Springfield, OR Environmental Rules: Defensible Space (2026)

Springfield has no separate defensible-space chapter; the closest local equivalent is the wildfire defense plan duty inside the Hillside Development Overlay District at Development Code § 3.3.540(B). The HD Overlay District covers residential zoning districts above 670 feet in elevation, or hillside development areas below 670 feet where any portion exceeds 15 percent slope, under § 3.3.510, and reaches subdivisions, partitions, property line adjustments, and site plan reviews processed under Type 2 procedure per § 3.3.515. Within that district, § 3.3.540 opens by giving the Fire Marshal authority to decide which hillside land counts as a vegetated area subject to wildfires; once designated, § 3.3.540(B) requires the developer to specify, in the recorded Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions for the subdivision, that a wildfire defense plan for each individual lot or parcel must be approved by the Fire Marshal before the city issues a building permit for that lot.

This ties the defensible-space style review directly to Springfield's permit process rather than to periodic vegetation clearance around an existing home, and it runs alongside the section's other two wildfire duties: keeping larger buildings within 50 feet of an approved fire lane, or substituting a residential sprinkler system, under § 3.3.540(A), and using Class A or B roofing under § 3.3.540(C). Springfield Development and Public Works reviews the CC&Rs language for compliance during Type 2 review, and the Fire Marshal, through the shared Eugene Springfield Fire department, evaluates and approves each lot's defense plan before Building Safety can release a permit.