Oregon’s House Bill 2001 will effectively end single-family zoning in Oregon. Will similar policies soon spread to California and the nation?
In June, 2019, the Oregon Legislature passed a measure that essentially bans single-family zoning across the state. While the bill does not directly ban single-family zoning, experts agree that is effectively the impact it will have. House Bill 2001 legalizes duplexes in cities with more than 10,000 people, and allows for triplexes, fourplexes, attached townhomes, and some “cottage clusters” in cities or more than 25,000. This revised regulatory framework will leave only a small number of towns across Oregon with single-family zoning.
Oregonian legislators have argued that the bill is a necessity for Oregon to address the housing crisis that cities and states across the country are struggling to address. Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek was one of the bill’s strongest proponents. Earlier this year she said, “(w)e all know we have a housing crisis… We need multiple tools. One of them is to smooth and encourage additional construction.” Opponents of the bill have argued that it will eliminate the ability of families to purchase single family homes, which many have long-associated with the “American Dream.” Kotek confronted this claim by arguing that rather than restricting options, the bill is about preserving flexibility in the future for all Oregonians. “This isn’t about single-family homes. This is about choice. This is about the future, that is about allowing for different opportunities in neighborhoods that are currently extremely limited.”
The passage of House Bill 2001 is part of a growing wave of legislation aimed at combating the housing crisis. In fact, in March, Oregon introduced a statewide rent control law that caps annual rent increases at 7 percent. Although Oregon was the first state to implement a single-family zoning ban, Minneapolis became the first major U.S. city to do so in December of 2018. Minneapolis 2040 eliminated single-family zoning, ended parking minimums for new construction, and aimed to allow for high-density buildings along transit pathways. Similar legislation aimed at loosening zoning restrictions has been adopted in Seattle, Austin, and other cities across the U.S.
Earlier this year, California’s legislative effort to address its housing crisis was tabled. Senate Senator Scott Wiener introduced Senate Bill 50 (SB 50), which proposed sweeping changes to the state’s zoning rules, to instant controversy. The bill would have allowed fourplexes in neighborhoods zoned for single-family homes and required cities to allow for taller, denser residential buildings adjacent to transit corridors across the state. Despite the near universal acknowledgement among lawmakers that the state needs to do more to address its housing crisis, SB 50 was divisive both at the local and state level. Before the Senate Appropriations Committee could vote on the measure, it was tabled until January 2020, when it will return to the committee for a vote.
Next month SB 50 will be back on the chopping block. Does Oregon’s effective ban of single-family zoning provide a window into how the California legislature will act? Or will continued recent opposition to the bill in cities like San Francisco halt SB 50 in its tracks? We will find out in January.
