The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners is considering amendments to the county’s Land and Water Development and Use Code, changes county staff hope will pave the way for more housing.

The amendments, which county staff began working on last year at the direction of commissioners, come amid a statewide emergency on homelessness. They also follow a countywide housing study in 2019 that identified missing middle housing types like townhomes, cottage clusters and medium-density housing as resources to help meet the needs of first-time homebuyers.

Gail Henrikson, the county’s community development director, said the goal is to help increase housing at all price points.

“What the amendments are intended to do is provide tools to the development community to meet the housing needs of Clatsop County,” Henrikson said at a Planning Commission meeting earlier this month, where the amendments were approved for recommendation to the Board of Commissioners.

In a nutshell, the amendments add definitions and parameters for higher-density housing in rural parts of the county and remove barriers to developing certain housing types.

Types of uses

In rural communities like Arch Cape, Knappa, Svensen, Miles Crossing, Jeffers Garden and Westport, the amendments add triplexes, quadplexes and cottage clusters as a conditional use, add attached dwellings as a permitted use and change duplexes from a conditional use to a permitted use. The amendments also allow for a wider range of housing options as a permitted use in rural community areas zoned as multifamily residential.

Unlike a conditional use, known as Type II, a permitted use, known as Type I, doesn’t require public notice. Application fees are also significantly lower — $85 as opposed to $1,200.

Henrikson said conditional use permits are used when reviewing subjective criteria and making discretionary decisions.

“But in the case of a duplex, for example, there are very clearly defined, established of record standards, and so there really is no discretionary decision being made in a duplex type of decision for housing, and so there’s really not a need, as far as staff can see, for a conditional use to be applied,” Henrikson said.

The amendments allow for employee housing and single residential dwellings for business owners and caretakers as a permitted use in commercial and industrial areas. They also reduce the minimum lot size for detached dwellings from 7,500 to 5,000 square feet and the minimum lot size for duplexes from 15,000 to 10,000 square feet in areas served by community water and sewer.

In areas zoned as rural residential lands, which are sometimes served by community water and have no sewer, the amendments allow for attached dwellings as a permitted use in certain residential areas and allow for multiunit dwellings, manufactured home parks and some mixed residential developments as conditional uses in commercial areas.

Opposition

Over the past several months, the county has hosted an information session on the amendments and fielded feedback through a public comment period. Although some have supported the changes, dozens of residents, primarily in Arch Cape and Cove Beach, have expressed opposition.

Public comments have included concerns over the impact of higher-density housing on the environment, residential character and limited infrastructure like water, sewer and fire response. Many have expressed that changing some housing types from a conditional use to a permitted use would also deny residents the opportunity to provide input on projects that could impact their neighborhoods.

Without a countywide cap on vacation rentals, opponents say there’s no guarantee new development allowed under the amendments would actually provide year-round housing for county residents. Henrikson clarified at the October Planning Commission meeting that county staff have since added language to the amendments that would prohibit employee housing residences, employee housing and cottage clusters from being used as short-term rentals.

“The reason for that is that we are trying to promote housing that addresses the workforce deficit for our employees within the county,” she said. “Allowing those types of units that are specifically focused on providing that type of housing for our workforce, it just seemed to make sense to limit short-term rental opportunities in those types of housing product.”

In the meantime, county commissioners are also looking to make a decision on a proposed vacation rental cap in the coming months.