Code audit: Springfield largely compliant with state housing rules but consultants flag fixes and strategic changes

Haley (city planning staff) introduced the Housing and Design Initiative code audit to the Springfield City Council and turned the presentation over to Cascadia Partners. Rachel Cotton, senior associate with Cascadia Partners, and Jamin Kimmel, the project principal, summarized the audit’s two parts: legally required compliance work and a set of strategic recommendations aimed at increasing housing production, affordability and choice.

Required amendments and compliance findings: Cascadia reported that the majority of Springfield’s development code is compliant with state housing-related statutes but identified several areas needing amendments. The memo in the council packet and the consultants’ presentation listed partially compliant areas that include allowances for residential homes and residential care facilities, prefabricated dwellings, and manufactured home parks (noting a statutory limit on minimum lot sizes). The consultants identified one explicit noncompliance: state rules requiring the use of recreational vehicles (RVs) for residential occupancy when they…