Salem, OR Fire Regulations: Propane Storage (2026)

SRC 58.200 sets Salem's limits for bulk storage of liquefied petroleum gas by cross-referencing the geographic restriction the City already applies to flammable and combustible liquid bulk plants under SRC 58.190. Those boundaries exclude most of the City's Employment Center (EC), General Industrial (IG), and Industrial Park (IP) zoned land, but even within those zones, bulk LP-gas and other bulk liquid storage is still restricted inside the area bounded by Market Street on the north, the Union Pacific Railway main line right-of-way on the east, Mission Street on the south, and the Willamette River on the west, per SRC 58.190(a). Outside that carved-out core area, EC, IG, and IP-zoned property is where bulk plants are geographically permitted, subject to OFC location and design requirements referenced in SRC 58.190 and 58.200.

The chapter grandfathers existing operations: bulk LP-gas storage facilities that have been continuously in existence and regular use since January 9, 1956 are exempt from the location restriction, as long as they still meet every other requirement of SRC chapter 58 (SRC 58.200(b)). New or relocated bulk storage and bulk plant facilities need the Fire Code Official's prior review and approval of both location and facility type before they can operate (SRC 58.190(b)). Because this sits in the Fire Prevention Code, unauthorized siting or failure to get the Fire Code Official's prior review is enforced the same way as any Fire Prevention Code violation, through stop work orders and civil penalties under SRC 58.011 and the chapter's fee and bond provisions in SRC 58.175 and 58.185.