Springfield planners report near-complete natural resource inventories; wildlife habitat mapping narrows species list

City planning staff told the Springfield Planning Commission on April 1 that the natural resource inventories for the city’s recent urban growth boundary (UGB) expansion are nearly complete and that staff will begin outreach and site-specific protections analysis later this year.

Long-range city planner Monica Seather, who is managing the project, said the UGB expansion brought roughly 800 acres into the city’s planning area and that about 270 acres of that are reserved for employment uses while the remainder is a mix of public and private ownership. The expansion includes three subareas the staff identified as North Gateway, Millrace and the Willamalane Park Properties (known in staff materials as the Oxbow site).

Seather said city consultants used the standard (site-specific) inventory method rather than the faster “safe harbor” approach, allowing more on-the-ground precision. “With the standard approach…you will have better accuracy,” she said, noting that wetlands inventory protocols require certification and that the Department of State Lands signed off on the wetlands report last May.

Staff reported 30 wetland units were found and that all but one were determined to be locally significant. Wetlands make up nearly 9% of the UGB expansion areas overall; by subarea staff cited less than 1% in the 212-acre North Gateway area, about 35% of the 75-acre Willamalane subarea, and roughly 8% of the 508-acre Millrace subarea.

Riparian mapping identified 24 stretches of riparian area, and Seather said all but one of those were locally significant as well, nearly doubling the city’s mapped riparian assets in places including the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, Jasper Slough and Gore and Cedar Quarry creeks.

On wildlife habitat, staff described a multi-stage screening process. The consultant team and agency reviewers first considered 57 species, then applied a likelihood-of-occurrence analysis with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) peer review to narrow the list to a working set of 16 species, 13 of which are birds; staff said none of the 16 are federally listed but most are state sensitive.

Seather cautioned that ODFW’s Compass mapping tool is coarse and geared to restoration priorities rather than precise presence-absence mapping, so the draft upland habitat map will show Compass-derived information while relying on field data for local significance determinations. She said the city plans direct outreach to property owners in the coming weeks to let them review the draft wildlife habitat inventory, then begin site-protection analysis in summer with adoption work potentially starting in winter.

Commissioners asked how the inventories affected developability. Seather said the inventories will narrow what needs protection and that the council previously directed staff to pursue a balanced approach; in practice that means many significant resources will receive setbacks or other measures while some limited mitigation or exceptions may remain possible.

Staff credited coordination and funding support from partners including the Springfield Utility Board and Willamalane Park and Recreation District. Seather said those agencies provided data, staff time and, in the case of SUB, financial contributions and technical review related to well-field and drinking-water protection interests in the Millrace area.

The planning commission approved minutes for Feb. 18 and March 3, 2026 with a spelling correction and a corrected listing of the vice chair, and adjourned the regular session.

Next steps listed by staff include targeted outreach to UGB property owners on the draft wildlife inventory, summer site-specific protections analysis, and preparing materials for adoption later this year or winter next year.