Union County passes first reading of ordinance allowing for establishment of additional dwelling units
By Garrett Christensen on Tuesday, July 30th, 2024 in Featured Stories More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
UNION COUNTY – During their meeting on July 17, 2024, the Union County Board of Commissioners approved the first reading of Ordinance 2024-03. This ordinance proposes the amendment of the county’s zoning partition and subdivision ordinances, allowing for the establishment/construction of additional dwelling units (ADUs), under conditional use review by the county. The full title of the measure aptly describes itself:
“In the matter of an ordinance amending the Union County Zoning partition and subdivision ordinance allowing for the establishment of additional dwelling units in the county’s R-1 Rural Center Zone, R-2 Rural Residential Zone, R-3 Farm Residential Zone, and R-4 Forest Residential Zone as a conditional use review.”
During the meeting, several Union County residents expressed concern that the proposed amendment could lead to various issues should ADUs be constructed in numbers. These concerns included (but were not limited to) a strain on local water tables in areas already plagued with water pressure issues, cost of construction of additional wells to compensate for ADUs, increased road traffic on narrow, private, and unmaintained roads, increased road traffic near properties with young children and pets, fire hazards caused by poorly maintained or constructed ADUs and fire hazards caused by the buildup of trash from future ADU residents.
Other concerns and critiques of the measure included possible overcrowding of low population areas/unincorporated communities, and a degradation of the ascetics/beauty of areas due to ADU construction.
County commissioners and other county residents in attendance brought points that ADUs could help alleviate ongoing housing shortages. Other clarifications provided by the county during the meeting include the following:
- ADUs are limited to a maximum of 900 square feet in size.
- High value ag land designations do not apply to ADU development as all the county’s rural residential zones are considered exception zones.
- While ADUs can be rented, they cannot be classified or managed as short-term rentals.
- ADU laws do not forbid rental to family members of the landowner.
- While the county approves land use for ADUs, other aspects of construction such as septic systems will still be reviewed and overseen individually by other government organizations, such as the Department of Environmental Quality.
- ADUs cannot be constructed without a primary dwelling already established on the property in question.
The vote for the ordinance passed with two commissioners in favor, and one opposed. Note that this is ONLY THE FIRST READING of the ordinance and that changes to county law have NOT gone into effect as of the time of writing. A second reading of the ordinance is scheduled for August 21st, 2024, at 9:15 a.m. during the regular commission meeting.
