Springfield Chamber Submits Comment on Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities Initiative

May 17, 2022

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The “Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities” initiative originated from a Governor’s mandate in 2020. A summary of the proposed rules are here: https://www.oregon.gov/lcd/LAR/Documents/SixPageOverview.pdf. See information on concerns at: https://www.peopleforanaffordableoregon.com/faqs

The Springfield Chamber has submitted comment to call for greater local flexibility, as well as further studies on economic impacts before final passage of the current rules as written. The Chamber also supports testimony by the City of Springfield submitted March 15th of this year. Please see the statement in full below:

Dear Chair McArthur and members of the Land Conservation and Development Commission,

Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities Rulemaking. We are concerned about these proposed rule changes and encourage the Commission to pause on the adoption of these rules, and instead study the impacts and broaden the conversation surrounding them.

The Springfield Chamber of Commerce represents over 720 members who are committed to growing business opportunities and providing living-wage jobs for families in our community. Like many communities across Oregon, our businesses and families are still struggling with the impacts of the global pandemic and the economic recession that followed.

The rules being considered will cause the greatest changes to Oregon land-use law in 50 years, impacting every aspect of our community, from small businesses to local economic development and tourism. Unfortunately, important voices have not been brought to the table for this conversation – including the Legislature – and the real impacts of these rules are not yet fully known or understood.

We do know that there will likely be harmful and unintended consequences from these rules, which could result in increases in housing costs, gentrification, loss of housing choices for consumers, impacts to traffic congestion, and costly outcomes for small businesses. We are also concerned that our local governments are not prepared for the magnitude of the changes or the substantial resources that will be needed to implement these rules. With this in mind, we stand with the City of Springfield’s testimony on the Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities Rulemaking submitted on March 15^th.

While we understand that these new rules are intended to reduce Oregon’s carbon footprint and support efforts that move our State toward that goal, solutions must be more flexible for local communities and should not set Oregon back on overcoming our housing crisis and achieving economic recovery post-pandemic.

We urge the Commission to slow down on the adoption of these new transportation and housing planning rules until additional studies can be conducted on their impacts, and more people can become aware of the rules and take part in the conversation.