ARTICLE
On December 13th, Metro Council voted to approve all four Urban Growth Boundary expansion requests, totaling over 2,100 acres of land that will be brought in for new residential development. For info on this decision, please click here. As many of you know, HBA has worked for the last several years to push for changes to the expansion process, to support jurisdictions in making requests for expansion areas, and to engage in efforts that helped build the factual as well as the public case for the need for additional land for housing. Our Board prioritized financial resources from our budget, especially this past critical year. Our Government Relations Committee and staff used those to build partnerships, engage consultants, and leverage housing affordability concerns that helped achieve this outcome. If you recall, Metro's last review of the UGB in 2015 resulted in no expansions. As a result of changes HBA helped achieve since the last review, these expansion areas are also primed to be able to provide needed housing on a much quicker timetable than previous expansion areas that took 10, 15 or more years to begin developing. There is still much more work to be done. We’ve heard that Metro may be requiring cities responsible for these new expansion areas to increase densities within their existing zoning as a condition of approval, which has been outside the scope of Metro’s previous requirements for expansion. There are also many additional issues at play when it comes to housing affordability and supply. We will continue to lobby for needed legislative changes at the State level, including SDC and construction defect reform, and oppose changes that would be harmful to housing production. We will continue to work on removing roadblocks and improving processes, policies and costs at local levels. We will continue to build partnerships that support certainty and flexibility in housing development and construction. We will continue to help future expansion areas while also supporting needed infill and redevelopment. And we will continue to be engaged in advocating on behalf of all types of housing across our region. When you renew your membership, when you encourage others to join, when you contribute to our PAC or Legal Fund, when you volunteer to provide your time and expertise, or when you support HBA in other ways – it all helps gives us the ability to be more influential and to have a greater impact. If you value this important work done by the HBA, please consider contributing to our PAC, Oregonians for Affordable Housing. Thanks to the work of the HBA staff throughout the entire process. Thanks to our Board Officers, our entire Board, and our Government Relations Committee for your leadership, involvement and, in many cases, your own resources spent in cooperation with HBA towards this work.