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State Chapters => State Politics/Government => Topic started by: mountaineer on January 13, 2019, 01:26:17 pm

Title: Could Oregon Become the First State to Ban Single-Family Zoning?
Post by: mountaineer on January 13, 2019, 01:26:17 pm
Private property, huh? Not on our watch!
Quote
Could Oregon Become the First State to Ban Single-Family Zoning?
Rep. Tina Kotek (D-Portland), speaker of the Oregon House, is drafting legislation that would end single-family zoning in cities of 10,000 or more: "The state’s housing crisis requires a combination of bolder strategies."
By Rachel Monahan
Published December 14, 2018

Legislation being drafted in Oregon could become the nation's most dramatic effort to address the housing shortages and economic and racial segregation caused by zoning restrictions.

WW has learned that Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek (D-Portland) is drafting a proposal that would require cities larger than 10,000 people to allow up to four homes to be built on land currently zoned exclusively for single-family housing.

"The state's housing crisis requires a combination of bolder strategies," says Kotek in a statement. "Oregon needs to build more units, and we must do so in a way that increases housing opportunity for more people. Allowing more diverse housing types in single family neighborhoods will increase housing choice and affordability, and that's a fight that I'm willing to take on."

Kotek's proposal follows a similar move this month by Minneapolis, Minn., where city leaders have enacted a plan that will end single-family throughout that city—a decision hailed in the national press for its innovation. ...  More at Willamette Week (https://www.wweek.com/news/state/2018/12/14/could-oregon-become-the-first-state-to-ban-single-family-zoning/)
(https://www.wweek.com/resizer/HZVMjPux63aXYQDwwlLAvCUnxS4=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-wordpress-client-uploads/wweek/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/27204512/TinaKotek_ByAdamWickham-3000x2000.jpg)
Kotek
Title: Re: Could Oregon Become the First State to Ban Single-Family Zoning?
Post by: Gefn on January 13, 2019, 02:02:56 pm
So single people, either by choice, divorce, or widows or widowers can’t buy a house? So where will they live if they have no family? A studio apartment?

What about women (or men) who raise their kids in one parent households and become empty nesters? Where will the grandchildren visit?

This seems like a bad idea. Unfortunately I see other cities adopting it in the future.
Title: Re: Could Oregon Become the First State to Ban Single-Family Zoning?
Post by: EdJames on January 13, 2019, 02:13:50 pm
So single people, either by choice, divorce, or widows or widowers can’t buy a house? So where will they live if they have no family? A studio apartment?

What about women (or men) who raise their kids in one parent households and become empty nesters? Where will the grandchildren visit?

This seems like a bad idea. Unfortunately I see other cities adopting it in the future.

No, Single Family Zoning has nothing to do with anyone's marital status.  A Single Family house means that it is designed and built to house one (a single) family, versus multi-family housing like a duplex, triplex, and so on.  (That single family could be one person, or a multi-person family.)

Municipalities designate residential zoning to create neighborhoods of like structures.  A zone designated as Single Family will prevent a developer from building an apartment or condo complex in the neighborhood of single family homes.  Some zones are created that permit duplexes or triplexes to be built among single family homes. 

The purpose is to create zoning that supports a degree of homogeneity of housing that also supports the economic value principal of conformity.
Title: Re: Could Oregon Become the First State to Ban Single-Family Zoning?
Post by: andy58-in-nh on January 13, 2019, 02:16:55 pm
The Soviet Union did essentially the same thing, back in the day. Then, they claimed the power to decide who would live where. Soon it was common for three, four, or even five families to share an apartment, with living quarters separated by sheets and blankets. But it was all for the good of the "collective", as citizens of America's West Coast are increasingly being told is the highest possible value.

I can't wait to see how this all works out. I suppose it will unfold the way things usually do when citizens voluntarily surrender their freedom in exchange for security, allowing themselves to become dependents of the State. But there is the matter of that pesky American constitution, you know. And that will make for interesting viewing - from a safe distance, of course.
Title: Re: Could Oregon Become the First State to Ban Single-Family Zoning?
Post by: Gefn on January 13, 2019, 02:18:29 pm
@EdJames thanks for explaining it to me.

I guess I over interpreted the word “single” but i never heard this term before.

I have to rethink my thoughts on this one. Very interesting,
Title: Re: Could Oregon Become the First State to Ban Single-Family Zoning?
Post by: EdJames on January 13, 2019, 02:36:32 pm
@EdJames thanks for explaining it to me.

I guess I over interpreted the word “single” but i never heard this term before.

I have to rethink my thoughts on this one. Very interesting,

You are welcome.

While an argument can be made that all municipal zoning regulations are onerous and unduly limit personal freedom (i.e., the ability to use a parcel of privately owned land  in whichever way the owner sees fit), society over time has come to accept the regulations as being necessary to afford some degree of protection for a property owner.  Absent such regulations, someone could buy up 2 or 3 lots in a residential neighborhood of single family homes and develop a strip mall, motel, auto repair shop, etc., which could have a substantial impact on the value of the single family homes in the area.  (Just think of how the value of your nice 4 BR 3 Bath split level home would plummet if one day the adjoining property was no longer a similar home, but now the site of a 24 hour convenience store, gas station, nail salon, and adult bookstore!)

One of the aspects of such regulations that makes it more tenable to most is that in most states the zoning regulations are indeed implemented at the local level (municipalities) so that the decision on how to lay out and populate the zones are done by people in/for the community.  This effort being proposed at the state level (Oregon) takes that local control and decision-making away.

Additionally, by removing the ability of local municipalities to even consider having Single Family housing zones (in cities with a population over 10,000 (for now)), it unduly removes the choice of housing types for large portions of the population.
Title: Re: Could Oregon Become the First State to Ban Single-Family Zoning?
Post by: Sanguine on January 13, 2019, 02:48:57 pm
Houston doesn't have zoning. 

I expect it could turn out something like this:  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09654310902949588 (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09654310902949588)

Or this:  https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Weirdest-images-from-Houston-s-lack-of-zoning-laws-9171688.php#photo-10773147 (https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Weirdest-images-from-Houston-s-lack-of-zoning-laws-9171688.php#photo-10773147)
Title: Re: Could Oregon Become the First State to Ban Single-Family Zoning?
Post by: mountaineer on January 13, 2019, 02:51:01 pm
While zoning laws have some merit, it seems to me this Oregon legislator wants to take it to the extreme.
Title: Re: Could Oregon Become the First State to Ban Single-Family Zoning?
Post by: andy58-in-nh on January 13, 2019, 02:59:48 pm
While zoning laws have some merit, it seems to me this Oregon legislator wants to take it to the extreme.

Exactly. Zoning laws are rather desirable at the local and municipal level, so that residential areas may be kept apart from commercial and industrial uses, and thus allow for safe operation and appropriate access to and egress from each. In the present case, we appear to be dealing with an attempt to impose a collectivist ideological agenda that favors multi-family as opposed to single-family residences.   
Title: Re: Could Oregon Become the First State to Ban Single-Family Zoning?
Post by: mountaineer on January 13, 2019, 07:03:32 pm
She cites housing shortages as the rationale for the proposed legislation, but the real problem is how overpriced housing of any sort is in places like Portland and all along the liberal left coast. Bottom line, if you can't afford housing in Portland or San Francisco, maybe you should consider moving to Omaha.