The 2023 Oregon Legislative session got off to a fast start on January 17, with approximately 2,000 bills filed. 1000 Friends is following about 150 bills that relate to land use. More bills will be filed as the session moves forward. We will keep you informed through regular updates on our webpage and legislative updates and alerts.
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This year is also the 50th anniversary of Oregon’s land use planning program! We are working to pass bills that will lead the land use planning program into the next 50 years, including on housing for all, using land use tools to address climate change, supporting local farmers, and reforming transportation spending to provide more ways for more people to get around.
Bills have also been introduced that will continue to eat away at Oregon farms, forests, and natural resources and that would cause climate-damaging sprawl – and we will be working to defeat those. We will need you to be successful!
There are many new faces this session. Almost one-third of the legislators are newly elected and there is a new senate president for the first time in two decades (Sen. Rob Wagner) and a new speaker of the house (Rep. Dan Rayfield). Many of the new legislators are not familiar with land use planning. So, when you meet with or write to a legislator, please remember to let them know why the land use program is important to you, your community, and to Oregon.
Finally, the Capitol building itself is under significant construction to address seismic upgrades and technology needs. Therefore, major parts of the building are not open to the public, and the building itself has capacity limits. You will be able to testify remotely or in person for all committee hearings. Every committee webpage has instructions on how to do that, and we will provide that information in alerts.
Here are some key bills we are engaging with this session, divided into our key advocacy areas:
Housing for All
Farm & Forest Lands
Transportation For All
Climate Change
Wildfire
THREATS TO UGBs
HOUSING FOR ALL
Goal 10, Oregon’s land use housing goal, was adopted in 1975 and is still the benchmark we should be striving toward – cities' plans should provide housing choices for all family sizes and incomes, in every neighborhood.
However, Goal 10 has not been robustly implemented at the local level or funded and enforced at the state level for decades, resulting in a supply that is not meeting Oregonians’ housing needs. Today, Oregon is short about 140,000 homes, and much of that missing housing is for those whose incomes are at or below the median family income. That is true across all Oregon’s cities and towns, and it will continue to grow if we do not act boldly, since every year we fall further behind.
If Oregon is to stop cycling in and out of housing shortages and unaffordability, and to start looking to build the diverse housing that we need, well-located inside our cities, rather than looking to sprawl beyond our urban growth boundaries onto farmland and natural areas, we must significantly change the way we plan for and invest in housing for all.
HB 2889 Housing for All
What it does: HB 2889 will ensure that Oregon cities and the state enact a full set of land use tools, and related investments and other strategies, to support building housing for all, in every neighborhood. 1000 Friends – working with others in a broad consensus approach – is leading efforts to pass this bill. HB 2889 establishes a methodology called the “Oregon Housing Needs Analysis,” or OHNA. Under the OHNA, the state will regularly assesses total housing need and housing need by income category – both statewide and for each city for the next 20 year – highlighting gaps in meeting current and projected housing needs.
Then, cities with more than 10,000 people must adopt – and implement – a set of housing production strategies designed to meet the housing needs of that city.
Why it matters: Successful implementation of the OHNA will put Oregon on that path for housing for all, in every neighborhood, by making structural changes to how we plan for, invest in, and actually produce housing. HB 2889 will take pressure off our lands that produce food and fiber and provide clean air, water, and natural habitat.
How you can help: Submit testimony in favor of HB 2889. You can do that here.
HB 2983 Manufactured Dwellings and Parks
What it does: HB 2983 would appropriate $55 million toward the acquisition and rehabilitation of manufactured home parks and the construction of new ones, by nonprofit organizations, co-ops, and housing authorities. It also funds the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) to develop model codes for the development of manufactured dwelling parks, and efficiency measures to ensure that cottage clusters (provided for under 2019’s middle housing bill, HB 2001), may include manufactured dwellings.
Why it matters: HB 2983 continues and expands Oregon’s commitment to one of the most affordable, quick-to-develop home-ownership opportunities for Oregonians: manufactured housing parks that are owned by the residents, a nonprofit organization, a co-op, or other similar, stable ownership. And, it provides for manufactured dwellings to be used in cottage cluster housing.
How you can help: A public hearing has been held, and the bill had widespread support. We will keep you updated with future opportunities to testify.
HB 2984 Reuse Commercial Buildings for Workforce Housing
What it does: This bill, from Rep. Pam Marsh, makes it easier to reuse commercial buildings for housing people whose incomes are at or below the area median. It would allow, within UGBs, the conversion of buildings from commercial use to workforce housing without a zone change or conditional-use permit. It prohibits local governments from requiring more parking and suspends collection of system development charges.
Why it matters: HB 2984 opens possibilities for reusing buildings that are well-located and soundly built, but for which there may no longer be viable commercial use, especially after pandemic-related changes to how and where we shop and work. But they can still provide much needed housing in our existing communities while preserving existing buildings.
How you can help: Stay tuned; we will let you know when this bill is scheduled for a hearing!
FARM & FOREST LANDS
Statewide land use planning Goal 3 and Goal 4 protect Oregon’s farm and forest lands. Agriculture is the number-two industry in Oregon, employing one in five working Oregonians. The state’s irreplaceable farmland produces more than 200 crops and generates more than $30 billion in goods and services. Oregon forests provide wood products, habitat, and clean air and water. The Oregon land use planning program stewards this place we are all fortunate to call home, and 1000 Friends of Oregon defends and furthers that program in the legislature.
1000 Friends is working with farmers and partners in the food systems network to pass several bills that will help make food grown by Oregon farmers more accessible to all, and provide a program of incentivized voluntary carbon sequestration and storage in natural and working lands. Here are two of those bills; please also see SB 530 under “Climate Change.”
HB 2728 Support Oregon Farmers and Help Feed Oregonians
What they are: HB 2728 supports Oregon farmers and helps feed Oregon families. It expands the Double Up Food Bucks Oregon, a matching program for recipients of supplemental nutrition assistance. For every dollar spent on SNAP-eligible foods at participating farmers markets, farm stands, CSA programs, and grocery stores, shoppers will receive an additional dollar to spend on Oregon-grown fruits and vegetables.
Why it matters: This is a win-win program for Oregon families and farmers.
How you can help: A public hearing has been held on HB 2728, and the bill had widespread support. We will keep you updated with future opportunities to testify.
HB 2192 and SB 439 More Houses in Forest Lands
What they are: These are identical bills that would allow an additional way to site dwellings on forest land. Already, several ways exist to build housing on forest lands, including so-called “replacement” dwellings and dwellings not related to forestry.
Why it matters: The proliferation of housing in Oregon’s forests can harm forest health, compromise their carbon sequestration capacity, and in some places increase wildfire risk.
How you can help: Stay tuned; we will let you know when this bill is scheduled for a hearing!
HB 2487 More Weddings & Events on Farm Land
What it does: This bill would allow lands zoned for exclusive farm use east of the summit of the Cascade range to be used for weddings or events, inflicting yet another “cut” into the integrity of the fabric of Oregon’s farm and ranch lands. This bill would add weddings and events to the already too-long list of nonfarm activities that are allowed on EFU land. Weddings on farmland are controversial.
Why it matters: Farmers often complain of being asked to cease farming for a wedding event or change their operations, so noise, dust, and other common farming activities do not interfere with the wedding or other event. These costs add up, and conditions on the events that should reduce the conflicts are often impossible to enforce. HB 2487 would make this worse by allowing wedding and other event venues on farmland without any limits on the size of the buildings, number of guests, or frequency of events.
How you can help: A public hearing has been held. We need your voice opposing this proliferation of conflicting uses on farm land. We will keep you updated with future opportunities to testify.
SB 70 More Houses on Eastern Oregon Farmland
What it does: SB 70 would open up more EFU land in the Eastern Oregon Border Region to housing. In 2012, the legislature passed SB 16, which allowed certain farmland in the Eastern Oregon Border Region to be rezoned to allow up to 100 houses, not related to farming. SB 16 excluded high-value farm lands. HB 70 would expand the farmland on which the rezoning to housing would be allowed by narrowing the definition of the excluded high-value lands.
Why it matters: By changing to the narrower definition of “high value,” SB 70 opens up not only more EFU land, but EFU land that is still “high value.” In the Eastern Oregon Border Region, this could include lands related to irrigation districts and farmland in the officially designated Snake River Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA) region, which spans from eastern Oregon into Idaho, including around Ontario. According to Oregon Wine: “The Snake River Valley offers ideal growing conditions.”
Most farmland in Oregon is not high value, and of the land that is, most is in western Oregon. Irrigated farmland is also very valuable. Irrigation and great soils grow a variety of high-value crops. To have both in eastern Oregon is not common. Malheur County ranks number five among Oregon's counties in agricultural production, bringing in approximately $350,000,000 each year. Three of Malheur County’s top farm crops are on Oregon’s top 10 list of agriculture commodities. Malheur County products include cattle, onions, hay, dry bean, mint, potatoes, and sugar beets.
How you can help: Submit testimony in favor of HB 2889. You can do that here.
HB 2210 Splitting Farmland & Forest Lands into Small parcels
What it does: Allows farmland and forest lands to be split into smaller parcels.
Why it matters: Smaller parcels make it more challenging and expensive to engage in agriculture or forestry, including by making it very difficult to piece together enough land for a viable operation.
How you can help: Stay tuned; we will let you know when this bill is scheduled for a hearing!
TRANSPORTATION FOR ALL
Oregon’s land use planning Goal 12, Transportation, requires that land use and transportation plans “provide and encourage a safe, convenient and economic transportation system.” Those plans must address all modes of transportation, including transit, walking,and bicycling; they must offer diverse transportation choices to all to avoid principal reliance on the car; they must meet the needs of the transportation disadvantaged; and more. However, Oregon’s transportation plans are not living up to this – they are still mostly plans for driving cars, even as over a quarter of the population does not or cannot drive. We are working on legislation to make sure that Oregon has a multimodal, connected transportation system that serves the needs of all.
HB 2619 Expands the Oregon Transportation Commission to Ensure Regional Balance and Equity
What it does: This bill would change the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) membership to be based on congressional districts, expand the number of seats from five to nine, and require representation for youth, tribal, disability, and transit dependent identifying individuals. The OTC impacts high-level policy and investments in transportation.
Why it matters: The OTC establishes the policies for the Department of Transportation and oversees the way it collects and spends more than $5 billion every year. The five members of the OTC are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. However, there is little statutory guidance on membership, and over the years, the OTC membership has not reflected a diversity of transportation experiences. This is a critically important decision-making body, and it should include more perspectives.
How you can help: Stay tuned; we will let you know when this bill is scheduled for a hearing!
HB 2677 Fix It First
What it does: HB 2677 bill would require ODOT to prove that any expansion in lane miles won't harm ODOT’s ability to maintain the entire highway system.
Why it matters: Transportation makes up 40 percent of Oregon's greenhouse gas emissions, and it is growing. Highways play a major role in this, yet despite having persistent repair backlogs, ODOT continues to prioritize expanding highways over maintaining our current system and providing sustainable alternatives.
How you can help: Stay tuned; we will let you know when this bill is scheduled for a hearing!
CLIMATE CHANGE
SB 580 and HB 2659 Throws out Climate Friendly & Equitable Communities Program
What they do: The bills are identical. They would effectively repeal rules adopted by Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) pursuant to laws passed over a decade ago and the Governor's Executive Order on climate, and that are applicable to the state’s eight major urban areas. The Climate Friendly & Equitable Communities program would – unless repealed by these bills – reduce climate-damaging emissions by integrating land use and transportation planning to reduce the need to drive and increase safe, accessible walking, biking, and transit.
Why it matters: The rules were adopted after extensive public engagement, and are designed to integrate land use and transportation planning to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the state's number-one source – transportation – while ensuring that the benefits of mixed-use, walkable, transit-served neighborhoods are accessible to all by providing for diverse housing options. The bills instead substitute a process that will take until at least 2028 and has weak standards. Technical fixes to the rules can be made, and cities should be funded to implement them (as some are already doing). But we should not throw out a sound and needed program developed with extensive public engagement.
How you can help: Stay tuned; we will let you know when this bill is scheduled for a hearing!
SB 530 Supporting Working Lands and Natural areas by Investing in Voluntary Climate Sequestration
What it does: This bill positions the state to leverage federal funding and private investments in natural climate solutions on natural and working lands. It creates a source of state funding for voluntary actions to remove climate pollution from the atmosphere and store it in natural and working lands, and it funds state agencies to provide incentives and technical support to forest owners, farmers, and ranchers to implement natural climate solutions on natural and working lands.
Why it matters: SB 530 is voluntary and incentive-based; it creates a win-win for the farmers who participate and for the climate.
How you can help: Stay tuned; we will let you know when this bill is scheduled for a hearing!
WILDFIRE
In 2021, the Oregon Legislature adopted SB 762, the state’s first comprehensive wildfire-preparedness and resiliency bill. It directed 11 state agencies, including Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD), to develop and implement various plans, programs, and investments so Oregon families and communities may live safely in a western environment, where wildfire is a natural part of the ecosystem, but the risks have been exacerbated by climate change and sprawling development.
SB 509 Make Oregon Communities More Wildfire Prepared and Resilient
What it does: Senate Bill 509 and the dash-1 amendment continue, improve, and expand upon the strong programs provided for in legislation passed in 2021, which established Oregon's comprehensive wildfire-resilience and preparedness program. It will better coordinate and align state agencies to support wildfire-risk reduction; establish neighborhood risk-reduction programs to provide training, grants, and investments in community-defensible space and home hardening; establish the Home Hardening Assistance Fund and focus those investments on people with higher vulnerabilities and lower incomes; and establish a statewide, one-stop dashboard with all the information a property owner or resident needs to know about wildfire preparedness.
Why it matters: A wildfire-prepared and resilient Oregon requires all Oregonians to feel informed, empowered, and supported in their own community to take appropriate preparedness actions.
How you can help: Submit testimony in support of SB 509. You can do that here.
THREATS TO UGBs
A handful of bills have been introduced that would make it easier to expand urban growth boundaries (UGBs) onto farm and forest lands and natural areas, without showing that more land is actually needed to meet housing needs, especially for people of moderate and lower incomes. These bills are being advanced with the claim that we must develop more land to meet Oregon’s housing needs, when in reality new land is expensive to provide with sewers, water, roads, and other urban services, all of which take time and then must then be built into the price of the housing. And, we have a lot of under-utilized land inside our existing cities and towns. Expanding UGBs is not a way to bring housing quickly and affordably to those who need it, located near to stores, schools, and jobs.
1000 Friends opposes the following bills. We will let you know if and when they are up for hearings.
SB 656
Allows expansion of UGBs without application of statewide planning goals. It would divert public investments away from lands inside UGBs, where they should be focused to make existing urban land development-ready.
HB 2795
Cities develop buildable-lands inventories to determine where housing can be built. This bill would prohibit including golf courses (whether public or private) that are inside urban growth boundaries from being considered as "buildable" lands, even though they have often been developed when the golf use no longer makes sense. This means omitting potentially buildable lands for housing, and adding pressure to expand UGBs, including on to productive farmland.
HB 3191
The bill undermines the purpose of urban reserves by allowing premature expansion of UGBs into them, without application of the land use goals, and under conditions that could be challenging to enforce and that risk deflecting city planning and investments away from lands already inside the UGB.