SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Oregon has approved a pioneering measure to increase the supply of affordable housing throughout the state.
The Senate voted 17-9 Sunday to send the governor a plan to ease local zoning laws. Cities with more than 10,000 people must allow for the construction of less expensive housing options like duplexes, triplexes and townhomes.
The measure doesn’t require that these types of housing units actually be built. It rather lifts local bans on these denser housing options, paving the way for possible future development. The city of Minneapolis approved a similar measure last year.
The move responds to a statewide affordable housing crisis that touches every part of the state. The governor earlier this year approved the first statewide rent control law in the nation.