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Last week, the Oregon Senate passed Senate Bill 458 and Senate Bill 391, both critical to the production of housing in the Portland Metro area and across the state. Although a reason to be hopeful, they still need to make it through the House before becoming law. You can view the most recent legislative update from OHBA in this week's edition of Friday Forum here. The current version of SB458 would allow land divisions for middle housing, effectively allowing more types of housing units to be built for home ownership. The bill builds on House Bill 2001, which passed in 2019 and allows for duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, cottage clusters and townhomes in areas that allow for the development of single family residential housing. If passed, SB458 would encourage a diversity of housing that can be bought and sold by individual households. SB391 would authorize counties to allow an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on parcels in rural residential zones. This bill would expand on HB2001, which encouraged ADU production by eliminating required ownership occupancy and additional parking. To learn more about middle housing and ADUs across the region, contact Ryan Makinster at ryanm@hbapdx.org.