Dear Advocate,

As part of our advocacy and enforcement work, Housing Land Advocates (HLA) in partnership with the Fair Housing Council of Oregon (FHCO), reviews and submits official comment on upcoming Housing Production Strategies (HPS’s). You can find more information about the Post Acknowledgement Plan Amendment Project (PAPA project) here.

In a previous newsletter, HLA highlighted positive and negative aspects of the Hillsboro proposed HPS. In a scathing rebuke, DLCD building upon HLA/FHCO’s comments and many others, remanded the HPS as proposed. The remand revolves around the lack of specificity of goals and timelines, target populations, and options that could be taken as opposed to shall be taken. Highlighted key points are below, and read the full remand here or below.

Planning for Growth Outside the UGB:

Readoption Condition #1: The city shall not include Action 2.2: Coordinate with partners to pursue residential land Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) expansions(s) as an action in the readopted HPS.

(2) A housing production strategy must include a list of specific actions, including the adoption of measures and policies, that the city shall undertake to promote development within the city to address a housing need identified under ORS 197.296 (6)(b) or (10)(b) or 197.297…”

“As such, Action 2.2, which pertains to planning for lands outside of the current UGB, cannot be accepted as part of Hillsboro’s HPS. These activities do not meet the statutory criteria for city-led implementation actions in an HPS under ORS 197.290.”

Implementation Timelines:

Readoption Condition #2: The city shall clarify the actions and sub-actions currently included in the HPS report to address identified gaps in specificity, implementation, timelines, and alignment with identified housing needs.

“OAR 660-008-0050(3)(d)(B) requires each action to outline an estimate of the number of housing units that are anticipated to be created through the implementation of each action. This information appears to be missing in all the action descriptions/details except for Action 2.2.”

“Each action description includes the subsections “Affordability Targets” and “Demographic Target.” Within the HPS chapter titled “Achieving Fair and Equitable Housing Outcomes”, there is a subsection titled “Assessment of Benefits and Burdens”, which features a table outlining the potential impacts to target communities. This table also proposes mitigating actions the city could take to address any identified burdens on these target populations. The intent behind the benefits and burdens analysis rule requirement is to ensure that actions generate benefits—and, more importantly, that jurisdictions commit to mitigation actions for any identified burdens associated with each action. The Department requests this clarification to be made as part of Readoption Condition #2 to affirm at the time of readoption that the requirements of OAR 660-008-

0050(3)(d)(C) are satisfied.”

To read HLA/FHCO official comment letter, click below.