THREAD: Was Oregon's heralded statewide 4plex bill just for show?
That's the upshot if recently proposed implementing regs are adopted in their current form. 1/9
The statute (HB 2001) requires cities with population > 25,000 to allow designated "middle housing" types "in areas zoned for residential use." 2/9
Cities must adopt a state-approved middle-housing zoning plan by specified date, or else apply default zoning rules issued by state agency. In principle, this solves problem of cities "allowing" 4plexes on paper but making them impossible to build in practice. 3/9
The pending regs establish the default zoning rules, as well as criteria for state approval of cities' middle-housing plans. But buried in the approval criteria is a "performance" loophole that threatens the entire venture... 4/9
This loophole allows cities to use the standards of an existing residential zone if *3% of new housing in that zone* has been "middle housing." 5/9
Consider how this would play out in an exclusionary suburb that already "allows" townhomes--in a zone where virtually nothing can be built owing to fees, parking requirements, yard requirements, height limits, FAR limits, architectural standards, permitting vetopoints, etc. 6/9
Assume 1000 lots in the zone. Over past decade, 10 lots were redeveloped, 9 for SFH and one for townhomes (yield: 3 townhomes). The redevelopment rate is trivial (0.1% annually), but b/c > 3% of what got built was middle housing, this zone would qualify for safe harbor. 7/9
And it's not just this zone that's exempted. Under draft regs, city may exempt its other residential zones from the state's default upzoning by applying the same standards to them. 8/9
Earlier this month, @California_HCD posted a little-noticed memo that massively increases the amount of "zoned capacity" for new housing that local governments must provide. This thread explains it. 1/n
CA requires local govts periodically to adopt a state-approved plan, called a "housing element," to accommodate local share of regional housing need. A housing element must inventory developable sites and estimate their capacity. 2/
If aggregate site capacity is less than local govt's housing target, local gov't must rezone for greater density and allow by-right development of 20%-affordable projects (speedier permitting, fewer cumbersome conditions). /3