Lebanon Housing Production Strategy
Lebanon, OR · 2023
Client: City of Lebanon
Location: Lebanon, OR
Year: 2023
CP Role: Lead consultant
Practice Area: Housing Policy
Team: Jamin Kimmell, Principal-in-Charge; Rachel Cotton, Project Manager; Lydia Ness, Engagement and Technical Support; Sara Goldstein, Analyst
The Challenge
Lebanon, a Willamette Valley town of nearly 20,000 within commuting distance of Corvallis and Albany, has seen strong demand for housing, while affordable homeownership and rental housing for lower-income families remain unmet needs. The City had to complete Oregon's new state-required Housing Production Strategy and wanted a plan rooted in local needs.
Our Approach
We led the strategy and its engagement: focus groups with community-based organizations, schools, and the development community, a community workshop, an online survey with 209 responses, and six Planning Commission and City Council meetings. A contextualized housing need counted groups the earlier housing needs analysis had missed, including people experiencing homelessness, university students, and people with disabilities. We wrote nineteen strategies, such as smaller detached homes, simpler infill design standards, deferring impact fees until occupancy, property tax incentives, and wetland mitigation help, and calibrated them to the local market with building models and pro formas.
Outcome
City Council adopted the Housing Production Strategy in late 2023, ahead of the state deadline. The City will carry out the strategies between 2024 and 2032.
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