OREGON UPDATES
Oregon Lawmakers Push ‘Transformational’ Bipartisan Plan to Speed Cousing Construction by Streamlining Local Rules
By Hillary Borrud | February 19, 2023 | Press Release H ousing advocates and builders in Oregon have long complained that rigid land use mandates and lengthy approval processes stall construction of housing that residents desperately need and drive up its cost. Fifty years ago, state lawmakers adopted a land use system that included the aspirational goal to “provide for the housing needs of citizens of the state.” Today, it’s clear the vaunted, only-in-Oregon approach has failed to deliver that. Oregon has the fourth highest rate of housing underproduction for its population in the nation according to a state report, and state and local leaders routinely describe the housing shortage as a crisis. Now the state’s handling of home construction could be headed for big changes under a bipartisan proposal moving fast through the Democratically controlled Legislature. A proposal that lawmakers want to pass by mid-March calls for the state to annually estimate the amount of new housing at various price levels needed in each city with at least 10,000 residents. It would then hold cities
accountable if they do not clear red tape or take other action to boost development to those levels. Cities’ progress toward their goals would be published on a state dashboard for all Oregonians to see. “It’s going to be a really important tool for the state to have a clear picture of development barriers and dynamics, as well as it’s going to be lifting up the innovative things cities are doing to encourage development,” said Ariel Nelson, a lobbyist for the League of Oregon Cities. Rep. Maxine Dexter, a Democrat from Portland who is chair of the House Committee on Housing and Homelessness and a chief sponsor of the bill, described the plan as “transformational” during a hearing Thursday and said it acknowledges state and local governments’ responsibility to identify “at every level” where governments are getting in the way of housing construction and to remove those barriers. To read the full article, click here.
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The Business Review | February 2023
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