CURRENT OPENINGS FOR PLANNING COMMISSION

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Planning Commission
The City of Springfield is accepting applications for two positions on its seven-member Planning Commission. All Commission seats are volunteer, at-large positions with no ward restrictions. 

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• When possible, Council will not appoint people currently serving on another governing body to the Planning Commission or Budget Committee.
• When appointing people to any of the other City boards, commissions or committees, the Council shall take into account whether that person is being reappointed for a subsequent term, is currently serving on another governing body or currently appointed to another City board, commission or committee.
• When possible, the Council will appoint people to serve on one City board, commission or committee only.

The Springfield Planning Commission is a seven-member volunteer Commission appointed by the Mayor and City Council.  It is staffed by the Community Development Division within the Department of Development and Public Works.

Charge of the Planning Commission

1. Make recommendation to the City Council concerning legislative adoption or amendments of land use plans and land use regulations, in accordance with state law.  Such plans and regulations include, but are not limited to, the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Area General Plan, the Springfield Comprehensive Plan, Neighborhood Refinement Plans, Functional Plans, and the Springfield Development Code.
2. Make land use decisions on quasi-judicial development proposals.  In reviewing the development proposals, the Commission must act impartially and in accordance with land use plans and regulations that have been adopted by the City Council.
3. The Commission serves as the City’s Committee for Citizen Involvement (CCI) whose charge is to review and approve citizen involvement strategies for compliance with the required components of the Citizen Involvement Program for land use planning issues.

Membership
Commissioners are appointed to four-year terms.  Of the seven members, two members may live outside the City limits.  No more than two members shall be engaged in the same kind of business, trade, profession or occupation.  The City’s Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee and the Community Development Advisory Committee each include a Planning Commissioner in their membership.  Commissioners may also be asked to serve on project specific committees.

Meeting Dates & Times
Meetings are typically held the first and third Tuesday of every month.  Meetings are held in City Hall and visa Zoom. Work sessions begin at 6:00 pm or 6:30 pm and regular sessions begin at 7:00 pm.  All meetings include “Business from the Audience”, which is an opportunity for the public to speak to the Commission about items not otherwise on the agenda.

To see Planning Commission meeting agendas and provide comments on upcoming land use actions, please go to SpringfieldOregonSpeaks at: https://springfieldoregonspeaks.org/  You can also view video recordings of meeting back to October 2020 at this location.

For meeting agendas, minutes, and audio recordings of meetings held in 2020 or earlier please click here.

City Staff Contacts
Sandy Belson (sbelson@springfield-or.gov), Comprehensive Planning Manager, 541.736.7135
Sarah Weaver (sweaver@springfield-or.gov), Community Development Administrative Specialist, 541.726.3653

Resources

Springfield Municipal Code Chapter 2 describes the City Planning Commission in Section 4.
The City’s Comprehensive Planning webpage includes links to Springfield’s adopted plans.
The Oregon Planning Commission Handbook explains Oregon’s statewide planning program.
The Oregon Land Use Planning Online Training provides an overview of planning principles and practices in Oregon.
The City Attorney’s Office provides regular training on Ethics, Public Meetings and Public Records.  Also, the Springfield Planning Commission Ethics Cheat Sheet.

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