The State of Oregon recently passed a new set of administrative rules as part of its Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities (CFEC) program, which requires jurisdictions throughout the state to remove parking requirements or enact a set of reforms aimed at reducing the impacts of these requirements. Under a contract with the state, Studio Davis assisted the City of Cornelius (population 15,000) in evaluating potential pathways to compliance and developing a recommended approach.
Based on initial outreach and exploratory research, the City signaled interest in pursuing compliance through removal of all parking requirements citywide, paired with new standards to improve the climate resilience of off street parking areas such as increased tree canopy coverage and charging infrastructure. Studio Davis prepared a comprehensive report detailing the full suite of potential code changes, including the legal rationale for CFEC compliance and the analytical justification based on parking operations and local conditions.