City of Hood River Endorses Inclusionary Zoning

Hood River City Council is backing a bill–SB 1533— before the Oregon legislature to repeal the state’s ban on Inclusionary Zoning. Inclusionary Zoning –or IZ– is a tool used effectively by hundreds of jurisdictions to create a larger supply of affordable housing. Under IZ, a developer is required to include a certain percentage of below market units in a new development in exchange for incentives like increased density, fee waivers and fast tracked permitting. Oregon and Texas are the only two states in the nation that prohibit the practice. Affordable housing is not just a big city problem, more and more people are finding themselves squeezed out of the market because of the high costs of home ownership and monthly rents. Our Executive Director, Heather Staten wrote an article for 1000 Friends of Oregon’s annual magazine on the topic: Landmark on Affordable Housing

A basic introduction to IZ:   2016 IZ one Sheet_12117

A more comprehensive look at IZ: White Paper-IZ in Oregon

We fully support SB 1533. Closing the affordability gap is a difficult problem and the City needs to have every available tool in its toolbox.

We encourage you to send your thoughts to our local legislators: Sen. Chuck Thomsen and Rep. Mark Johnson.