Title 20, Counties and County officers

As used in this chapter: (1) The terms defined in ORS 92.010 shall have the meanings given therein, except that “parcel”: (a) Includes a unit of land created: (A) By partitioning land as defined in ORS 92.010; (B) In compliance with all applicable planning, zoning and partitionin…

(1) The governing body of any county may create and provide for the organization and operations of one or more county planning commissions. (2) This section shall be liberally construed and shall include the authority to create more than one planning commission, or subcommittee o…

(1) The county planning commission shall consist of five, seven or nine members appointed by the governing body for four-year terms, or until their respective successors are appointed and qualified, except that the terms of the initial members must be staggered for one, two, thre…

(1) The governing body of each county shall designate an individual to serve as planning director for the county responsible for administration of planning. The governing body shall provide employees as necessary to assist the director in carrying out responsibilities. The direct…

(1) County governing bodies may adopt and implement solar access ordinances. The ordinances shall provide and protect to the extent feasible solar access to the south face of buildings during solar heating hours, taking into account latitude, topography, microclimate, existing de…

Solar access ordinances shall not be in conflict with acknowledged comprehensive plans and land use regulations. [1981 c.722 §3]

(1) Except as provided in ORS 527.722, the county governing body shall adopt and may from time to time revise a comprehensive plan and zoning, subdivision and other ordinances applicable to all of the land in the county. The plan and related ordinances may be adopted and revised …

Action by the governing body of a county regarding the plan shall have no legal effect unless the governing body first conducts one or more public hearings on the plan and unless 10 days’ advance public notice of each of the hearings is published in a newspaper of general circula…

The commission, and any of its members, officers and employees, in the performance of their functions, may enter upon any land and make examinations and surveys and place and maintain the necessary monuments and markers thereon.

Public officials, departments and agencies, having information, maps or other data deemed by the planning commission pertinent to county planning shall make such information available for the use of the commission. [Amended by 1977 c.766 §3]

The county planning commission shall advise and cooperate with other planning commissions within the state, and shall upon request, or on its own initiative, furnish advice or reports to any city, county, officer or department on any problem comprehended in county planning.

(1) A planning commission may recommend to the governing body ordinances intended to implement part or all of the comprehensive plan. The ordinances may provide, among other things, for: (a) Zoning; (b) Official maps showing the location and dimensions of, and the degree of permi…

(1) Any legislative ordinance relating to land use planning or zoning shall be a local law within the meaning of, and subject to, ORS 250.155 to 250.235. (2) An ordinance designed to carry out a county comprehensive plan and a county comprehensive plan shall apply to: (a) The are…

(1) Notwithstanding ORS 215.130, 215.213 or 215.283 or any local zoning ordinance or regulation, a public or private school, including all buildings essential to the operation of the school, formerly allowed pursuant to ORS 215.213 (1)(a) or 215.283 (1)(a), as in effect before Ja…

(1) The Legislative Assembly finds that each county should plan for and develop energy resilience and be prepared, in the event of major grid disruption, to maintain basic services and functions. (2) In order to carry out the provisions set forth in subsection (1) of this section…

The powers of an incorporated city to control subdivision and other partitioning of land and to rename thoroughfares in adjacent unincorporated areas shall continue unimpaired by ORS 215.010 to 215.190 and 215.402 to 215.438 until the county governing body that has jurisdiction o…

(1) In case a building or other structure is, or is proposed to be, located, constructed, maintained, repaired, altered, or used, or any land is, or is proposed to be, used, in violation of an ordinance or regulation designed to implement a comprehensive plan, the governing body …

No person shall locate, construct, maintain, repair, alter, or use a building or other structure or use or transfer land in violation of an ordinance or regulation authorized by ORS 215.010 to 215.190 and 215.402 to 215.438. [1955 c.439 §9; 1963 c.619 §13]

(1) Zoning ordinances may be adopted to zone designated areas of land within the county as exclusive farm use zones. Land within such zones shall be used exclusively for farm use except as otherwise provided in ORS 215.213, 215.283 or 215.284. Farm use zones shall be established …

The Department of Land Conservation and Development shall develop, in conjunction with local governments and other state agencies, a computerized database that is capable of producing county-wide maps that show the diversity of Oregon’s rural lands. The database shall include, at…

(1) If a person concludes that more detailed soils information than that contained in the Web Soil Survey operated by the United States Natural Resources Conservation Service would assist a county to make a better determination of whether land qualifies as agricultural land, the …

The Soils Assessment Fund is established in the State Treasury, separate and distinct from the General Fund. Interest earned by the Soils Assessment Fund shall be credited to the fund. Moneys in the fund are continuously appropriated to the Department of Land Conservation and Dev…

(1) In counties that have adopted marginal lands provisions under ORS 197.247 (1991 Edition), the following uses may be established in any area zoned for exclusive farm use: (a) Churches and cemeteries in conjunction with churches. (b) The propagation or harvesting of a forest pr…

(1) Notwithstanding ORS 215.130 (5) to (11), if a nonfarm use exists in an exclusive farm use zone and is unintentionally destroyed by fire, other casualty or natural disaster, the county may allow by its zoning regulations such use to be reestablished to its previous nature and …

(1) A person who owns a private hunting preserve that was licensed under ORS 497.248 on or before July 28, 2003, and that has not been submitted to the appropriate local governing body or its designee for land use approval may continue to operate the hunting preserve without loca…

(1) No zoning ordinance enacted by the county governing body may have legal effect unless prior to its enactment the governing body or the planning commission conducts one or more public hearings on the ordinance and unless 10 days’ advance public notice of each hearing is publis…

Nothing in ORS 215.010, 215.030, 215.050, 215.060, 215.110, 215.130, 215.170, 215.185, 215.190, 215.203, 215.213 and 215.223 and this section shall impair the validity of ordinances enacted prior to September 2, 1963. All development patterns made and adopted prior to that time s…

(1) As used in this section, “dwelling” means a single-unit residential dwelling not provided in conjunction with farm use. (2) The governing body or its designee may not grant final approval of an application made under ORS 215.213 (3) or 215.284 (1), (2), (3), (4) or (7) for th…

If a winery sited on land zoned for exclusive farm use or mixed farm and forest use under ORS 215.452 conducts agri-tourism or other commercial events authorized in ORS 215.452 (5), the winery may not conduct agri-tourism or other commercial events or activities authorized by ORS…

Notwithstanding ORS 30.938, in an action or claim for relief alleging nuisance or trespass and arising from a practice that is alleged by either party to be a farming or forest practice, the prevailing party is not entitled to judgment for reasonable attorney fees and costs incur…

The uses authorized by ORS 215.213 (11) or 215.283 (4) may be allowed on lands that are planned and zoned for exclusive farm use and designated as rural reserves under ORS 197A.235 or as urban reserves under ORS 197A.245. [2011 c.567 §5] Note: See note under 215.237.

The Legislative Assembly finds and declares that: (1) Open land used for agricultural use is an efficient means of conserving natural resources that constitute an important physical, social, aesthetic and economic asset to all of the people of this state, whether living in rural,…

(1) The uses allowed under ORS 215.213 (1)(y) and 215.283 (1)(v): (a) Require a determination by the Department of Environmental Quality, in conjunction with the department’s review of a license, permit or approval, that the application rates and site management practices for the…

If biosolids are transported by vehicle to a tract on which the biosolids will be applied to the land under a license, permit or approval issued by the Department of Environmental Quality under ORS 454.695, 459.205, 468B.050, 468B.053 or 468B.055 or in compliance with rules adopt…

Notwithstanding ORS 215.263, the governing body of a county or its designee may not approve a proposed division of land in an exclusive farm use zone for the land application of reclaimed water, agricultural or industrial process water or biosolids described in ORS 215.213 (1)(y)…

Nothing in ORS 215.213 (1)(y), 215.246 to 215.249 or 215.283 (1)(v) affects whether the land application of a substance not described in ORS 215.213 (1)(y), 215.246 to 215.249 or 215.283 (1)(v) is a farm use as defined in ORS 215.203. [2001 c.488 §7; 2003 c.14 §100; 2009 c.850 §7…

(1) No state agency, city, county or political subdivision of this state may exercise any of its powers to enact local laws or ordinances or impose restrictions or regulations affecting any farm use land situated within an exclusive farm use zone established under ORS 215.203 or …

(1) As used in this section: (a) “Biofuel” has the meaning given that term in ORS 315.141. (b) “Facility for the processing of farm products” means a facility for: (A) Processing farm crops, including the production of biofuel, if at least one-quarter of the farm crops come from …

Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or ORS chapter 195 or 197, a county may provide, or may enter into an agreement with a city or district including under ORS 195.065 to 195.085 to provide, water or wastewater services for residential dwelling units that are with…

The Legislative Assembly declares that the creation of small parcels for nonfarm dwellings in exclusive farm use zones introduces potential conflicts into commercial agricultural areas and allows a limited number of nonfarm dwellings in exclusive farm use zones. To protect the st…

(1) Any proposed division of land included within an exclusive farm use zone resulting in the creation of one or more parcels of land shall be reviewed and approved or disapproved by the governing body or its designee of the county in which the land is situated. The governing bod…

In approving a land division under ORS 215.263 (2)(a)(C) or (10), the governing body of a county or its designee shall require as a condition of approval that the owner of any parcel not containing a dwelling sign and record in the deed records for the county where the parcel is …

Nothing in ORS 215.130, 215.203, 215.213, 215.243, 215.253, 215.263, 215.273, 215.283, 215.284, 308A.050 to 308A.128 and 316.844 is intended to affect the authority of the Energy Facility Siting Council in determining suitable sites for the issuance of site certificates for therm…

(1) As used in this section, “associated transmission line” has the meaning given that term in ORS 469.300. (2) An associated transmission line is necessary for public service if an applicant for approval under ORS 215.213 (1)(c)(B) or 215.283 (1)(c)(B) demonstrates to the govern…

(1) A utility facility established under ORS 215.213 (1)(c)(A) or 215.283 (1)(c)(A) is necessary for public service if the facility must be sited in an exclusive farm use zone in order to provide the service. (2) To demonstrate that a utility facility is necessary, an applicant f…

(1) As used in this section: (a) “Consult” means to make an effort to contact for purpose of notifying the record owner of the opportunity to meet. (b) “High-value farmland” has the meaning given that term in ORS 195.300. (c) “Transmission line” means a linear utility facility by…

It is the intent of the Legislative Assembly that the provision of farmworker housing, as defined in ORS 215.278, not allow other types of dwellings not otherwise permitted in exclusive farm use zones and that farmworker housing be consistent with the intent and purposes set fort…

(1) The Land Conservation and Development Commission shall revise administrative rules regarding dwellings customarily provided in conjunction with farm use to allow, under ORS 215.213 and 215.283, the establishment of accessory dwellings needed to provide opportunities for farmw…

In any rule adopted by the Land Conservation and Development Commission that establishes a farm income standard to determine whether a dwelling is customarily provided in conjunction with farm use on a tract, the commission shall allow a farm operator to satisfy the income standa…

The Legislative Assembly finds that: (1) Dairies and dairying are an important part of Oregon agriculture and make a significant contribution to the state and local economies; (2) Dairies require continuous on-site labor to operate the dairy and to protect the significant investm…