Studio Davis is currently working with Oregon City, OR (pop 40,000) on code updates necessary to comply with the State of Oregon’s Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities (CFEC) program. The first steps of the process include a robust outreach program that began by convening an advisory committee of business owners, organizational leaders, neighborhood advocates,
and other stakeholders, to oversee implementation of the code changes. The outreach process also includes presenting to and seeking feedback from the various standing committees that advise the City, as well as a public workshop to educate and solicit feedback on the code changes.
While the process is still ongoing, our early results unsurprisingly have highlighted the unique aspects of Oregon City as a place in pointing to potential solutions. Oregon City has a diverse built environment, ranging from a compact, walkable downtown that once marked the end of the Oregon Trail, to outlying residential areas that are rural in context and often feature little to no walking infrastructure. As a result, there is support for a program that targets unneeded requirements that are creating excess parking and hindering redevelopment downtown and along the City’s main commercial corridor, while leaving in place requirements for outlying housing where people have no realistic alternatives. The work will also update development code to meet new requirements for parking lot landscaping, electric vehicle and bicycle parking, and other design elements. The code updates are expected to take effect in June, 2025.