On Real Estate & More – November 2020

In 2019, House Bill (HB) 2001 was adopted and gained national attention as the first state in the nation to ban the century-old practice of reserving land for a single type of residential development. HB 2001 requires larger cities with populations over 25,000 such as Medford to allow for middle housing—duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, cottage clusters, and townhouses—on land zoned for single family homes. The bill requires medium-sized cities with a population between 10,000-25,000 such as Ashland and Central Point to allow for duplexes on single family lots.

HB 2001 also:

  • Prohibits cities from requiring owner-only occupied accessory dwelling units
  • Disallows cities from requiring parking for accessory dwelling units
  • Requires cities to allow for the collection of impact fees on middle housing at the time of occupancy rather than at the time of permit issuance
  • Allows cities to have site development standards (such as setbacks and lot coverage) for middle housing

HB 2001 allows cities such as Ashland and Central Point to regulate the siting and design of duplexes as long as the regulations do not deter the development of duplexes through unreasonable cost and delay—which includes any standards applied to duplex development that are more restrictive than those applicable to single-family dwellings in the same zone. The following is a summary of the administrative rules for duplexes that apply to cities such as Ashland and Central Point.

  • Duplexes must be allowed on residentially zoned lots where single-family dwellings are permitted
  • Cities must apply the same approval process to duplexes as for single-family dwellings in the same zone
  • Cities have the option of defining two detached units on a lot as a duplex
  • Duplexes must be allowed as new construction or as conversion of an existing detached single-family dwelling
  • Cities may have siting and design standards for duplexes; however, standards cannot be more restrictive than those for single-family dwellings in the same zone

Permitted Standards: Adopted regulations to comply with statewide land use planning goals for the protection of natural resources and areas subject to natural hazards such as wetlands and riparian areas, floodplains and hillside and wildfire lands.

Prohibited Standards: 1) Use, density, occupancy restrictions and standards that prohibit the development of duplexes on historic properties or districts that otherwise permit the development of single-family dwellings; 2) Standards cannot require a larger minimum lot size for duplexes; 3) Density maximums cannot be applied to duplexes; 4) Standards for development of duplexes cannot require greater setbacks or lower building heights; or 5) Standards cannot require less lot coverage for duplexes.

Parking and Public Works: May require no more than two off-street parking spaces for a duplex and must allow some exceptions for duplexes that are allowed for single family dwellings.

Cities such as Ashland and Central Point must update their zoning codes or adopt a model code developed by the State by June 30, 2021 to address the requirements of HB 2001 (June 30, 2022 for larger cities such as Medford). Make sure to contact your local planning department if you have questions about this requirement.