BCCI talks about land use and land use planning in the city of Beaverton and the profound changes to home properties and land use after the passage of Oregon HB 2001.
If you own a home within the City of Beaverton and have concerns about increases in neighborhood traffic, neighbors subdividing their homes into duplexes (or possibly triplexes or further) and adding tiny houses to their property, you need to attend this event.
- Event
- Beaverton Committee for Community Involvement Land Use Summit
- Time & Date
- Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019 | 10 AM - 1 PM
- Location
- Beaverton Library | 12375 SW 5th St.
What is it?
The Beaverton Committee for Community Involvement is planning a summit to share information with a panel discussing planning and development in Beaverton. This is a public event in regard to land use, including land use of your property. This is in response to the passage of HB 2001 by the Oregon Legislature in 2019. The description of HB 2001 is somewhat deceptive as it is not limited to duplexes.
- HB 2001
- Requires cities with population greater than 10,000 or within Metro to allow duplexes in lands zoned for single-family dwellings within urban growth boundary.
Cities such as Beaverton have up to a year to adjust their city codes to reflect local interpretation of HB 2001. Washington County and also other nearby cities are being pressured to conform to HB 2001.
Washington County Ordinance No. 859 would allow both an ADU internal duplex addition and an external ADU, and proposes to remove the requirement for off street parking. This means each previous single family dwelling could have three sets of occupants and any additional cars will be parked on the street. It also removes owner occupancy requirements.
A Few Questions to Ask
Beaverton City Government wants to know our opinions on how our neighborhoods should be allowed to change. You might consider asking these seven questions:
- Is traffic accounted into future city density plans? If density increases in neighborhoods, how will this affect neighborhood choke points that are already significant problems during rush hours.
- Should public transportation improve before increasing density? Some neighborhoods have poor access to public transportation, so any increase in density increases traffic.
- Are the elderly and environmentally challenged being disadvantaged? For many, including senior citizens and environmentally challenged, if public transportation is more than a half mile away from front doors, it becomes problematic or impossible to use.
- What about up-scaling existing dense living solutions? Beaverton has many old single level and two level apartment structures. What can be done to encourage building up to three or more floors to make better use of existing lower rent residential areas?
- How can government encourage mixed light commercial and residential density in areas with very good public transportation? Examples such as the new apartment building located at Lombard Ave and 1st place new residences within a half mile of dedicated public transportation and within walking distance of local stores.
- How can Beaverton avoid massive expansion of in-home rentals as in Portland? HB 2001 could result in massive increases in AirBnB style rentals, flooding neighborhoods with traffic and creating new, on street parking problems. One major contributor to house prices in Portland are California companies purchasing them for rental purposes.
- Should Beaverton cease variances to reduce lot size on new development? The city can issue variances to reduce minimum lot sizes. For example, an area that has 5,000 square feet lots can get variances to reduce lot sizes, increasing the number of potential lots. Since HB 2001 changes could mean two or three households per lot, should lots be allowed to be smaller? Should not all variances require public feedback?