HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 02 Springfield 2030 Refinement Plan (SRP) Urbanization Element AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Meeting Date: 5/6/2013
Meeting Type: Work Session
Staff Contact/Dept.: Linda Pauly/DPW
Staff Phone No: (541)726-4608
Estimated Time: 20 minutes
S P R I N G F I E L D
C I T Y C O U N C I L
Council Goals: Encourage Economic
Development and
Revitalization through
Community Partnerships
ITEM TITLE: SPRINGFIELD 2030 REFINEMENT PLAN (SRP) URBANIZATION ELEMENT
(METRO PLAN AMENDMENT FILE NO. LRP 2009-00014)
ACTION
REQUESTED:
Staff will present the draft Springfield 2030 Growth Concept graphic map, a visual
communication tool to highlight locations where the most growth and development
is planned to occur through 2030 and to suggest potential types of future
development in each area.
ISSUE
STATEMENT:
Adoption of the Springfield 2030 Refinement Plan (SRP) Urbanization Element
will allow the City to identify areas where the UGB will be expanded to establish
future growth areas for economic development and infrastructure planning purposes
in accordance with Statewide Planning Goal 9, Economic Development, Goal 14
Urbanization, other applicable land use goals, rules and statutes and local
community development, livability and environmental quality goals. Springfield’s
UGB expansion proposal will also include a public land, parks, and open space
component.
ATTACHMENTS: 1. Council Briefing Memorandum
2. Prime Industrial Land Characteristics Comparison (enlarged and printed
chart from March 18th packet)
3. Letter to Property Owners in the UGB Study Areas
DISCUSSION/
FINANCIAL
IMPACT:
Staff is preparing the Urbanization Element of the Springfield 2030 Refinement
Plan — a new comprehensive plan policy document that amends the Metro Plan for
Metro area lands east of Interstate 5 to provide guidance for managing and
balancing Springfield’s urban growth needs over the 20-year planning period. The
Plan will include maps and descriptions of Springfield’s planned growth areas
within the City Limits and existing UGB and in locations where the UGB may be
expanded.
Springfield is in the process of considering how and where the UGB might be
expanded to provide suitable large employment sites, public land, open space and
parks. The Council has reviewed the results of the employment land suitability
analysis, including information comparing estimated cost and difficulty of
extending urban services Springfield’s to five potential UGB expansion areas.
At the March 18th work session, the Council requested information from staff to
help visualize the types of industrial development and other employment uses that
would be suitable and well-matched to the site characteristics and unique potential
of each distinct location.
M E M O R A N D U M City of Springfield
Date: 5/6/2013
COUNCIL
BRIEFING
MEMORANDUM
To: Gino Grimaldi
From: Len Goodwin, DPW Director
Linda Pauly, DPW Principal Planner
Subject: SPRINGFIELD 2030 REFINEMENT PLAN
(SRP) URBANIZATION ELEMENT (METRO
PLAN AMENDMENT FILE NO. LRP 2009-
00014)
ISSUE:
Adoption of the Springfield 2030 Refinement Plan (SRP) Urbanization Element will allow the City to
identify areas where the UGB will be expanded to establish future growth areas for economic
development and infrastructure planning purposes in accordance with Statewide Planning Goal 9,
Economic Development, Goal 14 Urbanization, other applicable land use goals, rules and statutes and
local community development, livability and environmental quality goals. Springfield’s UGB expansion
proposal will also include a public land, parks, and open space component.
COUNCIL GOALS/
MANDATE:
Community and Economic Development and Revitalization
A key policy issue for Springfield will be to determine when, where and how infrastructure and urban
services could be provided to new Employment Opportunity sites and public facilities within an expanded
Urban Growth Boundary.
DISCUSSION AND BACKGROUND:
At the February 22 and March 18th work sessions, the council reviewed:
• information about Springfield’s employment land needs, as determined through the Commercial
and Industrial Buildable Lands Inventory and Economic Opportunities Analysis;
• maps identifying five potential UGB expansion areas with suitable employment land for
development of employment uses;
• comparative cost and difficulty of providing urban services to five potential UGB expansion
areas; and
• information from Business Oregon comparing the characteristics of prime industrial land.
At the March 18th work session, the Council requested information regarding the short, medium and long
term potential of the five UGB study areas.
Short Term Land Supply: Comprehensive Planning Requirements
Statewide Planning Goal 9 requires Springfield (as a city within a Metropolitan Planning Organization) to
make a commitment to provide a competitive short-term supply of land and established targets for the
short-term land supply.
“Cities and counties within a Metropolitan Planning Organization must adopt a policy stating that a
competitive short-term supply of land as a community economic development objective for the
industrial and other employment uses selected through the economic opportunities analysis pursuant
to OAR 660-009-0015.” [OAR 660-009-0020(1)(b)]
Goal 9 defines short-term supply as:
"Short-term Supply of Land" means suitable land that is ready for construction within one year of an
application for a building permit or request for service extension. Engineering feasibility is sufficient
Attachment 1-1
5/1/2013 Page 2
to qualify land for the short-term supply of land. Funding availability is not required. "Competitive
Short-term Supply" means the short-term supply of land provides a range of site sizes and locations
to accommodate the market needs of a variety of industrial and other employment uses. [OAR 660-
009-0005 (10)]
The Springfield 2030 Refinement Plan addresses the short-term land supply requirement through the
policies and implementation strategies incorporated into the Economic Element of the plan and the
Economic Opportunities Analysis (EOA) that will be adopted as a Technical Supplement of the Plan.
Pages 25-27 of the EOA provide an analysis of Springfield’s short-term supply of land. The Goal 9 rule
requires Springfield to assess the short-term supply of land based on the criteria that land can be ready for
construction within one year. The determination is based on “engineering feasibility.” All land within the
existing Springfield UGB can be considered to technically meet the Goal 9 rule criteria for “engineering
feasibility.” 1 Only one area — Jasper Natron—was identified in the 2009 EOA as unlikely to meet the
short-term supply criteria, due to presence of wetlands and drainage issues and distance from existing
water and trunk sewers.
Short- Term Land Supply2
• 91% of Springfield’s vacant commercial and industrial land is considered available as short-term
supply.
• 85% of land with redevelopment potential is available as short-term supply.
• Buildable land in Jasper-Natron is not assumed part of the short-term land supply (NOTE: In 2013,
a trunk sewer is being constructed to this area).
• Newly-urbanizable land added to the UGB is not assumed part of the short-term land supply.
Short, medium and long term potential of the five UGB study areas.
Springfield’s analysis assumes that newly-urbanizable lands added to Springfield’s UGB would not be
part of the City’s competitive short-term land supply as defined by Goal 9. Given that these lands located
outside of the existing planned growth area are not included in the existing regional and local functional
plans for providing urban levels of infrastructure (Metro Public Facilities and Service Plan, Metro
Wastewater system, wastewater and stormwater master plans, regional and local transportation plans), it
is likely that it will be several years before infrastructure plans are updated, master plans approved and
annexation requests are submitted to the City, assuming an land owner was interested in moving forward
with development. Inclusion of newly-urbanizable land in the UGB would be only the first step in
making sites available in the medium and long term, and it is expected that these lands would slowly and
incrementally transition into the short-term supply category as infrastructure is planned and constructed in
conjunction with development proposals. Once sites are annexed they could be considered short term
land supply, assuming that services can be extended to the site.
Projecting when the different study areas or sites could become ready for development would only be
conjecture by staff because the land owner will decide if and when they wish to begin the development
process. Staff considers a site’s location in proximity to the City limits, and difficulty of extending
wastewater service and other urban services as key factors in estimating how quickly sites could be
prepared for development. Based on the geography of the potential expansion areas and staff’s analysis of
infrastructure deficiencies and development constraints (floodplain, distance to existing water and trunk
sewers, the need for street system extensions, etc.) staff suggests that one area — North Highway 126—
may contain a site or sites that could possibly be prepared for development within the next few years.
This area has five single-ownership sites that directly abut the city limits. These parcels would likely
develop as an access street parallel with High Banks Road is planned and constructed to serve this land,
1 ECONorthwest 2009 Springfield EOA p 25-27
2 ECONorthwest Springfield 2009 EOA, page 27.
Attachment 1-2
5/1/2013 Page 3
and development could proceed west and/or east of N. 52nd Street. Two sites in the southern portion of
the North Gateway site are also contiguous with the City limits, however staff expects a more lengthy
planning process would likely be entailed here because infrastructure planning will need to consider the
entire North Gateway areas as a whole given the existing multiple ownerships and north-south
configuration of property ownerships.
NORTH HIGHWAY 126 UGB STUDY AREA
Study Area # of suitable
taxlots contiguous
with City Limits
Total suitable
taxlots/ ownerships
in Study Area
Total Suitable
Acres in Study
Area
North Highway 126 5 7 265
North Gateway 2 9 226
South Mill Race 2 12 126
Mahogany (north
portion So. of Jasper
Road)
0 3 574
Mahogany (south
portion
0 7
Seavey Loop 0 13 152
City Limits City
Limits
Attachment 1-3
5/1/2013 Page 4
NORTH GATEWAY UGB STUDY AREA
Due to its distance from the City Limits, the location of unsuitable parcels intervening between City
Limits and suitable employment parcels, and the difficulty of extending wastewater service, staff suggests
that the Seavey Loop study area is likely to take the longest amount of time to bring into the short-term
supply. The other three areas are intermediary, with the northern portion of the South Mill Race site
abutting the City limits. Large Mahogany/South of Jasper Road sites, while not contiguous with the City
limits, do abut Jasper Road and are relatively close to services.
More detailed economic analysis to determine short, medium and long term economic development
potential is beyond the scope of the Economic Opportunities Analysis and Springfield 2030 Refinement
Plan project and is not required for the UGB Alternatives Analysis and UGB expansion. Instead the
UGB study must closely adhere to the UGB expansion prioritization process in Statewide Planning Goal
14. Economic Development staff could provide additional information to the Council regarding land
development economics and marketability of sites.
Next Steps:
Staff is beginning a focused outreach to property owners in the five study areas to seek input to inform
the UGB expansion proposal, and the development of Springfield 2030 Refinement Plan Urbanization
Element policies and Springfield Development Code standards that will be applicable to the Urban
Holding Areas. A copy of the letter mailed to land owners in the five UGB study areas is included as
Attachment 3.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: None. This item is for Council’s information and discussion only
City Limits
Royal
Caribbean Hawes
Attachment 1-4
Attachment 2-1
CITY OF SPRINGFIELD, OREGON
DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
225 FIFTH STREET
SPRINGFIELD, OR 97477
Springfield 2030 Refinement Plan Project &
Proposed Urban Growth Boundary Change
PHONE: 541.726.3753
FAX: 541.736.1021
www.springfield-or.gov
April 26, 2013
Dear Sir/Madam,
Later this year, the City of Springfield and Lane County will be considering
changes to the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Area General Plan (Metro Plan)
that would expand Springfield’s Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) to add land for
future job creation. You are receiving this letter because you own land in one of
five areas that are being studied for possible expansion of the UGB.
The attached maps show the areas that are being studied in more detail. You
should be able to see your property on the more detailed map. All five study
areas contain suitable “Employment Opportunity” sites for City expansion.
Springfield’s proposal to expand the UGB may include land from some — but not
necessarily all — of the five study areas. If land is included in Springfield’s UGB,
these areas could, over time, transition from rural to urban as the owner chooses
to develop or sells their property to others who wish to develop.
In my work with the Springfield City Council to prepare the City’s UGB expansion
proposal and to draft the policies that will guide new development in these
areas, now and in the future, key policies being considered include:
• Lands brought into the UGB would be planned as “Urban Holding Area –
Employment Opportunity sites” and would require additional plan
changes prior to annexation and development to address all of Oregon’s
Statewide Planning Goals and to make provision for extending urban
services.
• Existing agriculture uses would continue until the “Urban Holding Area –
Employment Opportunity site” plan designation is changed to an
Employment designation and the owner requests annexation to allow
development.
The proposal to add more employment land to Springfield’s UGB is based on the
results of Springfield’s Commercial and Industrial Lands Inventory and Economic
Opportunities Analysis — a technical study required by Statewide Planning Goal
9 — to determine Springfield’s needs for jobs and the amount and type of
industrial and commercial land needed to meet projected needs.
The study identifies a need for 13,000+ new jobs for Springfield’s population
through the year 2030, and a need for large (20 acres+), flat sites that cannot be
Attachment 3-1
found within the existing UGB. Adding large sites to Springfield’s UGB is intended
to support our local, regional and state economic prosperity goals through
diversification and growth of the economy. The study identifies a need for 640
acres of suitable employment land. The expanded UGB may also include land
for parks and open space.
The final size and location(s) of the expansion will be determined by the elected
officials after they receive additional input through the public hearing process.
The final UGB could include your property or other suitable lands that may be
identified through the public hearing process.
I invite you to share your opinions, concerns and suggestions with me and with
other Springfield staff over the next several months. Please feel free to call me
(or email) to discuss your views about including your property in Springfield’s
Urban Growth Boundary, and ultimately, in the City of Springfield as land is
developed. We will be conducting open houses at City Hall this summer,
followed by a joint public hearing before the Springfield City Council and Lane
County Board of Commissioners scheduled later this year. Please let me know if
you’d like to organize a neighborhood focus group and invite staff to come and
hear your opinions and suggestions at a time and place more convenient to
you.
Thank you to the hundreds of people who have already participated in and
contributed to planning Springfield’s future over the past several years. The
valuable information and perspectives you’ve provided have informed this
study greatly and we invite you to join us in this important next step.
Sincerely,
Linda Pauly, Project Manager
Principal Planner
City of Springfield
Development and Public Works Department
Springfield OR 97477
(541) 726-4608
lpauly@springfield-or.gov
http://www.springfield-or.gov/dpw/2030Plan.htm
cc: Christine Lundberg, Springfield Mayor
Gino Grimaldi, City Manager
Len Goodwin, Development and Public Works Director
Sid Leiken, Chair, Lane County Board of Commissioners
Matt Laird, Lane County Land Management Division Manager
Attachment 3-2