation and that the rules require jurisdictions to plan for roughly 30 percent of new and existing housing capacity to be located in those CFAs.

Why it matters: the CFEC framework changes where the city will prioritize capital improvements, parking management and development incentives. Staff said the CFAs and the metrics attached to them will affect which locations…