Sandy staff, consultants preview code updates to ease prefabricated and mass-timber housing

City staff and consultants presented recommended zoning and code edits intended to make it easier to use prefabricated construction — including but not limited to mass timber — during a joint Sandy City Council and Planning Commission work session.

The presentation, led by consultant Brandon Crawford of MIG and followed by comments from Kelly Reed, regional representative for the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD), reviewed a grant-funded audit of Sandy’s rules, changes required by state law and optional code changes the city could adopt to encourage prefabricated and modular dwellings.

Those required changes are driven by House Bill 4064 and related state rules, consultant Brandon Crawford said. “The state statute requires all cities throughout the state to allow prefabricated homes or manufactured homes on any lot that allows single-family dwellings,” he told the council and commission. The consultant’s draft edits focus first on definitions and on ensuring the city treats modern manufactured homes the same as single-family houses where state law requires it.

Why this matters: the project is funded by a DLCD technical-assistance grant supported by an Economic Development Administration award to the state. The grant pays for the consultant work; the city has no local match requirement, staff emphasized. The changes would affect how the city regulates manufactured homes, prefabricated modular housing and where those units may be sited — decisions that can affect housing options and permitting requirements for property owners.

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