Union County approves Ordinance 2026-01, allowing for temporary industrial workforce housing
By Garrett Christensen on Friday, March 20th, 2026 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
UNION COUNTY – During a regular meeting on Wednesday, March 18, the Union County Board of commissioners officially approved Ordinance 2026-01 following its second reading. The ordinance title in full reads:
In the Matter of an Ordinance Amending the Union County Zoning, Partition, and Subdivision Ordinance to Revise Articles 12, 13, and 21 to Provide Clarification and to Include the Addition of a Temporary Workforce Housing Conditional Use
As described previously, the revisions to the mentioned articles largely consist of cleaning up and standardizing language, and removing redundant wording in some locations. The primary change, however, is the allowance for temporary workforce housing for some projects in light and heavy industrial zones.
The general intention of the ordinance is to allow for the creation of temporary housing and accommodations during influxes of contractors and workers as part of larger scale construction, refurbishments, overhauls and expansions within industrial zones. These housing areas would operate under the following conditions as previously clarified by Union County Planning Director Inga Williams in a meeting on February 19 (summarized from in-meeting discussion):
- Cannot make use of a permanent foundation
- Must maintain minimum sanitation, cleanliness, and housing quality
- Must either connect to public water/septic systems or provide temporary on-site water and septic systems
- Have an on-site manager available for contact in the event of any issues or emergencies.
- The manager would not need to live on-site, only be available for easy contact.
- Provide all parking needed
- Provide all needed fire safety measures.
- Provide financial assurance in the form of 110% of the decommission costs, through bonds or similar measures, that would be returned upon completion.
All projects would operate on a two-year permit, with the possibility of two one-year extensions, per planning commission approval. Temporary housing zones would not need to be located in the project work/industrial zone but could be located adjacent or leased separately. The language of the measure was adapted from Oregon’s own state ordinances on temporary work zone housing, most of which predominately refers to temporary agricultural workforce housing.
Though initially thought to be a first in-state ordinance at the county level, some discussion at the latest meeting implied that another county has already implemented a similar ordinance. Nonetheless, it will be a first for Union County.
The ordinance had its first public hearing on February 18 and was approved. The second hearing was initially held on March 4, though was postponed and extended to the March 18 meeting due to Commissioner Anderes being absent at the time. Commissioners unanimously approved the ordinance during the March 18 meeting.
A more detailed breakdown of the ordinance and the initial discussion can be found in our previous article here: https://elkhornmediagroup.com/union-county-commissioners-discuss-first-in-state-temporary-workforce-housing-ordinance/
