OregonHB 21382025 Regular SessionHouseWALLET

Relating to land use; and declaring an emergency.

Sponsored By: Sponsor information unavailable

Became Law

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

17 provisions identified: 9 benefits, 1 costs, 7 mixed.

Faster, fairer city housing approvals

Starting July 1, 2025, cities cannot deny housing that meets their clear, objective rules, including design rules. They also cannot force density or height cuts if the project is within allowed limits and at least 75% of floor area is housing, unless needed for health, safety, habitability, or a statewide protection, backed by evidence. Appeals of a hearings‑officer decision made without a hearing get a full de novo hearing before the planning commission or city council. If a city or county misses its decision deadline, you can ask circuit court for a writ of mandamus to compel approval. A supplemental application after a denial must include any needed rezoning or variances; cities must adopt written findings and finish all appeals within 240 days. Cities must let you apply once for all needed permits and zone changes (consolidated filing) by the time of their first periodic plan review. Cities must keep a public registry of certain decisions and follow set appeal windows.

HOAs can’t block ADUs or plexes

Beginning January 1, 2027, private rules can’t ban accessory dwellings or middle housing when zoning allows them. Any HOA or similar governing document that unreasonably restricts building or land division for housing is void. Also starting January 1, 2027, recorded covenants inside urban growth boundaries can’t stop middle housing or ADUs allowed by state law. These rules apply to documents made before, on, or after the stated dates.

More middle housing and SROs allowed

Counties, cities with 25,000+ people, and Metro cities with 1,000+ people must allow duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, townhouses, and cottage clusters on residential lots. Cities not in Metro with 2,500 to under 25,000 people must allow a duplex on every residential lot. Cities must also let you increase area, floor area, height, or density as needed to fit the extra units this law allows. Starting January 1, 2027, inside urban growth boundaries, single room occupancy (SRO) housing is allowed: up to six units on lots zoned for a detached home, or up to three times current max density on lots that already allow multiunit housing.

State help, model rules, transparency

The state creates a Housing Accountability and Production Office to give technical help and grants, share best practices, offer mediation, and investigate housing‑law complaints. The state must adopt rules by January 1, 2028 to limit siting and design barriers to middle housing, define cottage clusters, set ADU and SRO standards on cost and delay, develop model SDCs, and improve housing‑capacity methods. By July 1, 2028, the state reports on safe‑harbor options for jurisdictions using model SDCs. LUBA must publish case counts, outcomes, party lists, and brief summaries where attorney fees are ordered, improving public transparency.

Affordable units required, with bonuses

Cities and counties may require up to 20% of units in new multifamily buildings (20+ units) to be affordable. Developers must be offered an in‑lieu fee option and at least one incentive like fee or SDC waivers, financing help, or property tax exemptions. If a tax break defines low income as 60% of area median income, a project that meets an 80% median standard can qualify. If one or more units are accessible or affordable, cities must allow extra units: duplexes and triplexes can add one unit; townhouses, quadplexes, and cottage clusters can add up to two. Local governments can also offer even bigger density bonuses. The extra-unit rule does not apply on urban unincorporated land outside Metro.

Faster review for some industrial permits

On request, local governments must use expedited land division procedures to review permits for certain industrial uses. This faster track applies only if the project does not need a statewide goal exception, a change to a plan or rule, or a federal NEPA environmental impact statement.

Limits on design and traffic hurdles

Local governments may set siting and design rules for required middle housing, but not rules that, alone or together, add unfair costs or delays that block these homes. For middle housing, cities cannot require a project‑specific traffic study and cannot add extra traffic fees beyond common system development charges, a fee‑in‑lieu variance, or frontage requirements. The traffic rule does not apply to townhouse or cottage‑cluster projects with more than 12 units, or to certain lots created by other recent land divisions in the last five years.

Lower parking rules for SROs

Beginning January 1, 2027, cities cannot require more parking for every three single‑room‑occupancy (SRO) units than they require for a single detached house (if the SRO has six or fewer units). If the SRO has more than six units, parking per three SROs cannot exceed what is required for a dwelling unit in multiunit housing. This does not apply to SROs used as residential care facilities.

More money for housing planning help

Beginning July 1, 2025, the state adds $2.392 million to DLCD’s planning program for the 2025–27 biennium. It also adds $1.5 million for technical assistance grants tied to middle housing. This money supports rulemaking and local help to speed housing work.

State sets yearly housing need targets

The state now runs a yearly housing study by region and gives each city a housing need target. For Metro’s urban unincorporated lands, it sets one allocation per county. The study breaks needs into five income bands: under 30% of median income; 30–60%; 60–80%; 80–120%; and 120%+. Each year, the state publishes maximum sales prices and income rules by region.

Public services required for women’s prison project

Public bodies must provide any services needed to build and run the women’s correctional facility and intake center, even across boundary lines. They must keep those services going during mediation, arbitration, or court review. In land-use cases, people cannot use the fact that services exist to support or oppose an application for this complex.

Permit and appeal fees capped

Starting July 1, 2025, cities must cap permit fees at no more than the actual or average cost to process them. If a city only gives notice that you can request a hearing, it may charge an initial appeal fee up to its cost or $250, whichever is less. If you win the appeal, that fee must be refunded. Recognized neighborhood or community groups that include the site do not pay the initial hearing fee.

Stronger hearing notices for neighbors

Starting July 1, 2025, if a zone change would affect a mobile home or manufactured‑dwelling park, the city must mail notice to each tenant 20–40 days before the first hearing. The city may require the applicant to pay the mailing cost. Also starting July 1, 2025, cities must mail hearing notices to nearby public‑use airport owners when the Department of Aviation provides contact info and the site is within 5,000 feet (visual airports) or 10,000 feet (instrument airports). Structures under 35 feet outside the approach surface are excepted.

Changes to land-use appeals and reviews

The law updates court and city review rules for land-use cases by removing special references to expedited land divisions. It clarifies when state agencies (DLCD and ODOT) can join or appeal cases and who counts as an “applicant.” When the land-use commission adopts new or changed goals, it must say what applies before plans change, but expedited land divisions are no longer listed. These are procedural changes to how projects are appealed and reviewed.

Expedited land divisions: new rules

Expedited land divisions now count as land use decisions and can be reviewed by the Land Use Board of Appeals. Local governments must use expedited procedures for land divisions and site or design review in areas with an acknowledged refinement plan. Applicants for expedited divisions no longer have to disclose if a railroad crossing is the only access. The law also revises wording on an exemption tied to lots created under ORS 197.360. It removes a prior exclusion in the definition of system development charge, which can shift some compliance costs into SDCs.

Where and when middle housing applies

The law defines cottage clusters and what counts as middle housing, so people know which projects qualify. It expands which communities count as a city in Tillamook County and treats some Metro urban unincorporated lands like a city for these rules. It sets deadlines for local codes to allow middle housing, including June 30, 2025; July 1, 2025 for Tillamook cities; January 1, 2027; and January 1, 2028 for cottage‑cluster updates. Limited extensions are allowed only in areas with major water, sewer, drainage, or transportation gaps and an approved fix plan, with requests due by specified past dates and state decisions in 90–120 days.

Wildfire defensible space and land use

State Fire Marshal defensible‑space minimums cannot be used to approve or deny plan changes, permits, limited land‑use decisions, or expedited land divisions. A local government may choose to adopt those defensible‑space rules into its acknowledged plan or code and then use them in decisions. If Senate Bill 83 becomes law, a related wildfire statute (ORS 476.394) is repealed as that bill provides.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 128 • No: 47

House vote • 6/26/2025

House concurred in Senate amendments and repassed bill.

Yes: 31 • No: 12

Senate vote • 6/24/2025

Rules suspended. Third reading. Carried by Frederick. Passed.

Yes: 21 • No: 8

legislature vote • 6/20/2025

Ways and Means: Heard and Reported Out with Amendments

Yes: 16 • No: 5

House vote • 6/18/2025

Third reading. Carried by Marsh. Passed.

Yes: 33 • No: 17

legislature vote • 6/13/2025