There hasn’t been much press coverage of House Bill 3414, but our cities, as well as environmental advocates, are very concerned about this legislative proposal. This bill would undermine the work cities have been doing to encourage the development of cottage clusters and other middle housing types, as well as to protect tree canopy, wetlands and other sensitive areas.
Small-to-midsize cities like ours have struggled to keep up with mandates from the state, including the 2019 middle housing statute, the Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities rule and the new enhanced Housing Needs Analysis work. The state should give these efforts a few years to take root before considering the type of far-reaching steps proposed in HB 3414, which would give developers wide latitude to bypass city codes, not just on design elements but on size, on tree, wetland and habitat conservation requirements.
Most startlingly, the proposal to force cities to grant variances on such codes is not tied to the building of affordable housing. It seems quite possible that in many communities HB 3414 would lead to the construction of large expensive homes and actually undermine efforts to provide housing at a broader range of affordability points.
Cities need partnerships, not mandates. We need tools, not rules — tools that allow cities to craft code that incentivizes developers to align with shared goals around housing production and hold them accountable for those results. The Legislature should shelve HB 3414.
Lisa Batey, Denyse McGriff and Tim Rosener
Batey is mayor of Milwaukie. McGriff is mayor of Oregon City. Rosener is mayor of Sherwood.
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