The state adds a YIMBY policy to its rent control law Oregon just staked its claim as the state that?s most aggressively trying to address affordable housing.
The Beaver State passed what?s effectively a state-wide ban on single-family zoning on Sunday, the last day of a dramatic legislative session that saw Oregon Senate Republicans flee the state to avoid a vote on a cap-and-trade climate bill.
Political theatrics didn?t derail House Bill 2001, however. Three of the eight senate Republicans ultimately voted in favor of the bill, which passed the Senate 17 to 9 and sailed through Oregon?s House of Representatives. The bill is now waiting for the signature of Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat.
The bill doesn?t directly ban single-family zoning, which limits a residential plot to only single-family detached houses. It legalizes duplexes in cities of more than 10,000, including the Portland metro area. In cities of more than 25,000 and within the Portland metro area, it would legalize triplexes, fourplexes, attached townhomes, and some ?cottage clusters.? The bill leaves few towns in the state where single-family zoning is still operable. Single-family zoning, colloquially referred to as a Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) policy, has come under increased scrutiny as housing costs have soared and housing shortages have grown worse since the 2008 financial crisis, particularly in urban job centers like New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. NIMBY policies have been fingered as a b...