Work group proposes loosening SB 1537 triggers and expanding acreage as part of LC 205
Loading...
Summary
A stakeholder work group presented LC 205 recommendations to ease eligibility for the accelerated UGB expansion tool: remove "severely" from rent/cost burden criteria, clarify undeveloped internal tract definitions, and raise the net residential cap to 150 acres (plus a 30% allowance for roads/commercial). Opponents warned against easing protections for resource lands and substantially enlarging the acreage cap.
A bipartisan work group and stakeholders told the House Interim Committee on Housing and Homelessness that LC 205 would adjust eligibility and clarity in the SB 1537 expedited urban growth boundary (UGB) expansion tool to allow more cities to use the one‑time process.
Alexander Ring, housing and land‑use lobbyist for the League of Oregon Cities, said the group settled on a set of changes aimed at making the tool usable for more jurisdictions. "We agreed on a solution, which is simply to strike the word severely from the cost burden and rent burden criteria," Ring said, describing that change as the clearest path to expand eligibility without changing the tool's intent.
Supporters, including the Oregon Home Builders Association, said the original eligibility triggers were too narrow and prevented some willing cities from participating. Samantha Bear (Oregon Home Builders Association) told the committee the tool produces mixed‑use, deed‑restricted affordable housing over a 30‑year period and that removing the "severely" threshold will let more communities qualify.
Opponents urged caution. Mary Kyle McCurdy (1000 Friends of Oregon) and Central Oregon LandWatch argued that LC 205 should not erode negotiated protections in SB 1537, especially the prohibition on expanding onto resource lands. McCurdy said the original bill was "highly negotiated" and warned that allowing expansion onto farm and forest land under the expedited shortcut undermines statutory safeguards; she pointed to historical approval rates under the regular UGB process as evidence that the standard process functions.
A key technical debate was acreage math. The proposed language in LC 205 raises the net residential cap for large cities from 100 to 150 acres and includes a 30% allowance for other neighborhood‑serving uses and rights of way. Advocates said rights of way are already counted in net acreage calculations in many cases; critics said the change would meaningfully increase land opened by the expedited process.
Next steps: the work group continues to refine definitions (notably for "undeveloped internal tracts" and "vacant") and the committee expects a more polished bill in coming weeks. Lawmakers asked for examples (Bend was offered) and further written clarifications about how the 30% nonresidential allowance is applied.
