Housing Options Project
Hillsboro is a growing and diverse community, and people need different kinds of homes at different prices and stages of life. The Housing Options Project will look at how the City’s rules can make it easier to build more housing choices in Hillsboro.
Over the next several years, the project will update the City’s housing rules to support construction of more homes, including apartments, townhomes, plexes, and accessory dwelling units (ADUs). It will also make the rules easier to understand and use.
The goal is to create more housing options, support fair access to housing, and help Hillsboro meet the housing needs of current and future residents.
Project Background
Housing Needs Analysis
Completed in December 2023, the Housing Needs Analysis identified current and future housing needs through extensive community engagement, including:
A comparison of the amount and types of housing units needed to accommodate future growth with the land available.
An updated buildable lands inventory and housing need projections inform Hillsboro's housing needs by type and household income, as well as residential land need.
For more information, please visit the 2023 Housing Needs Analysis project webpage.
Housing Production Strategy
The Hillsboro Housing Production Strategy (Cycle 1: 2025-2030) is a planning document with specific actions the City of Hillsboro will take over a six-year period to support housing production of a variety of housing types, choices, and affordability to meet the current and future needs of Hillsboro. Core goals include:
Promoting fair and equitable housing outcomes,
Increasing housing production, and
Advancing fair housing.
The Housing Production Strategy identified various actions that the City would undertake to reduce barriers and increase opportunities for housing production. Some of these actions were regulatory actions that involve amendments to the Community Development Code.
Housing Code Audit
The Housing Code Audit, completed in June 2025, identifies key structural, procedural, legal, and policy issues affecting residential development in the Community Development Code and Design & Construction Standards, and includes code recommendations that inform the regulatory actions.
Housing Options Project
The Housing Options Project will be a multi-phase project to be completed by 2030. It will include implementation of multiple regulatory actions from the Housing Production Strategy and Code Audit as well as conforming amendments to ensure consistency with state law.
Phase 1
Phase 1 of the Housing Options Project will include work on Housing Production Strategy actions 1.2 and 1.3, focused on increasing density within multi-dwelling zones and commercial zones. This phase of the project will be led by a consultant team funded by a DLCD Housing Planning Assistance Grant awarded to the City in 2025.
Phase 1 of the project will also include implementation of House Bill 2138 (2025), which introduced new requirements for middle housing including a requirement for cities to allow detached plexes. This phase will also include some elements of Actions 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4 from the Housing Production Strategy, focused on density bonuses for affordable and accessible housing, detached plexes and revisions to standards for accessory dwelling units (ADUs). Specifically, this amendment will:
Increase density in the following zones: MR-1, MR-2, MR-3, SCR-DNC, SCR-MD, and SCR-HD. Open a zoning map for more information.
Adjust other development standards to support density increases such as building height.
Refine limitations on residential uses in commercial and mixed-use zones including ground-floor commercial requirements
Revise limitations on ADUs to include allowance of 2 accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on certain lots
In addition, there are elements of the code which need revision for consistency with state law. These include:
Revising the definition of plexes to allow both attached and detached plex configurations.
Evaluating development standards applicable to residential projects to ensure they are clear and objective.
Ensuring procedural requirements for limited land use decisions are met by all applicable application types.
Incorporating requirements for allowance of manufactured dwelling parks and occupancy of Recreational Vehicles from state law.
Adding “Single Room Occupancies” to the code as a housing type and ensuring code meets minimum requirements set by state for this type of housing.
Revising affordable housing siting standards to be consistent with ORS 197A.445.
Phase 2
The second phase of the project will implement HPS Actions 1.5 and 1.6. These actions include streamlining design standards and adopting a user-friendly code. The goal of action 1.5 is to modify existing design standards that apply to residential development in order to expedite housing production, reduce the cost of construction, and provide flexibility for a wider variety of design choices.
Adopting a user-friendly code may include distinct changes to make the code simpler, easier to use and removing unnecessary or redundant regulations relating to housing. Code amendments taking place in Phase 1 and over the next 6 years will aim to incorporate the goal of simplifying for housing standards.
| Consult: Obtain community feedback on processes, ideas, alternatives, and/or decisions |
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Code & Policy Manager
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Long-Range Planner
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Public Information Officer
