Deschutes County is considering the adoption of amendments that would allow RVs to be used as rental dwellings in rural residential exception areas, authorizing property owners to let someone in an RV live on the land and pay rent. After a recent County Planning Commission meeting, where the commission voted to not recommend the amendment, the passage of these amendments could be stalled.
In July 2023, Oregon adopted Senate Bill 1013, authorizing a county 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, with a residential rental agreement and additional criteria.
In October 2023, county staff drafted an amendment for county consideration. Deliberations began on Jan. 11 and continued into a Jan. 25 meeting, where a complete recommendation would be forwarded to the Board of Commissioners.
After a lengthy discussion, the planning commission voted 4-3 to not recommend the adoption of the amendments, citing land use impacts like traffic and road maintenance, increased threat of wildfire and difficulties with enforcement of code violators, among others.
Jeff Hubley, a local who would benefit from the passage of these amendments, lives in a tiny home on wheels in Deschutes County. Hubley and his wife started building their tiny house in 2018. They finished in 2021 and have been living in it ever since. They moved to Deschutes County a year later and lived on a private property.
"It's not that often that a planning commission recommends denial." Tanya Saltzman
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After deciding they wanted to be in a different location, due to jobs and commuting, they moved to a property in Tumalo. They were paying the property owners, who resided there, to live in their tiny home on the land. "We got along great with them, it was a good situation for us," he said.
After a while, the Hubleys received a notice that their "RV" was not legally allowed to be used as a dwelling, and that they had 90 days to leave the property, or they'd start incurring fines. "When we got that, we basically had to start scrambling to try and find another place to live." The Hubleys received the notice after a complaint was filed, since code enforcement in the County is complaint-based.
Currently, Hubley said, there is no route to legally live in a tiny house on wheels in Deschutes County, except in overcrowded RV parks that have long waiting lists.
"It's hard to feel like you're safe and stable when you know that any second, you could be getting a letter that tells you need to leave the property in X amount of time," said Hubley.
Although the planning commission issued a "no" recommendation, they still offered recommendations at the Jan. 25 meeting, in case the board decides to adopt the amendments.
"It's not that often that a planning commission recommends denial. Normally, the process is that once the planning commission issues a recommendation, the County schedules a work session and a hearing with the Board shortly after," said Tanya Saltzman, Deschutes County senior planner.
As a result of the recommendation, the County will, instead, have a work session with the county commissioners to ask if they still want to have a hearing. If commissioners say yes, then the County would go ahead and hold a hearing. The work session with the board is scheduled for Feb. 28.
Issues raised in favor of the amendments include additional affordable housing options. The drafted amendments require RVs, or similar structure designed for human occupancy, to be fully licensed and ready for highway use.
Although there is some community opposition around the adoption of these amendments, said Hubley, he thinks the benefits outweigh the negatives.
"I think that that if someone who owns a property wants to rent out a space where I can safely park my tiny house, live in it, and pay them rent, I think that they should be allowed to do that," said Hubley. "I think I should be allowed to live there legally."
