Boardman committee previews Urbanform zoning tool; city to cover initial investment

The Boardman Housing Committee on Tuesday previewed Urbanform, a software platform that digitizes municipal zoning codes and produces parcel-level summaries to streamline permit applications. Amy (speaker 2), who led the demo, said Urbanform pulls parcel details, zoning descriptions, height limits and allowable uses into a single report "at the click of a button," reducing the time it takes to prepare permit materials.

Carla (speaker 1), Boardman’s planner, said the committee’s initial cost estimate from Nathan's email was "less than $12,000," and she and the building official will work with the vendor on whether the city's building-code inputs can be included. Proponents cited a Yamhill County project that used a revolving loan investment to digitize the zoning codes across 11 jurisdictions; Amy described that county as an early model for rapid deployment and said users reported faster turnaround and fewer errors in permit processing.

Developer and user Ryan (speaker 3) said the tool helps developers "very quickly ascertain, like, what can I build there? What's my density going to look like?" and noted Urbanform also cites source code documents so staff and applicants can drill into the underlying language. Amy said the product can be configured to fit county or city implementation models and that technical staff (GIS and code staff) should be involved in the kickoff. "We take a holistic approach when we're building these out," she said.

Next steps: the committee will convene a smaller kickoff group with the vendor to define scope, data inputs and responsibilities; Amy said the city will cover the identified Urbanform investment and staff will schedule a follow-up meeting to begin the technical work.