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February 11, 2019 <br />Chair Keny-Guyer, Vice-Chairs Noble & Sanchez, Members of the House Human Services and <br />Housing Committee: <br />As you know the League of Oregon Cities represents all 241 incorporated cities in the state of <br />Oregon. As an organization, we advocate for cities to be able to solve issues at the local level. <br />This allows locally elected officials to hear how problems like housing shortages are impacting <br />local residents, approach the issue with a collaborative and locally focused process, and be held <br />directly accountable when they are not addressing the problems. Cities across the state have <br />expressed significant concerns about the need for housing, and they are looking to increase <br />partnership with the state in addressing the complex, multi-dimensional issue of increasing <br />housing construction. <br />However, in conversations across the state, with cities of varying sizes, the solutions to the issues <br />in each city looks different. Some areas are seeing a lot of interest in development, with large <br />developments and experienced developers coming to the table. Others do not have enough <br />labor force to see more than a few units develop each year, and the developers that are working <br />are smaller scale with limited experience beyond single family unit development. Each city that is <br />investing local resources into housing are balancing a variety of needs, interests, and goals for <br />the city. None have found a single fix that will address either the supply or price issues, but many <br />are working their way through the process to reduce local barriers, increase incentives, and <br />leverage the development opportunities to get a variety of housing types. <br />HB 2001 presents a proposal for a solution to a few aspects of the issues surrounding the <br />development on certain types of units, but cities are concerned that its one-sized solution fails to <br />account for the realities that cities wrestle with when they make decisions about zoning, fiscal <br />policy, and community involvement. However, we do not believe it should be the end of this <br />conversation. Instead, our goal is to see how cities and the state can better work together toward <br />their shared goal of increasing housing supply that is affordable to a variety of incomes. State <br />mandates like that proposed in HB 2001 do not often lead to the best outcomes because they <br />cannot address the circumstances that prevent the goals from being attained. <br />Cities are also investing in finding local solutions, looking to update their current codes and plans, <br />updating the information on which we make decisions, and starting community conversations to <br />determine how to improve development outcomes. Cities are looking for assistance in their <br />efforts, not mandates that direct significant resources to implement. The LOC has also been <br />working to find ways to partner with the state to provide additional information and assistance <br />from the current state resources to see improvements for all cities. <br />ATTACHMENT B <br />March 6, 2019, Work Session – Item 1