Hope Telford joined Portland-based Richard Brown Architect in 2014 and bought the firm in 2020 with the goal of creating spaces that emphasize natural materials, comfort, usability and energy efficiency.

“I’ve always been a big creative thinker and it’s been a large shift for me to move from being primarily a designer to taking a leadership role, but I love that,” she said.

The firm specializes in wineries, new homes, home renovations and ADUs, sacred and educational spaces, and commercial projects. Telford said she appreciates the opportunity to help her staff achieve their goals while also satisfying clients.

“It’s really great to see clients who are happy because their spaces turned out to be so much more than they ever imagined,” she said.

The post Telford + Brown Studio Architecture appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

By Katherine Roth

The Associated Press

Amid a persistent housing crunch in many parts of the U.S., some people are finding a solution in accessory dwelling units, or ADUs. They’re also known as granny flats, in-law units or backyard bungalows.

These small homes – separate from the main house – tend to be low-impact and energy-efficient. Where legal, they can add housing to a neighborhood while causing less disruption than construction of new apartment buildings, proponents say.

ADUs are getting a new look in today’s tight housing market; the last couple of years have seen a shortage of homes for sale, and many are selling for above listing price, according to economists and real estate brokers.

Sheri Koones, whose new book “Bigger than Tiny, Smaller than Average” (Gibbs-Smith, March 2022) features several examples of ADUs, says they are part of a shift toward smaller, more affordable and energy-efficient homes.

High ceilings, abundant natural light, built-in furniture and open floor plans can make ADUs feel more livable than their modest footprints might indicate, said Koones, who has written extensively about small homes and sustainable building.

“In our experience, a small space can truly be a generous living experience,” said Scott Mooney, an architect in the Portland area who designed an ADU with his wife, Lauren Shumaker, a construction engineer.

They’ve been living in it for over four years, sharing the 624-square-foot space with their toddler and dog. They rent out the larger 1950s bungalow that had already existed on the 5,000-square-foot property.

“The key is maximizing outdoor access, with lots of light, lots of views, pocket doors instead of swing doors and plenty of built-ins,” Mooney said. “It’s a lot like what you see in RVs or custom vans.”

An ADU could be created by converting a detached garage or building an apartment above an attached garage. It could be part of a basement, with a separate entrance. Or it could be a new structure if the property is large enough; there are prefab ADUs or blueprints available to buy.

While, for the most part, these units cannot be sold separately from a home, they can be places for elderly parents or adult children to live, or they can be used as home offices or guest homes. In some areas, they can be rented out or, as with Mooney and his wife, provide housing for the homeowners, who then rent out the main house.

“Thousands of jurisdictions across the country, primarily on the West Coast, permit ADUs,” said Kol Peterson, editor of AccessoryDwellings.org, a clearinghouse for information. “In much of the country, though, rules vary widely from one jurisdiction to another.”

The online resource keeps a list of where ADUs are allowed nationwide as well as which architects or builders specialize in them.

Homeowners should check with their local municipality for rules, since ADUs are sometimes restricted to a certain height, for example, or their footprint must be limited to a certain percentage of the property.

According to Peterson, who built his own ADU and has been living in it for more than a decade, the units help mitigate housing shortages. They provide homeowners with a way to make a little rent money in neighborhoods that have grown expensive, he said, and offer renters spaces that rent for less than larger, traditional houses.

“They add density without adding large new housing structures,” Koones said.

ADUs are more feasible where laws have been mandated at the state level, such as in California and Oregon, as opposed to places where it’s up to local authorities and proposed legislation can end up being onerous, Peterson said.

In localities, an ADU is sometimes required to have its own parking space, for example. Yet oftentimes that isn’t possible.

But the rules are changing quickly.

“Pretty much every day now we’re seeing more municipalities that are deciding to start allowing ADUs,” Peterson said. “From 2018 to 2020, Californian jurisdictions permitted 33,881 ADUs and 22,695 ADUs were added to the state’s housing supply.”

In Portland, around 2 percent of all single-family homes now have an ADU, he said. That’s more than any other area in the country.

Vancouver, British Columbia, is another city in which ADUs are popular.

“The cost of housing is skyrocketing here,” said Tanya Dang, who lives in Vancouver with her partner in a 650-square-foot remodeled garage. “My parents had built a new house and weren’t allowed to build a lane house (ADU). Then the rules changed, and my parents are aging, and we thought, ‘Let’s go for it.’

“We moved in July 2020, and before that we were living with my parents, so when we moved in, we thought, ‘Oh my goodness; we have all this space now!’”

High ceilings and an ample patio help make the space feel larger, Dang said. The home, designed by Lanefab Design/Build, has enough storage space for the couple’s outdoor gear plus things her parents had kept in the garage.

“We have a pullout couch and a half bathroom downstairs, so we can even have guests,” she said. “There’s a fold-out leaf at the kitchen island that allows us to seat six people for dinner. People are always surprised at how big it feels.”

The post During housing crisis, small residences can be big appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

A local start-up developer of accessory homes is embarking on a .

Dweller, led by Portland’s Patrick Quinton, is using Small Change, an investment platform that promotes social responsibility. Small Change allows accredited and nonaccredited investors to put money into a portfolio of vetted real estate projects in urban neighborhoods.

Dweller will use the investment to build up to eight accessory dwelling units (ADUs).

Quinton founded Dweller in 2017 after stepping down as executive director of the Portland Development Commission (now Prosper Portland).

To date, Dweller has developed 10 ADUs with what Quinton calls a deferred ownership model. It allows ADUs to be built next to single-family homes with no upfront cost in exchange for a long-term ground lease. Dweller owns and operates the rental units. Homeowners receive 25 percent of the rent and have the option of buying the ADUs later.

Quinton, in an interview, said the business model is amenable to crowdfunding.

“We felt like what we were doing was well-suited to what we were seeing on the real estate crowdfunding side,” he said. “We also weren’t finding that many traditional lenders and investors understood the business model that we had or were willing to be aggressive in terms of putting their money into the ADU market.”

Rents for Dweller’s units built to date average about $1,250. The new round of ADUs will be affordable to renters at 80 percent of area median income, Quinton said.

Dweller was selected in 2019 by the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley, to participate in the first cohort of its Housing Lab program.

The company’s investment round comes as Portland prepares to implement the Residential Infill Project; zoning rule changes are set to take effect Aug. 1, 2021. The initiative will loosen single-family zoning to make it easier to build ADUs, duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes in much of the city.

“It opens up more sites for us,” Quinton said. “Portland was already way ahead of the curve in terms of the ADU code. We didn’t feel really constrained.”

The post ADU-driven startup turns to crowdfunding appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

In a Portland couple’s backyard, a small cottage looks like it could have been dropped in from Scandinavia.

The accessory dwelling unit, owned by Alex and Monica Seidel, has only 462 square feet of interior space. Large sliding glass doors and windows let in natural light. Cedar is employed extensively on the siding and attached storage, adding warmth.

The ADU was designed by Webster Wilson, one of several Portland architects who has found a niche designing some of the smallest buildings in the city. Wilson’s ADU design recently won a merit award from the American Institute of Architects’ Portland chapter. Local architect Scott Mooney also won a merit award for an ADU design that followed a pinwheel concept, with the floor plan spinning around a series of walls.

Startups are racing to design and build prefabricated ADUs and potentially meet the demand in Portland for several hundred units annually. Yet some homeowners are going the opposite route, paying for boutique designs and high-end materials.

The Seidels’ ADU, on North Fowler Avenue, cost about $325,000 to build.

“We were paying for some more aesthetics and longevity,” Alex Seidel said.

For architects, ADUs present a variety of unique design challenges. The Seidels’ ADU includes space-saving features such as a flip-up bed and California closets.

“You’re squeezing all of the functions of a house – like kitchens and bathrooms – and condensing it down to a small envelope,” Wilson said. “That’s the inherent challenge of ADUs.”

City rules require ADUs to be 800 square feet (or smaller), or 75 percent of the single-family home’s size, whichever is less. Furthermore, ADUs are almost always built on constrained sites so creativity often is required.

“That’s both part of the challenge and part of the excitement of them,” Wilson said. “They’re fun as a design puzzle.”

The projects are typically crafted on tight budgets by middle-class homeowners looking to house relatives or generate extra income. Local architects use ADU designs to demonstrate craft rather than boost earnings, Wilson said.

“They’re not lucrative from a business point of view for architects,” he said. “They’re definitely more of portfolio pieces.”

City leaders have encouraged the development of ADUs as a tool to help solve the city’s housing crisis. The City Council waived system development charges, and the city’s Residential Infill Project would expand the zoning where ADUs are allowed. ADUs can avoid design review if they’re shorter than 15 feet.

ADUs are no longer a new concept in Portland, but that’s not necessarily the case across the country. One of the Philadelphia architects who judged the 2018 Portland Architecture Awards said he’d learned the term ADU from the contest submissions.

Momentum to build ADUs is growing in California, which also faces a historic housing crisis. State legislation cleared the way last year. A pilot program funded by billionaire Michael Bloomberg is beginning, and Los Angeles is among the cities crafting ADU ordinances, according to media reports.

The Seidels’ ADU was completed in May behind their 1920s-era single-family home in the Arbor Lodge neighborhood near the University of Portland. The single-story ADU has numerous design features meant to accommodate Monica Seidel’s parents as they age. These include a deck that links the ADU and the main house, a wide hallway and low-mounted handles.

“It’s meant to be a place where they can age gracefully with beauty,” said Alex Seidel, a therapist.

Until then, the Seidels are renting out the backyard cottage nightly through Airbnb. (The ADU has a short-term rental permit required by the city, public records show). The ADU is rented out approximately 22 nights a month, Alex Seidel said. Pricing varies, but it is typically rented for about $100, although he added he believes it’s underpriced relative to the market.

The backyard cottage replaced a garage that was poorly positioned to store vehicles.

“I never was able to park in it,” Alex Seidel said.

Neighbors did not object to the construction, and the builders even became friends with the Seidels’ children, Alex Seidel said. Structure PDX served as the contractor.

“Everybody’s been supportive,” Alex Seidel said. “It’s a very light impact on the neighborhood.”

Alex Seidel said the process for building an ADU was not the headache he had been told to fear.

“It was – I’ve got to say – smooth,” he said.

The post ADUs: architectural conundrums appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Residential development has exploded across Portland. While robust, the development has not been comprehensive. The result: housing gaps that city officials are determined to fill.

“We have been building apartments and big houses, but not a lot of middle housing,” said Sandra Wood, supervising planner at the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS).

Filling those gaps is not only a big key to housing an estimated 123,000 households expected to move to the city by 2035 but also the primary goal of the . The city is looking to reduce the scale of new infill development, increase the volume and number of types of housing choices, and provide clear and fair rules for “narrow” lot development. The ultimate goal is to promote higher density in structures within the residential overlay zone that covers nearly 90 percent of Portland.

Zoning changes are expected to accomplish the city’s goals. The end result will impact neighborhoods and the building industries for decades to come.

Not everyone is a fan of the project’s direction. The BPS received more than 800 responses during the public comment period that closed Nov. 30. Some neighborhood groups and area designers believe that it has become a way for the city to push density on already crowded neighborhoods.

“I really don’t think it is on the right track,” said Tamara DeRidder, chairwoman of the Rose City Park Neighborhood Association. “It subverts the comprehensive plan. It’s much too expansive. I don’t feel like many people understand what is going on.”

What is going on is an effort to rework the city’s zoning codes to allow more households per square foot of land while reducing the scales of new structures.

“The new infill housing was out of scale with existing neighborhoods,” said Morgan Tracy, a project manager for BPS. “Some of it is based on market preference. But it is also the escalating value of land. When builders get land, they need to add square footage to justify investment.”

That has led to small houses being torn down and turned into much larger homes in many neighborhoods. The city’s hope is that new regulations will result in fewer 5,000-square-foot McMansions and more 2,500-square-foot homes.

George Hale, owner of H. Hudson Homes, said that such changes could force him and others to build elsewhere. Hale, who has built houses in Portland for 20 years, said his customers aren’t interested in small two-bedroom homes.

“Like it or not, people want a big house,” he said. “They want all the amenities that go along with it. People with families are going to move elsewhere. The city will become dual-income, no-kid people, and that is how the city is going to turn out.”

While reducing the scale of structures is relatively straightforward, finding ways to increase density and housing choice has proven to be a tougher challenge for the city. To achieve higher density, planners decided to allow homes built within the overlay zone to add a second accessory dwelling unit (ADU) to the one currently allowed. One could be attached – such as a basement or garage. Another could be a separate structure.

“Our goal was to address the outcome of infill development,” Tracy said. “We want to increase the diversity of housing options.”

Changing demographics requires smaller units to be built, Tracy said. The average household in Portland has shrunk from 2.5 persons per unit to just 2.1 persons in the last decade, making smaller ADU-type units a viable way to address the housing challenges.

Currently, the most common residential zone, R5, allows one unit for every 5,000 square feet on a lot. More than 75 percent of residential areas fall into either the R5 or R7 (meaning one unit for every 7,000 square feet) zones. Under the new proposed rules, many of those would be changed to a R2.5, meaning that a unit can be built for every 2,500 square feet.

While duplexes have been allowed on corner lots since 1991, only 3.5 percent of owners of those lots have taken advantage of that provision. Many residents fear that will change with the new overlay zone, encouraging builders to put more duplexes, triplexes and ADUs on lots that formerly had single-family homes.

“You have a property that can house a triplex with an ADU on a 5,000-square-foot lot,” DeRidder said. “That changes the entire character of the neighborhood. It will be rebuilt into a new fabric.”

Neighborhood groups are also concerned the city’s quest to fit more households onto ever-tighter spaces could spur more demolitions of existing homes to accommodate multifamily complexes.

“Remodeling a house for that kind of density is cost-prohibitive,” DeRidder said. “We could have a lot of demolitions.”

The Residential Infill Project’s heavy focus on the city’s eastern portion led some stakeholders to question why only certain areas are being asked to absorb greater density. Lot size and shape are the determining factors explaining differences between how the east and west are treated, according to the city.

Those explanations have done little to allay fears that east Portland could see a new wave of demolitions and construction.

“The fear of demolition is from the fear that (the Residential Infill Project) lets people build duplexes and triplexes on every corner no matter where it is,” said Peter Meijer, founder of Peter Meijer Architect PC. “The majority of blocks are two lots on corners. That could turn into multifamily development. That is a scary vision for folks.”

Meijer, who specializes in historic preservation and revitalization, said the Residential Infill Project relies too much on a one-size-fits-all approach. Accounting for differences between city regions is crucial to successfully incorporating higher density, he said.

“One size doesn’t fit all,” he said. “I think you can say Sandy Boulevard is the type of street (that) is perfect for multifamily, three- or four-story housing. A single-family house getting built there is bad. It’s about balance. Why are you forcing (more density) all into R5 neighborhoods? Why is it still OK to build a single-story building on the transit corridors?”

The city believes that the current draft does take differences into account, especially between lot differences on the east and west sides.

“The zoning is already for higher density on transit corridors,” Tracy said. “We are still seeing some single-story construction, but that is a function of the real estate market.”

With the public comment period now closed, the BPS will spend the next several months updating and refining the draft proposal. The proposal will go before the Planning and Sustainability Commission for hearings in early 2018. The hope is to have the final completed proposal before the City Council in May or June.

“I am not against more flexibility or the need for more apartments,” DeRidder said. “But the question is: Is that what we need instead of homeownership? This would be more a rental market and not a homeownership market.”

The amount of change revisions bring will likely depend on where a structure is built, according to Wood.

“It really depends where you are,” she said. “If you are where we are proposing an R2.5, you may see more change, but I think you will see a pretty positive change.”

The post Residential density: a burgeoning conflict appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Accessory dwelling units are going mainstream.

Once a curiosity, ADUs are being constructed in Portland at a rate that is rapidly nearing two per day. In many East Portland neighborhoods, the sight of an ADU going up next to a house is becoming commonplace.

As demand for ADUs has increased, general contractors and architects have jumped into the business. Some small builders are tackling ADUs along with single-family homes and renovations. Meanwhile, entrepreneurs are competing to find ways to cut costs and scale up ADU business with modular construction.

In 2016, the city of Portland issued 615 building permits for ADUs, a 27 percent jump from the previous year. The increased pace of ADU construction has coincided with the city’s decision to continue waiving system development charges (SDCs) for such projects and maintain relatively friendly zoning rules.

The city has repeatedly waived SDCs for ADUs. The waiver is currently scheduled to expire on July 31, 2018, unless the City Council again extends it.

ADUs are providing close-in neighborhoods the density that city officials say they want. City officials are backing increased density through initiatives including the Residential Infill Project.

Amanda Petretti, founder of Studio Petretti, a Portland architecture firm, said it makes sense for the city to extend the SDC waiver on ADUs.

“From a sustainability perspective, it’s low-hanging fruit for the city to incentivize, and they should,” she said.

Some local residents have gotten involved with pro-density groups such as Portland for Everyone, which seeks to serve as a counterweight to neighborhood associations and historic preservation advocates who often oppose ADU infill.

Joe Robertson, owner of Shelter Solutions, is a senior figure among Portland’s ADU builders. He started building ADUs in 1998, when almost no one was building the auxiliary buildings in Portland. Now, he has a lot more competition.

“Ever since the recession, when builders had to branch out and do remodeling, it’s grown and grown and grown,” he said. “With the lack of building lots, it’s just another opportunity to build a product. It’s grown exponentially the last couple of years.”

Robertson built one to two ADUs per year until 2010, when he founded Shelter Solutions to focus on ADUs. Now, Shelter Solutions builds about 25 ADUs per year. He has three employees and a network of longtime subcontractors.

Also known as mother-in-law apartments or “granny flats,” ADUs are small dwellings built alongside an existing single-family home. Under Portland’s zoning code, they must be smaller than the original home, limited to 75 percent of the existing home or 800 square feet, whichever is smaller.

Costs vary widely. A simple garage conversion can be done for $80,000 to $90,000, Robertson said. Building an 800-square-foot detached ADU would cost $160,000 to $190,000. Some units with high-end finishes can cost more than $200,000.

Alan Armstrong of Strongwork Architecture is among Portland’s ADU designers. He tells customers – who often come in expecting to pay less – that $150,000 is a standard figure.

“That’s what you should expect,” he said.

Financing remains largely a missing piece for ADUs. Most property owners who build ADUs either pay cash or use home-equity loans, builders and architects said.

Property owners build ADUs for a number of reasons. The most lucrative investment is to rent them out as short-term rentals via websites such as Airbnb.

Robertson said one customer told him he expects to have earned back his investment on an ADU in five years.

“They typically do pay for themselves pretty well for the customers,” Robertson said.

Other ADU owners use them as traditional long-term rentals. Some build ADUs to house family members, typically aging parents or so-called “boomerang” kids. In some cases, an aging parent has paid to build an ADU on their adult child’s property to move into, Robertson said.

In Portland, ADU construction is concentrated in North, Northeast and Southeast neighborhoods.

Robertson said he hadn’t encountered outright opposition from any neighborhood association. Even historic neighborhoods have bowed to the trend.

“Eastmoreland might be the most stringent, but as long as you comply with what the code requires, you’re OK,” Robertson said.

As ADUs become more popular, builders and entrepreneurs are seeking to drive down costs and make the process more easily replicable. Builders clear only a modest profit on each unit, making a larger scale appealing.

“The next nut to crack is to figure out how to get more efficiency of scale for ADUs,” said Eli Spevak, owner of Orange Splot, a general contractor that has built ADUs. “There are a lot of people working on modular prototypes. I think that’s the next frontier locally.”

Shelter Solutions has four models designed in-house that range up to 500 square feet.

Studio Petretti in early November rolled out a line of prefabricated ADUs called “Stuga” – the Swedish word for “cottage.” Studio Petretti is working with builders Mods PDX, TaylorSmith Sustainable Construction and Akos Construction on the units.

The prefabricated models cut construction time, costs and the myriad of decisions ADU buyers are confronted with, Petretti said.

“We’re trying to balance high design with budget consciousness,” she said.

Patrick Quinton, former executive director of the Portland Development Commission (now Prosper Portland), has founded a startup, Dweller, that is aimed at reducing ADU building costs with modular units.

“Our goal is to be able to build and install ADUs for under $100,000,” he said.

Quinton is working with Champion Homes to manufacture modular units, and hopes to soon install Dweller’s first two projects – one in northeast Portland and one in Southeast Portland.

“It’s a good time to be in the market,” he said. “That means more competition, but hopefully that’s a good thing for the market.”

Quinton also is working to get state approval on a standard design. That way, Dweller would not have to go through design review for each project.

“We think it’s a more efficient process for us as we grow,” he said.

Other firms are at work on “tiny homes” and other modular designs. SQFT Studios advertises a compact ADU, 16 feet by 24 feet, for an average of $120,000 to $150,000. The company also does custom designs.

As demand for ADUs continues to gain steam, more designers are doing the work. Propel Studio, Environs and Polyphon Architecture & Design and Mitchell Snyder Architecture all design ADUs.

Some of these architects hold competitive bidding to solicit ADU builders.

Portland State University recently hosted a conference for the ADU industry, and the school’s Institute for Sustainable Solutions has spearheaded the Backyard Initiative to examine ADU-related issues.

Multnomah County is also pushing ADUs with a $350,000 pilot project. The program, , is paying for the design and installation of ADUs with contractor Enhabit on four homeowners’ properties in exchange for hosting residents rent-free for five years.

The post Small housing units becoming big business appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

A plan to streamline and simplify Portland zoning rules for accessory dwelling units hit a bump last week, with a potentially restrictive new provision now before the city council.

An amendment proposed by Commissioner Amanda Fritz would make it more difficult to build ADUs near property lines.

“The purpose of setbacks is to allow light, air and privacy; it’s right there in the code,” she said.

Fritz is worried that the draft rules as written could allow a wall of ADUs to fully enclose a property owner’s backyard.

Fritz said that at a public forum Monday at Portland Community College‘s campus on Southeast Division Street, between 50 and 60 people expressed their agreement with her on the issue, and only one person raised a hand to show opposition. (She also sought input on Mayor Charlie Hales‘ proposed $25,000 tax on home demolitions; the crowd’s feelings on that issue were evenly split, she said.)

“Once people are made aware of it, they were like, ‘No, I do not want a new home on my property line,’” she said.

After Fritz proposed the amendment at last week’s council meeting, two of the five commissioners – Hales and Commissioner Dan Saltzman – spoke in opposition.

The updates to the Portland Zoning Code have already passed first reading by the council. It will consider the amendment at Wednesday’s regular meeting. Fifteen minutes has been requested, and no public testimony is scheduled to be taken. If the council approves the code update as written – and no new amendments are proposed – they will take effect Jan. 4, 2016. Then a window of sorts would be open for ADU builders. With a waiver on system development charges (representing possible savings to builders exceeding $10,000) set to expire in July 2016, planner Phil Nameny said his office has been contacted by many people who hope to submit plans before SDCs are reinstituted.

The city has worked since January to update its zoning regulations regarding accessory structures as part of a larger effort to modernize the city’s land use code. In this instance, a major goal was to plan based on an accessory structure’s “form” over its “function,” and took aim at the regulations permit-seekers most often contest. The proposed changes, developed with assistance of a citizen focus group and approved by the Planning Commission, would treat residential outbuildings more like garages, Nameny said.

Under 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.

The post Amendment could be tacked onto zoning code changes appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The Portland City Council gave preliminary support to new proposed accessory structure design guidelines, which are expected to simplify the permitting process and lower construction costs for accessory dwelling units.

Recommended draft revisions to Portland’s Accessory Structures Zoning Code breezed through Thursday’s regular council meeting. A second reading and a vote will take place later this month. A focus group of citizens helped guide formation of the proposed changes, which were compiled over the past 12 months. They were approved by the Planning and Sustainability Commission in September.

The revision process was a joint effort between the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability and the Bureau of Development Services. Planners and technicians sought to have all detached structures treated with greater uniformity and consistency, and the permitting process be more streamlined, according to BDS Director Paul Scarlett. He told the council that average customers could save up to $2,600 on adjustments, and waits of up to 10 weeks could be eliminated.

Accessory structures are defined as those of a secondary importance to a site’s primary use. This category has grown over the past 25 years to include a grab bag of outbuildings – sheds, pool houses, artist studios, mechanical outbuildings, garages, ADUs and others. A major goal of the code revision project was to plan based on an accessory structure’s “form” over its “function.” And in looking at areas to address, the focus group zeroed in on the rules that builders most commonly ask to be tweaked.

“What we’re doing is trying to create a uniform approach,” planner Matt Wickstrom said.

Today, the city on average issues four to five permits for accessory structures each operating day. Most are for garages, though the BDS has seen a large increase in ADU permits since 2010. In this five-year period, the city has issued 400 adjustment reviews (29 percent of permit applications) – including 83 for height.

Wickstrom said that under the changes, approximately half of those 83 height adjustment reviews would not have been necessary.

Under the revisions, the height limit would be set at 20 feet for all accessory structures. And instead of being required to strictly match the style and materials of a property’s main structure, ADU designers would be allowed greater design flexibility. Setback requirements would be eased to allow more small buildings at a property’s sides and rear. Rules restricting the placement of attached and detached mechanical equipment would be softened.

Commissioners asked questions about historic tree protections, mechanical buildings’ noise impacts and the city’s waiver on system development charges for ADUs, which is set to expire in July 2016. Six members of the public addressed the council; none opposed the revisions.

“I just want to convey that these changes are extremely popular with homeowners,” said ADU advocate Kol Peterson, who noted that he has spoken with more than 200 homeowners about the Accessory Structures Zoning Code Update project. “And I think they’re fantastic as well.”

Peterson told the council that if SDCs between $15,000 and $18,000 are reinstituted, ADU construction could suffer significantly.

Also, ADU builder Joe Robertson said that rather than use ADUs as rentals, many people he knows use them to house elderly relatives or grown children between careers.

The post City Council favoring proposed changes for accessory structures appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

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.

“I’d say about half the homeowners I interact with are waiting because the rules are so good,” said Peterson, who runs accessorydwellings.org as well as the ADU-inspired Tiny House Hotel in the Alberta Arts District. “It changes the possibilities of what we do.”

An overarching goal of the code revision project has been to plan based on an accessory structure’s “form” over its “function,” 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 “stock” 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.

“Some of the changes will streamline things dramatically,” said Bryan Danger, owner of zenbox design, which specializes in ADUs.

“For the smaller ADUs, things will be remarkably easier.”

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 “” 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.

“We had a huge spike,” he said, “but it’s still insignificant.”

The post City’s ADU rules may change soon appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

A citywide tour of Portland’s accessory dwelling units – or ADUs – will take place later this month.

Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, Metro, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Caravan – The Tiny House Hotel and Earth Advantage will host “Build Small, Live Large: Portland’s Accessory Dwelling Unit Tour” on May 29-31. The self-guided tour will feature 25 ADUs across Portland and give attendees access to the owners, builders and designers of the secondary housing units constructed on single-family lots.

The tour will coincide with a three-hour workshop on May 29 called “Getting Started with Permitting, Financing and Design,” of ADUs. It will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. at Alberta Abbey, 126 NE Alberta St. The cost $30 until May 23 and then goes up to $35. Continuing education credits are available for Oregon real estate professionals through Earth Advantage.

On May 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. attendees can take a self-guided tour of 12 ADUs in Northeast Portland, followed by a party with live music and food from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Caravan—Tiny House Hotel, 5009 NE 11th Ave.

The tour will conclude on May 31 with 13 ADUs in Southeast Portland on display from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Early-bird tickets for the tour are available until May 23. The early-bird prices are $30 for a one day tour, $50 for both days and $75 for the workshop and the two-day tour. After May 23, the prices increase to $35 for a one-day tour and $60 for two days.

More event information and registration details are available

In 2010, the city waived system development charges for ADUs. Since then, the number of permits for ADUs in Portland has soared from approximately 30 a year to more than 200. This led the Portland City Council to approve extending the waiver until July 2016.

After the success of the inaugural Portland ADU tour held last year, which had 850 attendees and 12 ADUs on display, organizers planned an expanded event this year. Another citywide ADU tour is already planned for later this year on Nov. 6.

The post Tour of Portland accessory dwelling units planned appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.