Housing Policy Projects 

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Baker City has reached the final steps towards updating the Baker City Development Code. Below is a schedule of hearings and the list of materials that have been prepared for the meetings.  

Upcoming Public Hearings: 

All meetings are scheduled to be held in the Baker City Council Chambers located at 1655 1st Street, Baker City.


Baker City Planning Commission 

The Baker City Planning Commission held public hearings on December 17 and 29. They will hold a third public hearing at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 14, 2026. The Planning Commission will discuss and recommend revisions to the Baker City Development Code to encourage and remove barriers to housing in all of the City’s residential zones. This request will be reviewed using the criteria listed in BCDC Section 4.7.200, the Comprehensive Plan & Statewide Planning Goals. 

The Planning Commission will make a recommendation on this matter to the City Council, and the City Council will make the final decision.  

 The public is invited to attend this public hearing and to submit oral or written testimony. Information for the hearing will be available at: http://bakercity.com/2293/Meeting-Materials-Webcasts. Testimony and relevant evidence must be based on the applicable review criteria and submitted to the Planning Department by 4:00 p.m. on the hearing date or in person during the hearing. Failure to provide statements or evidence sufficient to allow the decision maker to respond to the issue precludes appeal to the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) based on that issue. Copies of the hearing materials are available for inspection, at the Baker County Courthouse, 1995 3rd Street. All materials can be viewed at no cost or provided at a reasonable cost; digital versions can be emailed for free. Contact Tara Micka or Madison Tomac with questions at 541-523-8219.


Baker City City Council

Once the Baker City Planning Commission has made its recommendation to the City Council, hearings will be scheduled for late January and early February 2026. Please check back for more information in the coming weeks. 

Hearing Documents:

Baker City Development Code Updates: Implementing Housing Production Strategies

Over the past several years we have heard from hundreds of residents, community organizations, and businesses who tell us it’s critical that Baker City has housing choices that are the right size, of good quality, and affordable. 

 Now that the City has a Housing Production Strategy (adopted in August 2023), we’ve established a policy agenda for how Baker City will create and protect housing for everyone — current residents and those who want to live here in the future.  

 Baker City is updating the Development Code to encourage: 

  • The supply of housing, 
  • The diversity of housing options, 
  • Affordability, and 
  • The quality of new development. 

 In doing so, we will begin implementing the Housing Production Strategy, satisfying state mandates for middle housing, and improving the overall useability of our regulations. A series of Housing Help Sheets will also be created to help residents, and the development community understand what residential projects are possible. 

Project Timeline

We anticipate this project to take place over 12 months with a target adoption date of February 2026. The process to update the code will take a few months and require some preliminary analysis to assess what needs to change. We will also be looking for feedback at strategic points in the process from YOU!  

2025-08-19_Project timeline-01

Project Team

Baker City has partnered with Framework Cultural Placemaking (Framework) to help with this project. Framework is an interdisciplinary team of urban planners, urban designers, landscape architects, and architects who love working with communities on placemaking projects from code updates to park pavilions, and everything in between. In collaboration with City Staff, Framework will engage periodically with the Housing Advisory Committee established for this project.  

Project Overview: What Has Happened So Far?


Kick-Off  

Back in January, the consulting team at Framework met with Baker City staff, finalized the project scope, and strategized how the Code Update project would move forward.  

Code Audit 

Framework spent the next several weeks conducting a thorough audit of the Baker City Development Code (BCDC) to identify potential updates to begin implementing the Housing Production Strategy (HPS) and ensure the City’s code is compliant with state law. Key findings include: 

  • Diverse, dense housing is difficult to build due to restrictive development regulations. 
  • The code favors single-family homes over other housing types.  
  • Overall code clean-up could benefit applicants, review staff, and other users by improving readability and efficiency. 
  • Only minor adjustments are needed for complete compliance with state law.  

Surveys 

With the help of City staff, Framework also conducted two surveys: one for developers working in the city (8 responses), and another for community members (147 responses). The information gathered from the surveys identified gaps and problems with the code, other barriers to housing production, and gaps in the existing housing supply.  

Community Members responded to “What types of housing do you feel Baker City currently needs?” as follows, with write-ins including affordability and larger units. 

Survey Results from Community Survey #1 

Site Visit & HAC Meeting 1 

In April, Baker City staff hosted the Framework team for an in-person visit and the first Housing Advisory Committee (HAC) meeting. Framework talked with other planning staff, land use consultants, community members, developers and contractors, and public works staff.  

Stakeholder feedback and on-the-ground experience of Baker City produced a clearer understanding of the City’s housing issues and informed an effective and realistic strategy to implement key priorities in the HPS report.  

Code Update Strategy 

Framework used information gathered from the audit, surveys, HAC feedback, and site visit to craft a detailed strategy for updating the BCDC. The general strategy is: 

  • Expand middle housing options and reduce development restrictions in all zones. 
  • Develop incentive programs that achieve affordability and accessibility goals via increased densities and heights. 
  • Use a scalable approach to density (lot area per unit) and more flexibility provided by a form-focused approach (detached, attached, stacked) 

Specific updates include: 

  • Allow cottage cluster housing in the Residential-Low Density (R-LD) zone
  • Increase the maximum floor area of cottages
  • Increase maximum Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) size to 1,000 sq. ft. and 25 ft. tall. 
  • Allow more middle housing types and amend development standards in the Residential-Medium Density (R-MD) zone to encourage options beyond detached single-family homes.
  • Improve the feasibility of middle housing in the R-MD zone with new incentives. 
  • Improve the feasibility of small apartment buildings in the Residential-High Density (R-HD) zone via increased height limits and density. 
  • Control the scale of new development by limiting the number of units per building. 
  • Reduce minimum lot sizes for middle housing in all residential zones. 

Public Events

Thank you to all who joined us for the Open House on September 11, 2025. If you were not able to join us, please use the link below to access the materials from the meeting. 

Online Open House Materials:


See the Housing Policy Events Page for more details.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What are State Mandates? 

A: State mandates refer to the recent bills that were passed into law by the Oregon State Legislature. An unprecedented number of new laws have been adopted since 2019 to address the state-wide housing shortage, affordability crisis, and need for more diverse housing choices. New possibilities for more housing of all sorts are being rolled out across the state. All these new mandates have made it an exciting time to be a planner and a great time to get involved. You can sign up for project updates, participate in our first community survey, and attend future Planning Commission meetings about these topics starting this fall.  

Q: What Housing Production Strategies Are We Implementing? 

A: The Housing Production Strategy Report adopted in 2023 includes several tools, actions, and policies to address housing needs in Baker City. Strategies address regulatory changes, incentives, funding sources, programs, and partnerships. Baker City aims to implement the strategies below focused on regulatory changes: 

  • 1.1 Address Specific Site Constraints 
  • 2.1 Increase Allowed Density and Range of Housing Types in Existing Zones 
  • 2.2 Facilitate “Missing Middle” Housing Types in All Residential Zones 
  • 2.3 Code Audit to Streamline and Simplify Housing Development Requirements 
  • 2.4 Promote Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) 
  • 2.5 Zoning Incentives for Affordable, Workforce, and/or Intergenerational Housing 
  • 3.1 Incentivize and Promote Accessible Design

 

Q: What is Middle Housing?

A. Middle Housing is a term coined by Opticos Design to describe the smaller-scale multifamily housing that used to be common in many cities but has been outlawed in most residential areas over the last few decades. Middle Housing is said to be “missing” because it often cannot be built anymore, and much of the old stock of middle housing has disappeared over the years. This housing also tends to be more affordable than newer apartments or single-family homes, making it a missing piece of the housing affordability puzzle.