SALEM, Ore. — The Oregon Legislature is one vote away from passing a first-in-the-nation law ending exclusive single-family zoning in much of the state.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reports the measure passed the state House Thursday on a bipartisan 43-16 vote and now moves to the Senate, where it could get tangled up by a walkout of Republican senators seeking to block a major climate change bill.
House Bill 2001 would require larger cities to allow increased density in single-family neighborhoods, and in many cases it would include up to four units on a single lot.
House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, has made the bill one of her top priorities, and she put together a bipartisan coalition that overcame the opposition of many neighborhood activists and the League of Oregon Cities.
