Portland City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly Seeks to Spark Increase in Backyard Cottages and Other ADUs

Eudaly's office asking for $2.1 million in city budget to spur development of granny flats.

(Christine Dong)
By Rachel Monahan
Portland City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly’s office is seeking $2.1 million in the upcoming budget to spur development of granny flats on existing lots. Eudaly hopes to roughly triple the private market’s production to 1,500 units a year.
More than $1 million would help create loans for building what Portland calls “accessory dwelling units.” The remainder would go toward a project of looking at ways to reduce the cost of designing and permitting ADUs. The city has already waived development fees.
Eudaly’s proposal would dwarf the county’s $410,000 pilot project to build four publicly financed ADUs for homeless residents. More than 1,000 people expressed interest in participating in that program.
“In general, when people ask what they can do for help, the government has really lousy answers like, ‘Pay your taxes,’ and ‘Follow directions,’” says Marshall Runkel, Eudaly’s chief of staff. “This is an entrepreneurial approach for solving the most urgent problem in this city.”

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