‘Yeoman’s job’: Talent creates a climate friendly area downtown

Maximum block length limit is part of strategy to create transportation connectivity for pedestrians and bicyclists

By Tony Boom for the Rogue Valley Times

Talent has adopted a Climate Friendly Area (CFA) of 32 acres in its downtown that will meet state land-use requirements and will result in higher density development, promote walkability, allow taller buildings and reduce automotive travel.  

Talent City Council adopted changes to the city’s comprehensive map, plan and the municipal code in 2025 that will implement the CFA. The city’s Planning Commission had recommended adoption.  

“This has been a super-challenging piece of legislation,” Mayor Darby Ayers-Flood said after the measure passed a second reading on Dec. 17. “My hat’s off to the Planning Commission. They have done a yeoman’s job on this.”

The measures were approved in advance of a looming state deadline, which had been extended due to Talent’s need to work on rebuilding following the 2020 Almeda Fire.  

No one spoke at a public hearing on the measures, held Dec. 3, where they were read for the first time. City Council voted unanimously to enact the measures at both meetings.  

The Climate Friendly & Equitable Communities rules adopted by the state in 2022 require cities to identify and re-zone climate friendly areas sized to accommodate future population growth in mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly areas. Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles in Oregon’s eight metropolitan areas will be an outcome of future development planned to encourage walking, biking and public transit.  

Talent’s CFA is located between Highway 99 and Talent Avenue, running roughly from Colver Road to Gangnes Drive. It also includes undeveloped land east of the highway and south of West Valley View Drive, bordered by Wagner Creek to the east.  

Among provisions in the adopted rules are a requirement for a minimum of 15 dwelling units per acre, an increase of maximum building height to 40 feet, prohibition of drive-ups and elimination of maximum residential density limits. The maximum allowable length of a block would be 350 feet.

Talent’s recently-appointed Community Development Director, Rick Zylstra, told the Rogue Valley Times that there had been no pre-application meetings with potential developers interested in the area since he assumed the office two months ago. He did not know of any current developments going on in the new CFA.

The proposed Gateway development west of the highway and south of West Valley View Drive would be covered by the new regulations. Talent’s Urban Renewals Agency is currently in negotiations for a mixed-use development on the 4.3-acres site.  

Documents supporting the new designation call for creation of bike lanes on Talent Avenue where they don’t exist from Lapree Street to south of Wagner Street, a distance of about 850 feet. Other areas of Talent Avenue already have bike lanes.  

A Wagner Street extension is also listed in supporting documents. The extension would link the street to the roundabout on West Valley View Drive. The city has been unable to reach an agreement with Talent Irrigation District to obtain a right-of-way for the connection.  

Staff and members of the Planning Commission toured the proposed area and confirmed that the portion of the Old Town Design District in the CFA has few, if any, significant historic structures. No buildings have been identified as primary, secondary, or contributing historic structures in the new area.  

The maximum block length limit is part of the strategy to create transportation connectivity for pedestrians and bicyclists, said Matt Brinkley with Green Top Planning, Development, and Research, which has been assisting the city.  

“A maximum block length of 350 feet is consistent with what you have in the traditional downtown Talent,” Brinkley said at the early December meeting.  

A climate friendly Additive Ratio Assessment Study (ARAS) was done for the city in 2023 by the Rogue Valley Council of Governments. Planning and community dialogue followed over the next two years.

Elimination of rules governing residences on ground floors of mixed-use buildings was proposed by the Planning Commission in a Nov. 18 meeting, but at a Nov. 25 session, the commission opted to retain the existing ground floor housing regulations, which limit the amount of living space.  

Development of the Gateway project could potentially bring the ground floors restrictions back for further deliberations, City Manager Alex Campbell said at the Dec. 3 meeting.  

The original CFA study had proposed allowing buildings up to 50 feet tall, but the public voiced concerns that wouldn’t be compatible with the small town feel of Talent.  

The Albany, Bend, Corvallis, Eugene-Springfield, Grants Pass, Medford-Ashland-Central Point and Salem-Keizer areas are required to adopt zoning for CFAs. Cities with a population between 5,000 to 10,000 only need to designate one climate-friendly area that is at least 25 acres.

Cities with a population above 10,000 must designate climate-friendly areas sufficient in size to accommodate at least 30% of identified current and future housing needs.  

Ashland had two CFAs. One is in the Railroad District and a second is called the Transit Triangle. The latter covers lands surrounding Ashland Street from Southern Oregon University to Interstate 5. Central Point has designated a CFA bounded by Gebhard Road to the west, Pine Street to the south and Hamrick Road to the east.  

In May 2024, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled against the cities that had challenged the CFA rules. A dozen cities, Marion County and business associations had sued, alleging that state agencies did not follow rule-making procedures and exceeded their power over local government.

Reach Ashland freelance writer Tony Boom at tboomwriter@gmail.com. This story first appeared in the Rogue Valley Times.