Commission split over how prescriptive Hood River’s new residential design rules should be

Staff recommended the commission adopt clear, objective residential design standards (many drawn from the Oregon Housing Needs Assessment model) to replace limited and unenforceable language in the current code. The proposal covers townhouses, townhome clusters and other compact housing types and seeks to provide measurable standards rather than discretionary design language.

Commissioner Bill Irving argued for restraint, warning that “the more the more requirements of we put for a developer into the code set, the less it gets used,” and urged removing detailed rules about door orientation, porch dimensions and garage‑door widths. In contrast, Commissioner Mike (a builder) said he supports some standards, telling the commission, “if I had some of these design standards when I was building a lot of my houses would be better looking,” and argued clear rules can help builders know what to expect and produce better results.

Staff and several commissioners discussed compromise paths: keep a limited set of clear and objective standards for elements that materially affect neighborhood form (porch sizes, ground‑floor activation, glazing) while offering a discretionary alternative path for creative or unusual site designs. Several participants noted state law requires clear and objective housing standards in many cases; staff also pointed out an adjustment mechanism (about 10% flexibility under recent statutory guidance) can be used to grant small departures from numeric standards.

No standards were adopted at the workshop; staff said it will revise the draft to reflect commissioner feedback and present a consolidated code to council for review.