Can I build a duplex on a single-family lot in Oregon?

Yes, in nearly all cases. House Bill 2001 (2019) requires Oregon cities to allow at least a duplex on any lot zoned for single-family detached housing, and cities with more than 25,000 residents (or inside the Portland Metro area) must allow duplexes through quadplexes on such lots, with sixplexes also required when at least half the units are deed-restricted affordable, subject to reasonable siting and design standards set locally.

What is an Urban Growth Boundary and how does it affect development in Oregon?

Every Oregon city has a state-mandated Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) separating land available for urban development from farm and forest land protected under the statewide planning goals administered through ORS Chapter 197. Land outside a UGB generally cannot be developed for urban uses regardless of local zoning; expanding a UGB requires a formal state-supervised process, or since 2024 a limited one-time expansion tool under Senate Bill 1537 for qualifying cities.

Does Oregon require parking minimums for new development?

Not in most of the state's largest metro areas. Under the Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities rules adopted by the Land Conservation and Development Commission in 2022, cities in Oregon's eight largest metropolitan areas were required to eliminate or substantially reduce off-street parking mandates, particularly in designated Climate-Friendly Areas near transit.

How do I find zoning and parcel data for a property in Oregon?

Start with ORMAP, Oregon's statewide digital property-tax parcel map built from county assessor data, then confirm the current base zone with the city or county's own zoning code and map (for example, Portland's Title 33 zoning code), since land use is state-supervised but zoning itself is still set locally.

Oregon · state zoning reference · Parcel data · lookup only

Oregon zoning: how it works and what you can build

Oregon runs the nation's oldest mandatory statewide land-use planning system, and in the last several years the state has aggressively preempted local zoning — ending single-family-only zoning statewide and stripping parking minimums in its largest metro areas.

How zoning works in Oregon

Oregon cities and counties have home rule under the state constitution, but since 1973 every jurisdiction's comprehensive plan and zoning code has had to be acknowledged as consistent with 19 statewide planning goals set by the Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) and administered by the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD). That system, created by Senate Bill 100 (the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Act of 1973), makes Oregon a hybrid: local governments still write and administer their own zoning codes, but the state pre-approves their substance, including the mandatory Urban Growth Boundaries (UGBs) that separate urbanizable land from protected farm and forest land.

Cities zone under ORS Chapter 227 and counties under ORS Chapter 215, both operating inside the ORS Chapter 197 statewide framework. In the Portland area, a fourth layer exists: Metro, an elected regional government, holds authority over the tri-county UGB independent of any single city or county.

Oregon has been unusually active on state preemption of local zoning in recent years. House Bill 2001 (2019) ended single-family-exclusive zoning statewide, requiring most cities to allow duplexes on any single-family lot, larger cities (over 25,000 residents, or inside the Portland Metro UGB) to allow duplexes through quadplexes, and sixplexes where at least half the units are deed-restricted affordable. In 2022 the LCDC's Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities rules eliminated or sharply cut parking minimums in the state's eight largest metro areas. In 2024, Senate Bill 1537 gave qualifying mid-size cities a one-time tool to expand their UGBs for housing in exchange for affordability commitments.

For a developer, this means Oregon feasibility work has two layers: confirm the local zoning district and any Metro/UGB constraints, then separately confirm whether state-level middle-housing or parking rules override what the local code says on its face.

Who holds the zoning power

Land-use authority in Oregon is delegated by statute, not assumed — these are the acts a zoning ordinance in Oregon has to trace back to.

Oregon Land Conservation and Development Act (Senate Bill 100, 1973) ORS Chapter 197: Creates the statewide planning goals framework and LCDC/DLCD oversight that every local zoning code must conform to.
City zoning enabling statute ORS Chapter 227: Authorizes cities to adopt zoning ordinances and comprehensive plans.
County zoning enabling statute ORS Chapter 215: Authorizes counties to adopt zoning, including exclusive farm-use and forest-use zoning.

Major cities and their codes

The enabling act sets the ceiling; the municipal code is what a project is actually reviewed against. The 6 largest Oregon jurisdictions and the codes they administer:

Oregon — municipal zoning codes
City	Zoning code
Portland	Portland Zoning Code, Title 33 of the Portland City Code Subject to Metro's regional UGB and the state's Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities parking rules.
Eugene	Eugene Land Use Code One of the state's early adopters of HB 2001 middle-housing code amendments.
Salem	Salem Zoning Code State capital; ongoing UGB expansion debates tied to housing production targets.
Gresham	Gresham Community Development Code Portland-Metro suburb subject to both Metro's UGB and the CFEC parking rules.
Hillsboro	Hillsboro Zoning Ordinance Major Silicon Forest employment base driving continued UGB and industrial-land pressure.
Bend	Bend Development Code Fast-growing Central Oregon city; UGB expansion has been a recurring constraint on supply.

Recent reforms

State-level changes override or preempt what a local ordinance says — these are the Oregon reforms that move the numbers on a real site.

2024 Senate Bill 1537 Gave qualifying cities a one-time tool to expand their urban growth boundaries for housing, with affordability set-asides required.
2022 Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities rules LCDC rulemaking eliminated or sharply reduced off-street parking minimums in designated Climate-Friendly Areas across the state's eight largest metro regions.
2019 House Bill 2001 (Middle Housing) Required nearly all Oregon cities to allow duplexes on single-family lots, larger cities to allow duplexes through quadplexes, and sixplexes where at least half the units are deed-restricted affordable, ending single-family-exclusive zoning statewide.

Parcel & GIS data

Oregon maintains ORMAP, a statewide digital cadastral (property tax) base map assembled from county assessor data and distributed through Oregon Explorer and the Oregon GEOHub, making it one of the more complete state-level parcel resources in the country.

Real parcel geometry is already loaded for Bend and Salem — see the zoning-by-city section above for a live district-and-parcel lookup there. That is not the same as a cited feasibility report: Chicago is still the only jurisdiction with bulk standards, § citations and a generated massing scheme.

Zoning by city

The statute sets who may zone; the city's own code sets what you can build. One guide per Oregon city below, explaining the district codes that appear on its zoning map — 73 district codes across Oregon so far.

Oregon zoning — common questions

Can I build a duplex on a single-family lot in Oregon?: Yes, in nearly all cases. House Bill 2001 (2019) requires Oregon cities to allow at least a duplex on any lot zoned for single-family detached housing, and cities with more than 25,000 residents (or inside the Portland Metro area) must allow duplexes through quadplexes on such lots, with sixplexes also required when at least half the units are deed-restricted affordable, subject to reasonable siting and design standards set locally.
What is an Urban Growth Boundary and how does it affect development in Oregon?: Every Oregon city has a state-mandated Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) separating land available for urban development from farm and forest land protected under the statewide planning goals administered through ORS Chapter 197. Land outside a UGB generally cannot be developed for urban uses regardless of local zoning; expanding a UGB requires a formal state-supervised process, or since 2024 a limited one-time expansion tool under Senate Bill 1537 for qualifying cities.
Does Oregon require parking minimums for new development?: Not in most of the state's largest metro areas. Under the Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities rules adopted by the Land Conservation and Development Commission in 2022, cities in Oregon's eight largest metropolitan areas were required to eliminate or substantially reduce off-street parking mandates, particularly in designated Climate-Friendly Areas near transit.
How do I find zoning and parcel data for a property in Oregon?: Start with ORMAP, Oregon's statewide digital property-tax parcel map built from county assessor data, then confirm the current base zone with the city or county's own zoning code and map (for example, Portland's Title 33 zoning code), since land use is state-supervised but zoning itself is still set locally.

Working in Oregon? Get on the list.

The parcel layer lands in the order demand does. Illinois went first because that's where the deals were; the next state is decided by who tells us what they're trying to underwrite. Tell us where you're building and what you wanted to run — you'll hear from us when Oregon opens, and sooner if we need a test parcel.

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Want to see the finished shape of this work? Illinois is live at parcel level — Illinois zoning and the 53-district Chicago reference.

Oregon zoning summaries on this page are provided for information, not legal advice. Confirm every project against the current adopted code for the jurisdiction and the statute as amended.