Expanding housing options in neighborhoods

Beaverton wants to provide housing choices to meet the needs of a lot of different people who live in Beaverton or want to live in Beaverton.

In the last nine months, we heard from many of you about how Beaverton could allow more housing variety in neighborhoods. Based on ideas from you and your neighbors, city staff drafted a preferred approach that also considers themes from the racial equity analysis, feasibility analysis, and input from the City Council and Planning Commission.

The draft preferred approach is now available for your review. You can read it here.

Join our mailing list to receive updates on upcoming opportunities for you to share what you think about the draft preferred approach.

The draft preferred approach will be discussed at the Planning Commission on October 6, 2021, (visit this link to watch the live hearing or provide public testimony) and at the City Council on October 12, 2021, (visit this link to watch the live hearing or provide public testimony).

The Housing Options Project must also comply with recent changes in state law, which require that cities like Beaverton allow more different kinds of housing in neighborhoods where we allow only one house per lot now. Some background information:

• State law fact sheet provides more information about legal requirements.
• Development history summary provides more information about Beaverton’s residential neighborhoods.

Project Description

The project is considering where and how these additional housing types could be allowed to:

• Provide more places to live for people with different housing needs, preferences and income levels.
• Encourage diverse housing options so people can stay in their neighborhoods as their needs change.
• Give property owners more choices and flexibility over what types of housing they can build on their land.
• Assist with affordability by allowing more units and smaller units in existing neighborhoods.