On Real Estate & More – March 2021

Oregon has a long history of land use planning to protect farm and forest lands. Oregon’s economic dependence on agricultural and timber production combined with concerns over loss of these valuable resource lands and the potential for conflicts with incompatible uses led the Legislature to protect agricultural lands (Goal 3) and forest lands (Goal 4) through the statewide comprehensive planning program. These require local governments to inventory and designate lands in the comprehensive plan, zone the land for EFU or forest use, and adopt policies to preserve these lands. Farm and forest lands are further protected through limitations on the uses allowed on lands designated for farm or forest use, restrictions on land divisions and by providing tax incentives.

Approximately 30 percent of private lands in Oregon, or 8.2 million acres, are zoned for forest use. In forest zones, dwellings are allowed in five different circumstances, including large tract dwellings, lot-of-record dwellings, template dwellings, replacement dwellings and temporary hardship dwellings. One of the primary methods for obtaining approval to build a home has been through the template dwelling process.

The “template dwelling” statute is found at ORS 215.750. To receive approval for a template dwelling, the county places a 160-acre template on top of a map of the property and counts the number of neighboring parcels and dwellings that are located within the template. If there are enough parcels/dwellings wholly or partially within the template, then the owner will qualify for a dwelling.

The purpose of the template dwelling statute is to enable additional development in areas zoned for forest use that are already divided into smaller parcels with houses. These areas are less likely to be used for commercial timber activity, so allowing additional development is not considered harmful.

Property owners had been able to work with their neighbors and use a property line adjustment to qualify a parcel for a dwelling. The property owner could work with the neighboring owner to adjust the boundaries between the two parcels so that each parcel could qualify for its own dwelling using the template test. Finally, property owners were also allowed to change their ownership of two adjacent parcels so that each parcel could qualify for a template dwelling.

House Bill 2225 was enacted in 2019 because critics thought the template dwelling process allowed for too many loopholes such as those described above that allowed for development. Under HB 2225, property line adjustments are no longer allowed to relocate parcels within a tract to qualify for additional template dwellings. Additionally, changing the ownership will no longer qualify for a template dwelling. While the legislation limits some home-building in forestland, lawmakers approved another bill that would allow for additional dwellings for family members on forested parcels. House Bill 2469 permits second homes within 200 feet of the original dwellings, as long as the relative assists in forest management under a written plan, among other provisions.

For questions about these legislative changes, contact Jackson County Development Services staff.