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County to pursue duplex-definition text amendment amid staff capacity concerns
Summary
Planning staff presented a work session on changing the county's duplex definition to allow detached or breezeway-connected units (inspired by HB 2138); the board prioritized the change but asked staff to return with trade-offs because long-range planning capacity is already near its limit.
Deschutes County planning staff asked the Board of Commissioners on July 8 to consider a board‑directed text amendment to the county definition of “duplex,” a response to an example in Terrebonne where a breezeway‑connected pair of units no longer qualifies under the updated clear‑and‑objective code.
Planning Manager Will Groves said the request arose after a Terrebonne property owner discovered earlier interpretations that treated breezeway‑connected units as duplexes no longer apply. “This item before you today is a work session on whether to initiate a board directed text amendment to the definition of duplex,” Groves said, outlining options including a county‑wide definitional change, a Terrebonne‑specific amendment, or leaving the issue to applicant‑initiated text amendments.
Groves told the board the policy idea draws inspiration from House Bill 2138’s statewide move toward allowing attached or detached dwellings to qualify as duplexes in some settings, but he emphasized the change is a local policy choice requiring legislative‑style review. He warned that the county’s long‑range planning staff are already handling wildfire and natural‑hazard work, Terrebonne community‑plan updates, and several other plan amendments, and that adding a text amendment now would require re‑prioritizing existing work.
Board members generally supported moving the duplex amendment forward as a priority for housing production while pressing staff for detail on the trade‑offs. One commissioner said allowing detached configurations could reduce construction costs in some designs and broaden housing options; another commissioner asked staff to present a menu of which existing projects or timelines would be slowed to free capacity. Groves committed to prioritizing the item and returning with specific recommendations on where staff time would need to be reallocated if the board directs the amendment into the current work plan.
Next steps: staff will stack the duplex text amendment on the work plan with priority and return with an analysis of impacts to other scheduled tasks and proposed sequencing for legislative review, including planning commission hearings and public notice.
