Council Awards $3M for Manufactured Home Park

During the 2019 legislative session, the City of Springfield, Representative Lively, and St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County (SVdP) advocated to the State legislature for funding for a new manufactured home park in Springfield in recognition of the need for housing options for low- and moderate-income residents in the community. In 2021, the legislature appropriated $3 million through House Bill 5006 to Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) for purposes of developing a manufactured dwelling park in Springfield. In 2022, the City signed an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with OHCS to distribute these funds.

During its June 20^th regular session, Council approved a grant to disperse the funds to SVdP for purposes of developing a new manufactured dwelling park in Springfield in fulfillment of the City’s obligation under its IGA with OHCS. Under the grant agreement with SVdP, the manufactured dwelling park must include a minimum of 40 units and may include up to 100 units. The park may include a mix of homes for rental and ownership. At least 51% of the units must be made available to low to moderate income households. There is no specific site associated with the award of funds, however the park must be located within Springfield’s urban growth boundary.

Council Approves Funding for Relief Nursery

At its June 20^th regular session meeting, Council approved a reallocation of the City’s federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to support Relief Nursery with the purchase of a property adjacent to their existing Springfield site. Relief Nursery provides a number of services to keep children in the community safe from abuse and neglect. Relief Nursery plans to use the additional space to construct a facility with offices, classrooms and respite childcare space to meet the needs of their expanding programs. City staff estimate $225,000 will be needed to fulfill the request, including purchase of the property and staff time to carry out an Environmental Assessment and other federal requirements.

City to Request Land from County for Affordable Housing

Under State and County law, Lane County can transfer county-owned properties without consideration (payment for property) to municipal corporations for the purposes of providing affordable housing. For several months, the City conducted due diligence on two small residential tax-foreclosed properties located in Springfield that are owned by the County. The City has determined the lots are viable for development as affordable housing.

During its June 20^th regular session meeting, Council authorized the City Manager to initiate a request to the County to transfer the properties to the City. If the County approves the transfer, the City will award the properties to developers through a competitive process. Housing built on the properties must remain affordable for at least 20 years. The City will share more details on how to apply for the properties if the County approves the transfer. 

Camping Code Update Adopted

The Council has spent several months working to update the City’s camping code to comply with recent federal court rulings (Martin v Boise and Blake v Grants Pass) and State legislation (House Bill 3115, 2021) that restrict local governments’ ability to regulate or prohibit sleeping on public property when people experiencing homelessness do not have a shelter bed available to them. Springfield’s code must be revised to allow camping on public land, including rights-of-way, but can set reasonable limits on time, place, and manner. Time restrictions are when or for how long a person may camp in a particular location. Place establishes where people may and may not camp. Manner describes how people may camp such as not allowing open fires or number of people in a camp.

Council adopted the updated camping code during its June 5^th regular session meeting.  Review a copy of the Council packet with the new code section here.

Habitat for Humanity Homeowner Application Opens

Habitat for Humanity of Central Lane is opening up Affordable Homeownership Applications beginning July 17 – August 25 and seeking seven qualified candidates for tandem (shared wall) homes in Springfield at their development known as Fischer Village. The homes will have 2-stories, 2-bedrooms and 1-bath. Applicants must be between 40% – 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI) which is based on calculations made by HUD (Housing and Urban Development). Habitat encourages all who fall into those guidelines to apply.  

Habitat is thrilled to be building rapidly. Volunteers have been on the jobsite every week; this includes their regulars and corporate team builds. Habitat has one tandem home 90% complete, the second tandem has been dried in, a third foundation was poured in June with the help of Chambers Construction apprentices, and in July they will be pouring a fourth foundation. This progress would not be possible without the generosity and support of so many.  

Fair Housing Webinars

Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) and Fair Housing Council are partnering to host several Fair Housing trainings in 2023. You can learn more about these free webinars and sign up by visiting the page linked below. The first webinar will be on June 29^th.

Springfield receives an annual allocation of federal funds to help increase the supply of affordable housing. But we can’t build more housing if we don’t have land to build on. If you have vacant land that would be suitable for multifamily housing or a cottage cluster development and are interested in selling it at fair market value, or want to learn more, please get in touch! Contact Erin Fifield at 541.726.2302 or efifield@springfield-or.gov.