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Though the city of Portland will consider updating its rules regarding accessory dwelling units, advocates of backyard construction say far larger issues remain.

Draft amendments to the Portland Zoning Code loosening restrictions on ADUs and other accessory structures will be heard by the City Council on Nov. 12. Existing rules governing ADUs are an aggregation of revisions, some going back to when Portland first experimented with residential outbuildings 25 years ago.

The update process, which began in January, has been relatively low-drama given current feelings about the high cost of living in Portland, ADU advocate Kol Peterson said. And the proposed changes are good enough, he said, that many property owners are holding onto permit applications until they’re passed by the City Council.

鈥淚’d say about half the homeowners I interact with are waiting because the rules are so good,鈥� said Peterson, who runs accessorydwellings.org as well as the ADU-inspired Tiny House Hotel in the Alberta Arts District. 鈥淚t changes the possibilities of what we do.鈥�

An overarching goal of the code revision project has been to plan based on an accessory structure’s 鈥渇orm鈥� over its 鈥渇unction,鈥� said planner Phil Nameny, the project manager. In particular, the project’s focus group looked at the rules that owners have most often asked to be adjusted, he said.

Under the changes, accessory structures would be considered more like garages. And with the elimination of many site-specific requirements, owners could save on design costs by going with 鈥渟tock鈥� ADU plans, Nameny said.

Among the proposed changes, a one-story accessory structure could be built closer to setbacks and property lines. In another, the uniform height maximum for all detached accessory structures would be raised from 18 feet to 20.

鈥淪ome of the changes will streamline things dramatically,鈥� said Bryan Danger, owner of zenbox design, which specializes in ADUs.

鈥淔or the smaller ADUs, things will be remarkably easier.鈥�

But two big issues remain, and Peterson says they’re significant enough they could cause this fledgling field of homebuilding to fizzle out.

For one, a waiver on system development charges is scheduled to expire in July 2016. The number of ADUs in Portland has risen sharply since the waiver was enacted in 2010, from 262 to more than 1,200 today. Peterson said that he is meeting with council members to gauge their feelings about a possible renewal of the waiver.

The other issue is a change in how Multnomah County calculates property taxes. New tax bills for owners of detached ADUs have come in as much as 600 percent higher than previously, according to statements by property owners who commented on Peterson’s blog post 鈥溾�� on accessorydwellings.org.

One thing that Peterson said is working against ADUs is the popular feeling they’ve been a smashing success. Twelve hundred still isn’t many, he noted.

鈥淲e had a huge spike,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut it’s still insignificant.鈥�