On May 7, Deschutes County Commissioners voted to allow RVs as rental dwellings, authorizing property owners to let someone in an RV live on their land and pay rent. The program, aimed at providing low-income housing opportunities, is set to go into effect immediately.
The County’s initial interest in this program came after the passage of Senate Bill 1013, which authorized counties to allow an owner of a lot or parcel of land in a rural area to site one recreational vehicle, used for residential purposes, on the property.
Wednesday’s decision followed over a year of deliberations regarding the rules and regulations that would apply to this program, if approved. The Board of County Commissioners, which was asked to consider emergency adoption of the program, unanimously voted in favor of the ordinance.
County Commissioner Tony DeBone cited a need for this type of housing, mentioning a recent forest closure near China Hat Rd., an area where residents were camping on public lands and forced to relocate for a planned forest restoration project.
“Hopefully we can help as a community, plugging folks in where it’s appropriate, [to] make those relationships and have housing options for people that have been desperately looking for it,” he said at the May 7 meeting.
The approved program will allow those living in areas zoned as “Rural Residential” to legally offer housing, given they meet a series of parameters. Many of the rules County staff members developed are in line with those required for Accessory Dwelling Units on County property.
Those interested in renting out an RV on their property must have a single-family dwelling that’s occupied as their primary residence, and an RV cannot be used as a short-term rental.
Additional parameters include minimum lot sizes, defensible space standards and electrical, water and sewage hookups.
According to a May 9 press release, property owners looking to establish an RV rental dwelling, or correct code violations for an illegally established RV dwelling, must submit an application demonstrating compliance with the newly adopted rules.
According to Tanya Saltzman, Deschutes County senior planner, about 7,500 properties would be eligible for this program, given certain criteria. The costs for property owners also mirror the County’s ADU program; a one-time fee of about $900.
In 2024, the Deschutes County Planning Commission advised against the adoption of the ordinance, citing issues such as increased threat of wildfire and difficulties with the enforcement of code violations.
Despite that decision, the Board laid out its support on May 7 for the program and felt it was the right time for implementation.
“During all of our process for this, to get to this point, there were many people who expressed concerns about unauthorized RV rental dwellings in their neighborhoods right now,” said County Commissioner Phil Chang.
“I hope that people can see this as an opportunity to remediate that situation, to provide legal opportunities that take care of neighbors and take care of groundwater quality and things like that, but also make that housing available in our community.”
This article appears in Source Weekly May 8, 2025.
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Suddenly the removal of homeless people from China Hat is making a whole lot more sense- we can’t actually build affordable housing or provide for people’s needs in this or any other county in America, but if anyone’s existence can be profitable then there is no red tape to be found.
I’m curious as to why it would cost $900 to allow someone to live in an RV on your property? And why is it allowed only in rural areas? Assuming someone is low-income, being forced to use a car to get around not only costs them more money they may not have, but adds to our already car-filled streets. Allowing RVs in town instead would allow for public transportation usage instead of filling our streets with more cars, and give easier access to jobs, shopping, etc. There are already many RVs in driveways around town, why not let people live in them?