MEDIA CONTACT: Michael Andersen, Sightline Institute, michael@sightline.org
ANALYSIS: How will new rules re-legalize neighborhood apartments?
SALEM, OR – After a yearslong drafting process, Oregon’s Land Conservation and Development Commission is voting midday today, Dec. 4, to approve proposed Oregon Housing Needs Analysis (OHNA) rules.
If approved, the new housing production rules (ordered by a bipartisan bill in 2023) would also make Oregon the first US state or Canadian province to create a model statewide zoning code.
Most notably, the code would much more broadly legalize small apartment buildings, especially on modest parcels in neighborhoods already served by roads and pipes.
Many Oregon cities have designated areas for “high density multifamily,” but the fine print of their zoning codes outlaws more than a handful of homes on each lot.
“This is hands-down the number one housing achievement of Governor Kotek’s administration so far,” said Michael Andersen, Director of Cities and Towns for the regional, nonpartisan think tank Sightline Institute. “If these rules are fully implemented, it’ll be a long-term game-changer for Oregonians and a model for the country.”
Sightline identified the legislation as an important tool to address Oregon’s deep statewide housing shortage and has been part of a multi-disciplinary coalition engaged in the process for the past three years. In a blog post analysis, Andersen notes that the proposed rules:
- Shift toward regulating the size of new buildings, rather than the number of homes inside them
- Allow apartment and condo buildings in more places
- Incentivize builders to include accessible and affordable homes
Andersen is available to comment on policy impacts.
Related research and analysis:
- Oregon decides it was a mistake to let cities ban homes
- Five reasons four-story apartment buildings are good
- Oregon just voted to legalize duplexes on almost every city lot
- Eight ingredients for a state-level zoning reform
- MDUs: The next big thing in low-cost housing
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Michael Andersen is Sightline Institute’s Director of Cities and Towns. Since 2006, he has been writing about ways better municipal policy can help break poverty cycles, with a focus on housing and transportation. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
Sightline Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank providing leading original analysis of housing, democracy, energy, and forests policy in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, British Columbia, and beyond.
