Springfield TAC previews Phase 2 housing and design code amendments

Pat, chair of the Housing and Design Technical Advisory Committee, opened the meeting by reviewing the Phase 2 package for Springfield's housing and design code amendments, describing a series of ‘‘clean‑up’’ changes and several policy choices planned for formal hearings this summer and adoption in the fall. The packet includes clarifications to permitted‑use tables, updated definitions, walkable‑design adjustments required by state model code, and neighborhood refinement‑plan edits affecting downtown, East Main and Gateway.

Committee members were told Phase 1 had focused on allowing more housing in commercial and mixed‑use districts and establishing a CFA (corridor/center/area) overlay for downtown and Mohawk. Phase 2, the presenter said, centers on aligning the city code with state mandates, removing inconsistencies, and reducing barriers to housing. Key technical changes explained include moving child‑care centers and residential care facilities into public/institutional use categories, clarifying that development within 150 feet of wetlands is subject to natural resource protection standards (4.317), restoring a missing cottage‑cluster diagram, and removing the courtyard‑housing option to avoid overlap with cottage clusters.

The committee heard proposed adjustments to transportation and utility standards to make driveway, stormwater, and easement requirements clear and objective; landscaping and screening standards were extended to mixed‑use and commercial districts to improve livability near busy streets. The draft adopts state walkable‑design standards for drive‑thrus, generally prohibiting stacking lanes between a building and the street and requiring minimum stacking‑lane lengths (75 feet for two lanes, 100 feet for one lane), while providing a walkable‑design adjustment process for sites where topography, lot shape or access makes strict compliance impossible.

The packet also creates a ministerial (type‑1) path for converting commercial shells to residential use to encourage adaptive reuse without imposing new density or design rules; it clarifies distinctions for RV parks and temporary post‑disaster RV occupancy, and sets clear approval paths for mobile food units and multi‑cart pods. Nonconforming‑use rules were reorganized and the maximum discontinuance period was increased from six months to one year.

A notable policy proposal drew sustained attention: the presenter said the city would reduce the required affordability period for income‑qualified housing from 30 years to 20 years to align with common federal HOME program requirements, and stated this change was ‘‘below the statutory requirement in OS 197A 445’’ as presented in the packet. Committee members raised questions about how that change aligns with state law and funding expectations.

The presenter said staff aim to bring the Phase 2 package to the planning commission for further review next month, with public hearings anticipated in late summer and adoption during the fall. The meeting concluded with an invitation for TAC members to flag drafting issues (missing diagrams, inconsistent cross‑references) before the packet goes to the planning commission.

The committee did not take formal votes at the meeting; staff said they will refine code language, correct typographical errors, and bring a more polished draft to the planning commission and then to city council for readings and final adoption.