How Multifamily Housing Gets Approved in Portland, Oregon

Oregon's statewide middle housing law set a floor for every large city, and Portland's Residential Infill Project implements it on single-dwelling lots. Multi-dwelling buildings instead follow the zones the Better Housing by Design project updated, and any residential building of 20 or more units adds the city's Inclusionary Housing requirement on top of either zone.

Oregon's middle housing law and the Residential Infill Project

Oregon House Bill 2001 (2019) requires a Large City, defined as a city over 25,000 in population or within the Portland Metro boundary, which includes Portland, to permit duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, townhouses and cottage clusters in every area zoned for a detached single-family dwelling (ORS 197.758; Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, HB 2001 and HB 2003 Frequently Asked Questions). A local government can apply only clear and objective standards to these housing types, or an optional alternative review path, so long as the applicant keeps the option of the clear and objective path (OAR 660-008-0015).

Portland's Residential Infill Project, adopted August 12, 2020 and effective August 1, 2021, writes that floor into city code: up to 4 units per lot in the R7, R5 and R2.5 zones, in configurations from a single house to a fourplex, and up to 6 units where at least half meet a deeper affordability requirement. A 2023 amendment, House Bill 3395, requires more cities to allow duplexes on land zoned for single-family dwellings, extending Oregon's duplex floor to smaller cities statewide (Chapter 223, Oregon Laws 2023); Portland already met the Large City standard.

Better Housing by Design: the multi-dwelling zones

City Council adopted Better Housing by Design on December 18, 2019, effective March 1, 2020 (Ordinance 189805). It revised development and design standards in Portland's multi-dwelling zones, R3, R2, R1 and RH, outside the Central City, zones that cover about 8 percent of the city's land area and have produced a large share of its affordable housing. The amendments gave projects more flexibility in unit numbers, added incentives for affordable housing, and set new standards for outdoor space, pedestrian-oriented design and historic district demolition disincentives (portland.gov, City Council Votes to Adopt Better Housing by Design).

Inclusionary Housing

Portland City Code 33.245 requires every residential building proposing 20 or more units to participate in Inclusionary Housing: restrict 20 percent of units at 80 percent of Median Family Income, or 10 percent at 60 percent, for the life of the building, or satisfy the requirement off site, through a fee in lieu, or by building or designating units elsewhere. A qualifying project can pair that set-aside with a Multiple-Unit Limited Tax Exemption, a System Development Charge exemption and an exemption from the Affordable Housing Construction Excise Tax (portland.gov, About the Inclusionary Housing Program).

Questions

Does Portland allow fourplexes on every residential lot?

In the R7, R5 and R2.5 zones, the Residential Infill Project permits up to 4 units per lot, including a fourplex configuration, and up to 6 units where at least half meet the deeper affordability requirement.

Which zones does Better Housing by Design cover?

Portland's multi-dwelling zones outside the Central City, R3, R2, R1 and RH, under standards City Council adopted December 18, 2019 and made effective March 1, 2020.

What triggers Portland's Inclusionary Housing requirement?

A residential building proposing 20 or more units in one building (Portland City Code 33.245).

Sources