Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Parking topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning Commission unanimously recommends Forest Grove adopt state climate-friendly parking rules
Summary
The commission voted unanimously to recommend City Council approve code amendments aligning Forest Grove with Oregon's Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities rules, including limits on parking minimums near transit, EV readiness requirements and unbundled parking for new multi-unit and commercial leases.
The Forest Grove Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend that City Council adopt a package of text amendments to the city development code designed to implement the state'mandated Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities (CFE) rules.
Senior Planner Matt Johnson told commissioners the package (file 311-24-00000034-PG) would limit parking mandates, expand shared and off-site parking allowances and require electrical-vehicle (EV) readiness for new multifamily housing. Johnson said the city cannot require more than one off-street parking space per residential unit and that some land uses, including certain residential care facilities, transitional and emergency shelters, and affordable housing, would be exempt from parking requirements. He described a half-mile transit buffer around Line 57 where developers would not face mandatory parking minimums and said multifamily projects must provide conduit enabling EV chargers to be installed later for at least 40% of parking spaces.
Commissioners questioned how "unbundled" parking'where parking is rented or leased separately from housing'would play out locally. Johnson said Forest Grove's limited transit service makes large opt-outs unlikely but noted several recent apartment projects in town already use unbundled parking; those properties have generated complaints about off-site street parking when tenants choose not to pay for assigned spaces.
A motion to recommend approval of Exhibits A through G passed without dissent. Commissioners Berdall, Colbertson, Ellis, Falconer, Frell, Stenberg and Chair Sanderson each registered votes in favor.
Why it matters: The CFE rule set, adopted by the Land Conservation and Development Commission following Executive Order 20-04, aims to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions through planning choices that increase multimodal travel options and allow more housing near transit. City staff told the commission the city had extended its implementation deadline but faces a state default to no citywide parking mandates if local rules are not adopted by the end of the extension period.
What happens next: The Planning Commission's recommendation moves the amendments to City Council for consideration. If council approves them, the city will revise its development code to reflect the CFE provisions, including the transit-area parking exemptions and EV-readiness requirements.
