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In a significant turn of events last week, the Hood River Planning Commission agreed to approve flexibility in its draft middle housing code. Following HBA’s public advocacy letter and stakeholder coordination, the commission added a four-plex option, relaxed parking requirements, increased maximum building height, and added a floor area ratio sliding scale to allow more square footage per unit. After finalizing their recommendations this month, the commission will send its completed draft proposal to the City Council. Hood River is advancing its middle housing code update in order to comply with House Bill 2001. Passed in 2019, HB2001 requires cities to allow duplexes on every single family zoned lot, and to allow triplexes, quadplexes, townhomes, and cottage clusters in areas that allow for the construction of single family dwellings. Hood River has until June 30, 2021 to adopt their code update. To learn more about HBA involvement in Hood River, contact Roseann Johnson at roseannj@hbapdx.org.