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This week, the Clackamas County Planning Commission advanced its Land Use Housing Strategies Project Phase 1 code changes allowing more residential development in certain urban unincorporated commercial zones. Resulting from a joint HBA-PMAR® letter and HBA public testimony, the approved changes include an HBA-proposed amendment which allows flexible siting standards for commercial uses when they are included with residential development on the same site. With the HBA amendment, developers would have the ability to locate commercial uses anywhere on the development site, including in a separate building or various floors of the same building. Additionally, the proposed code includes an HBA-supported 20% allowed density increase for these mixed-use sites. The approved changes will go before the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners next month. In June, following a previous HBA letter and advocacy efforts, the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners agreed to advance Phase 1 of the project to the planning commission for refinement. The Board had considered halting Phase I of the project, but decided to move forward with HBA-supported proposed zoning code changes that would increase maximum residential density, decrease parking requirements, and add affordable housing density bonuses in specific urban unincorporated areas. These changes have the ability to accommodate over 25% of the county’s 5,000 urban unincorporated housing unit deficit documented in its 2019 Housing Needs Analysis. Phase II of the project will implement House Bill 2001 requirements for middle housing in urban unincorporated areas of the county, and Senate Bill 1051 requirements for clear and objective standards regulating the development of housing. To learn more about HBA involvement in Clackamas County, contact Roseann Johnson at roseannj@hbapdx.org.