Recently HLA joined local community, conservation, and business groups in an appeal to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) in a collaborative effort to contest the City of Eugene’s attempt to limit the provision of state-mandated affordable housing.The appeal successfully blocked the City of Eugene’s feigned attempt to implement the statewide accessory dwelling unit (ADU) mandate under Senate Bill(SB) 1051. This recently enacted state legislation requires cities to allow at least one ADU for each detached single-family dwelling in zones allowing those dwellings subject only to “reasonable local regulations relating to siting and design.” Instead of following the letter of the law, the City of Eugene passed ordinances that allowed new ADUs in the City, but regulated them stringently in violation of the new affordable housing law. HLA filed a Petition for Review with LUBA, and argued that the City’s newly adopted ADU ordinances were inconsistent with state law, local comprehensive plan policies, and the federal Fair Housing Act and Americans with Disabilities Act because they illegally limited affordable housing that was otherwise required by Senate Bill 1051.Specifically, HLA argued:
- The ADU ordinances contain regulations that do not relate to siting or designand regulations that are unreasonable, resulting in a de facto prohibition ofADUs in some locations, in violation of SB 1051.
- The ADU ordinances are inconsistent with applicable comprehensive planpolicies, including policies that require the city to remove barriers to highdensity housing, consider housing problems of special needs populations, andconsider impacts of zoning regulations on the cost of housing.
- The ADU ordinances violate protections of the federal Fair Housing Act and Americans with Disabilities Act because the prohibitive nature of theregulations constitutes disparate treatment and/or results in a disparateimpact on protected classes, including familial status, race, national origin,and disability.
On November 29, 2018, LUBA remanded the ADU ordinances, effectively nullifying the City’s ill-conceived attempt to circumvent SB 1051. LUBA determined that SB 1051 restricted the City’s ability to regulate ADUs in zones that newly allowed the affordable residential use. LUBA remanded because the City of Eugene had not made adequate findings to demonstrate that the ADU ordinances were consistent with SB 1051 and local comprehensive plan policies. LUBA did not weigh in on what reasonable siting and design regulations means, and directed the City on remand to apply and explain the application of the state-mandated ADU requirement to any newly adopted code provision that regulates ADUs. Below are links to Senate Bill 1051, HLA’s Petition for Review and LUBA’s final opinion and order.
