Lawmakers hear split testimony on bill to allow new single-family homes outside UGBs

The House Committee on Housing and Homelessness opened a public hearing on House Bill 2400 on Feb. 10. The bill would allow property owners to build an additional single-family home or a manufactured home on land outside urban growth boundaries, with restrictions in the dash‑1 amendment that prohibit construction on land zoned for exclusive farm use and require a minimum parcel size of 2.5 acres.

Representative Bobbie Levy, chief sponsor, said the bill is intended to give rural families flexibility to keep multigenerational households together and to site housing where infrastructure already exists. Levy said the measure “provides a much needed solution to Oregon’s housing shortage while respecting our state’s land use values.” Representative Darcy Edwards, co-sponsor and a realtor, described frequent requests from people who want a small additional home to care for aging relatives and keep families together.

Public testimony split sharply. Supporters described real-family situations: Tammy Beatty, who lives on a five‑acre farm in Clackamas County, said she cannot legally accommodate aging parents on her property under current rules and asked the legislature to grant rural families more options. Proponents argued the bill would support caregiving and modest, family‑scale housing outside cities.

Opponents, including land‑use and conservation groups and farm advocates, said the bill would erode protections for farm and forest lands and enable suburban-style sprawl in rural areas. Rory Isbell, rural-lands program director for Central Oregon Land Watch, said the bill “would essentially double the amount of housing allowed on our rural lands across the state” and that adding dwellings outside urban growth boundaries would increase wildfire risk, strain groundwater and degrade wildlife habitat. Jim Johnson, working-lands policy director for 1000 Friends of Oregon, and Mike McCarthy of Ag for Oregon detailed existing statutory ways to site housing for family members and said the bill bypasses careful local planning.

Robert Liberty presented data he said show tens of thousands of dwellings authorized in farm and forest zones over recent decades and argued that further loosening rural siting rules would convert working lands into recreational or luxury home sites. Several witnesses emphasized septic-system limits, water availability, and the potential for increased conflicts between rural residential occupants and farm or forestry operations.

The committee closed the hearing on HB 2400 after roughly an hour of testimony and did not take a vote. Members said they would accept written testimony for 48 hours following the hearing.