In 2018, Metro approved UGB expansions for Hillsboro, Beaverton, King City, and Wilsonville totaling approximately 2,100 acres. Over the following three years, HLA fought before Metro, DLCD, LCDC, the Oregon Court of Appeals, and the Oregon Supreme Court to ensure that our leaders are doing everything they can to plan for needed housing within the existing UGBbefore approving expansions. The goal is to ensure that future expansions are not continuing to repeat historic patterns of exclusionary zoning.
Over the past year and a half, HLA has continued that fight. In December 2024, Metro approved a UGB expansion for Sherwood totaling approximately 1,291 acres in an area known as Sherwood West. HLA and nine other parties filed objections to the expansion with DLCD. In April 2025, DLCD issued a decision approving the expansion, and HLA and six other parties appealed DLCD’s decision to LCDC. In September 2025, DLCD issued a staff report recommending approval of the expansion to LCDC, HLA and four other parties filed exceptions to the staff report, and LCDC held a hearing on the appeals. In March 2026, LCDC issued a decision approving the expansion.
At each step of the way, HLA has argued that the expansion violates Goal 10 by (1) pushing affordable, multi-family housing to the city’s fringes, while preserving low-density, single-family housing at the city’s core, and (2) failing to ensure an adequate supply of affordable housing within either the existing UGB or the expansion area. HLA has also argued that the expansion violates the federal and state requirement to affirmatively further fair housing by reinforcing existing patters of segregation.
And we aren’t done yet. HLA and six other parties have appealed LCDC’s decision to the Oregon Court of Appeals. HLA, represented by Crag Law Center, will argue to the court that ensuring housing choice and affordability are more than just window dressing: they are real, continuing obligations for all communities. Stay tuned for more.
We want to acknowledge and thank Crag Law Center for their pro bono representation in this matter. Since 2001, Crag has worked with clients to protect their communities from unsustainable development that could damage the scenic beauty, local environment, and character of population centers across the region. We are proud to partner with them in this fight.
