Or. Admin. Code § 660-012-0330

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 12, December 1, 2024

Section 660-012-0330 - Land Use Requirements

(1) Cities and counties shall implement plans and land use regulations to support compact, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use land use development patterns in urban areas. Land use development patterns must support access by people using pedestrian, bicycle, and public transportation networks.

(2) Cities and counties may allow exemptions to provisions in this rule when conditions on a site or class of sites would make those provisions prohibitively costly or impossible to implement. Cities or counties may adopt land use regulations that provide for exemptions as provided in this section. Any allowed exemption shall advance the purposes of this rule to the extent practical. Conditions that may provide for an exemption include, but are not limited to:

(a) Topography or natural features;

(b) Railroads, highways, or other permanent barriers;

(c) Lot or parcel size, orientation, or shape;

(d) Available access;

(e) Existing or nonconforming development;

(f) To provide for accessibility for people with disabilities; or

(g) Other site constraints.

(3) Cities and counties shall have land use regulations that provide for pedestrian-friendly and connected neighborhoods. Land use regulations must meet the following requirements for neighborhood design and access:

(a) Neighborhoods shall be designed with connected networks of streets, paths, accessways, and other facilities to provide circulation within the neighborhood and pedestrian and bicycle system connectivity to adjacent districts. A connected street network is desirable for motor vehicle traffic but may be discontinuous where necessary to limit excessive through-travel, or to protect a safe environment for walking, using mobility devices, and bicycling in the neighborhood.

(b) Neighborhoods shall be designed with direct pedestrian access to key destinations identified in OAR 660-012-0360 via pedestrian facilities.

(c) Cities and counties shall set block length and block perimeter standards at distances that will provide for pedestrian network connectivity. Cities and counties may allow alleys or public pedestrian facilities through a block to be used to meet a block length or perimeter standard.

(d) Cities and counties shall set standards to reduce out-of-direction travel for people using the pedestrian or bicycle networks.

(4) Cities and counties shall have land use regulations in commercial and mixed-use districts that provide for a compact development pattern, easy ability to walk or use mobility devices, and allow direct access on the pedestrian, bicycle, and public transportation networks. Commercial or mixed-use site design land use regulations must meet the following requirements:

(a) Primary pedestrian entrances to buildings must be oriented to a public pedestrian facility and be accessible to people with mobility disabilities. An uninterrupted accessway, courtyard, plaza, or other pedestrian-oriented space must be provided between primary pedestrian entrances and the public pedestrian facility, except where the entrance opens directly to the pedestrian facility. All pedestrian entrances must be designed to be barrier-free.

(b) Motor vehicle parking, circulation, access, and loading may be located on site beside or behind buildings. Motor vehicle parking, circulation, access, and loading must not be located on site between buildings and public pedestrian facilities on or along the primary facing street. Bicycle parking may be permitted.

(c) On-site accessways must be provided to directly connect key pedestrian entrances to public pedestrian facilities, to any on-site parking, and to adjacent properties, as applicable.

(d) Any pedestrian entrances facing an on-site parking lot must be secondary to primary pedestrian entrances as required in this section. Primary pedestrian entrances for uses open to the public must be open during business hours.

(e) Large sites must be designed with a connected network of public pedestrian facilities to meet the requirements of this section.

(f) Development on sites adjacent to a transit stop or station on a priority transit corridor must be oriented to the transit stop or station. The site design must provide a high level of pedestrian connectivity and amenities adjacent to the stop or station. If there is inadequate space in the existing right of way for transit infrastructure, then the infrastructure must be accommodated on site.

(g) Development standards must be consistent with bicycle parking requirements in OAR 660-012-0630.

(h) These site design land use regulations need not apply to districts with a predominantly industrial or agricultural character.

(5) Cities and counties shall have land use regulations in residential neighborhoods that provide for slow neighborhood streets comfortable for families, efficient and sociable development patterns, and provide for connectivity within the neighborhood and to adjacent districts. Cities and counties must adopt land use regulations to meet these objectives, including but not limited to those related to setbacks, lot size and coverage, building orientation, and access.

(6) Cities and counties shall have land use regulations that ensure auto-oriented land uses are compatible with a community where it is easy to walk or use a mobility device. Auto-oriented land uses include uses related to the operation, sale, maintenance, or fueling of motor vehicles, and uses where the use of a motor vehicle is accessory to the primary use, including drive-through uses. Land use regulations must meet the following requirements:

(a) Auto-oriented land uses must provide safe and convenient access opportunities for people walking, using a mobility device, or riding a bicycle. Ease of access to goods and services must be equivalent to or better than access for people driving a motor vehicle.

(b) Outside of climate-friendly areas, cities and counties may provide for exemptions to this rule in cases where an auto-oriented land use cannot reasonably meet the standards of this rule. Standards developed in cases of an exemption must protect pedestrian facilities.

(7) Cities and counties with an urban area over 100,000 in population must have reasonable land use regulations that allow for development of low-car districts. These districts must be developed with no-car or low-car streets, where walking or using mobility devices are the primary methods of travel within the district. Cities and counties must make provisions for emergency vehicle access and local freight delivery. Low-car districts must be allowed in locations where residential or mixed-use development is authorized.

(8) Cities and counties must implement land use regulations to protect transportation facilities, corridors, and sites for their identified functions. These regulations must include, but are not limited to:

(a) Access control actions consistent with the function of the transportation facility, including but not limited to driveway spacing, median control, and signal spacing;

(b) Standards to protect future construction and operation of streets, transitways, paths, and other transportation facilities;

(c) Standards to protect public use airports as provided in OAR 660-013-0080;

(d) Processes to make a coordinated review of future land use decisions affecting transportation facilities, corridors, or sites;

(e) Processes to apply conditions to development proposals in order to minimize impacts and protect transportation facilities, corridors, or sites for all transportation modes;

(f) Regulations to provide notice to public agencies providing transportation facilities and services, railroads, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, the Oregon Department of Transportation, and the Oregon Department of Aviation of:

(A) Land use applications that require public hearings;

(B) Subdivision and partition applications;

(C) Other applications that affect private access to roads; and

(D) Other applications within airport noise corridors and imaginary surfaces that affect airport operations.

(g) Regulations ensuring that amendments to land use designations, densities, and design standards are consistent with the functions, capacities, and performance standards of facilities identified in the TSP.

Or. Admin. Code § 660-012-0330

LCDD 2-2022, temporary adopt filed 06/01/2022, effective 6/1/2022 through 11/27/2022; LCDD 3-2022, adopt filed 08/17/2022, effective 8/17/2022; LCDD 5-2023, temporary amend filed 05/12/2023, effective 5/12/2023through 11/7/2023; LCDD 9-2023, amend filed 11/07/2023, effective 11/7/2023

Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 197.040

Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 197.012 & ORS 197.712