LEG 18-0001 Oregon City Equitable Housing Project - Adopted 2019

Funded by a Metro Housing Grant, the Equitable Housing project was initiated in response to the known regional problem of limited housing supply and rapidly increasing housing and rental prices affecting the Portland Metro Area including Oregon City.

There is a mismatch between the supply and demand of housing which is leading to limited availability and affordability challenges for many households. Also, demographic changes, such as smaller households have become more common.

The goal of this project is to identify barriers to "missing middle" housing in the zoning code and reduce those barriers in order to incentivize a greater variety of housing types. The results have been incorporated into the current zoning code, which includes clarified standards and streamlined processes for permitting small and large-scale:

A series of guides were also developed for each of the housing types (reference links in the previous paragraph) as well as a generalized zoning map indicating where in the city these housing types are permitted.

The project promoted extensive city outreach and public input. A 12-member Project Advisory Team of volunteers appointed by the Mayor helped steer the project, with numerous public outreach opportunities including presentations to and input from neighborhood associations, the Citizen Involvement Committee, a project website, surveys, open houses, planning commission and city commission work sessions, and a public hearing process that lasted over a year!

This project was initiated by the City prior to the Statewide housing bill HB2001, and primarily affected the medium and high-density residential zone districts, mixed-use and commercial zone districts, although corner-lot duplexes are now permitted within low-density zones as a result of this project. The final package of code amendments also includes several non-housing-related code amendments added during the legislative review process, such as provisions for mobile food units in various zones.

LE-18-00001 did not include any changes to the adopted zoning map or authorize any city-initiated construction or development.

For more information about this project, please contact the project manager:

Pete Walter, AICP, Senior Planner
Phone: 503-496-1568
Email Pete Walter