Deschutes County staff seek code change to drop local 10% cap on lot-line adjustments, ask board to adopt by emergency

Deschutes County planning staff asked the Board of County Commissioners on Monday to adopt a code amendment that would remove a local 10% area-reduction limitation for property line adjustments and instead directly apply the state statute cited in the packet as "ORS 92 1 92." Nicole Mardell, senior planner for Deschutes County Community Development, told the board the change is intended to simplify review and resolve conflicts between county code and state law.

The proposal would amend the county's variance section (identified in the packet as 18 1 32) so that property line adjustments involving parcels below the minimum lot size are evaluated under ORS 92 1 92 and handled as staff decisions where the statute permits, rather than being subject to the county's separate 10% area-reduction rule and a discretionary variance process.

Why it matters: Mardell said the county's 10% cap can create unnecessary hurdles when state law allows corrections, such as fixing fence encroachments or surveying errors, and can impose a more cumbersome discretionary process than the statute requires. "A common situation that we see is a large property owner...might have a fence going over the property line, and they want to correct a fence issue with their neighbor," Mardell said. "Due to the size of their property, when they're making that adjustment, they might run into that 10% limitation where it's otherwise allowed by statute." The change is intended to reduce cost and delay for applicants in those circumstances.

Planning background and public process: Mardell told commissioners the item was added to Community Development's work plan at the board's request and that the planning commission held a hearing July 24 and unanimously recommended approval. Staff said they received one written comment from Adam Smith of Schwabie with suggested findings that were incorporated. Mardell also said staff included illustrative numeric examples in the packet to show how the state statute would apply in various scenarios.

Scope and limits: Mardell emphasized that property line adjustments involving substandard lots would remain ineligible for variances unless they comply with ORS 92 1 92, and that staff review would apply the statute's requirements directly. Planning manager Quilt Rhodes and other staff described the most frequent reasons property owners seek lot-line adjustments — correcting on-the-ground errors (fences, monuments), resolving setbacks for new structures, or reconfiguring inherited, oddly shaped legal lots — and estimated the county processes "a few dozen" lot line adjustments per year. Rhodes said the 10% rule was originally adopted in 1991 as a blunt tool to preserve lot sizes but has created friction with the more nuanced state standard enacted later.

Next steps and emergency request: Mardell told the board staff included a draft ordinance with an emergency clause "as we're aware of several property owners who are interested in moving forward with applications once this code is adopted." Commissioners asked whether emergency adoption can be done when only two commissioners are present; staff replied that emergency adoption requires a quorum and unanimous vote of those present. The item is scheduled for a public hearing before the board on Wednesday.

Context and caveats: Staff noted the county code was amended in 2010 to create a carve-out for some non-resource subdivisions (for example the Dustin Road historic subdivision) and that adopting the state standard would remove local limits that have applied unevenly. Mardell and Rhodes said the state statute and related administrative rules have been stable and commonly used to prevent end-runs around other land-use obligations. "The state rules much more clearly deal with the scenarios where people could do something that felt like an end run around," Rhodes said.

The board did not take a final vote on Monday; staff requested a hearing and proposed ordinance language for Wednesday, including the option of emergency adoption for the board to consider.