The Tillamook Board of County Commissioners held a public hearing about an ordinance update to allow accessory dwelling units in the county’s rural residential zones on May 1. Commissioners signaled their preparedness to pass the ordinance at a meeting the following week, with minor updates to its language.
A proposed ordinance update to allow the siting of recreational vehicles on properties in the same zone was continued, with commissioners asking for more regulations before further consideration.
Both proposals were made possible by Oregon Senate Bill 644, which removed certain wildfire requirements for accessory dwelling units (ADU) built in the rural residential zone. The revised requirements paved the way for counties across the state to amend their land use ordinance to allow ADU construction on two-to-ten-acre properties in the zone.
Tillamook County’s planning commission began working to update the land use ordinance shortly after the bill passed in 2023’s legislative session and recommended the proposed ordinance update at their April meeting.
If approved, property owners in the rural residential zone will be allowed to build ADUs within 100 feet of the primary dwelling unit on their property with a footprint of up to 900 square feet. No conditional use approval will be required, though plans will have to include wildfire mitigation elements and use fire hardening materials. ADUs will also be required to be attached to the same septic system as the main dwelling on the property.
Properties with ADUs will not be eligible for participation in the county’s short-term rental license program, although either or both dwellings on the property can be rented on a long-term basis.
Community Development Director Sarah Absher detailed the proposed ordinance for the commissioners, who voiced their support for the update. Absher asked the commissioners for clarification on how to measure the distance between the primary dwelling and ADU and will bring the ordinance before commissioners for another public hearing and vote on May 8.
Absher then discussed the possibility of allowing recreational vehicles (RV) to be sited on properties as dwelling units. Absher said that the same senate bill that had opened the way for ADUs had created the possibility but that Deschutes County was the only other government in the state considering it.
The planning commission approved a proposal in April that would allow for RVs to be sited a minimum of ten feet away from a property’s main dwelling on a dedicated concrete or gravel pad. The proposed ordinance would require RVs be attached to the same power and water utilities as the primary dwelling on the property and contain a toilet and sink.
Permits would be issued on a two-year basis and the primary dwelling on the property would need to be occupied by the property owner.
This proposal raised questions and concerns for the commissioners, with the main theme being the need to prevent a proliferation of dilapidated vehicles.
Commissioner Doug Olson asked if there was a requirement for a refrigerator or cooking facilities in the ordinance and Absher said that they had not been included to allow flexibility. Olson also pointed out a lack of age restrictions for RVs and said he was concerned about having “junkers” create issues.
Commissioner Erin Skaar said that these types of issues were probably the reason why other counties had not pursued a similar ordinance update. Skaar mentioned that there were federal guidelines relating to structures’ habitability that could potentially be used in the ordinance to prevent unsafe RVs from being inhabited.
All three commissioners indicated that they weren’t ready to vote on the RV proposal and asked Absher to separate it from the ADU proposal so that they could move the ADU approval forward posthaste. Absher said that she would work on updating the RV proposal’s requirements and bring an update before the board sometime in the summer.
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