Climate-Friendly & Equitable Communities

Ashland Climate Friendly Areas Project (2024-2025)

The Climate Friendly & Equitable Communities (CFEC) rules adopted by the state in 2022 require cities to identify and re-zone Climate Friendly Areas (CFAs) sized to accommodate 30 percent of future population in mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly areas. The rules seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles in Oregon’s eight metropolitan areas by focusing future development in pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use areas similar to traditional downtowns to encourage walking, biking and transit and reduce the need to drive, while also supporting greater usage of electric vehicles. Ashland has studied potential CFAs at the old Croman Mill site, the Railroad Property, the Transit Triangle formed by Ashland Street, Tolman Creek Road and Siskiyou Boulevard, and the downtown.

To comply with the CFEC rules, Ashland has so far: 

• Eliminated minimum off-street parking requirements city-wide. 
• Created a study of potential Climate Friendly Areas (CFAs) to accommodate at least 30 percent of Ashland’s future population. The Department of Land Conservation & Development (DLCD) has reviewed and provided comments on this study. 
• Begun implementing state building codes requiring that multi-family developments of five units or more provide conduit to support electrical vehicle charging for 40 percent of voluntarily provided parking spaces. 
• Received a grant to support mapping, code work and public engagement to identify, formally adopt and re-zone CFAs and complete associated gaps analyses, highway impact studies, walkable design standards and written findings.
• Conducted meetings before Ashland’s various advisory committees, Planning Commission and Council.  
• Held a community open house and completed an on-line community survey.
• The final phase of the state-mandated Climate Friendly Area adoption process is to formally select, re-zone and adopt regulations for Climate Friendly Areas sufficient to accommodate at least 30 percent of Ashland’s future population.   The Planning Commission & City Council are looking at adopting two CFAs: the Railroad CFA and the Transit Triangle CFA.  In addition, new regulations for the C-1-D downtown zone are being considered that would allow it to function like a CFA without formal designation to preserve local design review authority.  (The former Croman Mill site is not being designated as a CFA at this time to allow a developer-initiated masterplan to move forward, but it could readily be designated as a CFA in the near future.)