Consultants outline five code barriers to housing as LCOG flags need for ~400 units

Consultants and LCOG representatives told the Veneta Planning Commission that the city may need about 400 additional housing units over the next 20 years and that the local code includes five key barriers that could impede meeting that need.

Jamin Kimmel summarized LCOG’s early CHN findings: Veneta will likely need almost 400 additional units over twenty years and roughly half of that need is for households earning less than 80% of area median income, which will likely require subsidy or targeted programs. Consultants then outlined five barriers from their development-code audit: (1) too few housing types allowed outright (most middle housing types require additional review), (2) mandatory mixed-use requirements in some commercial zones that tether residential feasibility to harder-to-lease commercial space, (3) higher minimum lot sizes for triplexes/quadplexes that raise per-unit land cost, (4) minimum parking and attached-garage requirements that raise development cost and site footprint, and (5) limited middle-housing land-division procedures that prevent easy individual ownership of units in plexes.

Commissioners debated tradeoffs: some warned that permitting more density without sufficient infrastructure (sewer, stormwater, roads) could create negative consequences; others noted that permitting and targeted smaller unit standards can lower the per-unit cost of development if the market responds. Consultants said they can return with options such as selective standalone residential in certain commercial corridors, targeted parking reductions for smaller units, or middle-housing land-division procedures applied where sewer and other infrastructure exist.

Consultants and staff said they will return with additional data from LCOG and public-works coordination to inform specific proposals and will present draft HIP/code amendments in the fall sessions.