Kudos to Grace Chinowsky for the kind of hyperlocal reporting that helps us understand what is happening in our own neighborhoods. Her reporting on opposition to DevNW’s proposed Floral Hill Terrace development was also a reminder of why Oregon’s recent housing reforms are so important.

DevNW wants to build 40 homes designed to put homeownership within reach of working families, on land where current zoning allows even greater density. Yet more than 100 neighbors gathered to organize against it, proclaiming they are not opposed to affordable housing, just opposed to affordable housing there. That argument is so familiar that it has its own acronym.

I’m cheering for DevNW, and I’m grateful to our state legislators who have steadily moved Oregon toward clear and objective standards for housing development. If a property owner proposes housing that meets the rules established for the site, nearby homeowners should not get a veto simply because they dislike what is being built.

In fact, the frustration expressed by opponents that their ability to delay or appeal this project has been curtailed is evidence that these reforms are doing exactly what they were intended to do. Oregon desperately needs more housing. We will never build it if every neighborhood gets to decide that new homes belong somewhere else.

Chris Wig
Springfield