During Monday night’s meeting, the Salem City Council will have a final vote on a set of policy changes that aim to give housing developers more options and fewer bureaucratic delays.It’s part of the city’s ongoing, years-long effort to add more apartments and chip away at Salem’s housing shortage.The next round of changes would speed up the approval process and give developers more pathways and allow for more housing options, said Eunice Kim, the city’s long range planning manager.“We need more housing in the Salem area, so we’re always looking for new ways to streamline our code, or make it easier to build housing, different types of housing,” Kim said.The city updates its Unified Housing Code about every other year to respond to issues that come up and incorporate new state laws. The city’s last major update was part of the Our Salem Project in 2022. Mike Erdmann, chief executive officer of the Home Builders Association of Marion & Polk Counties, said in an email to Salem Reporter that “the changes to the development code should be helpful in some limited situations, but not enough to really move the needle when it comes to addressing Salem’s housing shortage.” Councilors first discussed the upcoming changes at a Sept. 9 public hearing, where they voted unanimously to advance them to a final vote Monday. Councilor Jose Gonzalez was absent, making the vote 8-0.The council meeting starts 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 9, and will be both in-person at the council chambers, 555 Liberty St. S.E., and available to watch online in English and Spanish. READ IT: Proposed amendments to Salem’s Unified Development Code Speeding up permitting process One major change would speed up the process for developers to get approval for not meeting a city code requirement, like the location of parking. In most of Salem, those exceptions are reviewed by city workers. But four Salem zones still require a public hearing for adjustments. That’s a lengthy process that can add about two months to development, Kim said. “We’re trying to cut down the time,” Kim said. The four areas that will see the change include along Northwest Edgewater Street in West Salem, the West Salem Central Business District and areas near South Mission Street and near the Oregon State Fair & Exposition Center. See a zoning map here. Monday’s vote would remove the public hearing requirement in those places. As the city reviews the developer’s requested adjustment, they still give notice to neighbors and consider public comments. Another proposed change would allow developers building housing in historic districts to opt for a city review of historic design. Currently, the process requires approval from the Historic Landmarks Commission. “It’s just kind of opening up the different pathways for approval,” Kim said.  More housing options The changes would make it easier to add single apartments in retail areas, and accessory dwellings across the city. The city has been slowly making its process for building housing more efficient for about the past five years, Kim said. The Our Salem long-term development project created new mixed use zones to encourage adding places for people to live near retail and on transit lines. Under current city code, mixed use zones encourage apartment buildings. They require developments to have space for three or more families.  The proposed code changes would allow for single and two-family mixed-use development, like a store with an apartment on top. That’s intended to add more housing on lots that would be too small to accommodate three or more apartments. The proposed code change would also allow townhouses to add up to two accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, which are separate living spaces like a “mother-in-law” cottage or basement apartment with its own entrance, kitchen and bathroom. Currently, they’re only allowed at single-family homes.  Updating standards The changes would also increase the number of apartments developers have to build on parcels downtown and in West Salem.The standards would require at least 15 units be built per acre for developments in the West Salem Central Business District, between the Salem Dallas Highway, Northwest Taybin Road and Northwest Wallace Road. It would also require that developments in Salem’s downtown area have at least 25 housing units per acre, up from 20. Kim said during the Sept. 9 meeting that most recent downtown developments already exceed that by bringing in around 100 units per acre. Another proposed change would allow veterinarian offices and grooming services to open downtown. Animal services currently prohibited there under the city’s zoning rules.“As we’re seeing more housing built in the downtown, we’ve heard a desire for residents to more easily access veterinary services. Be able to walk there with their pet, essentially,” Kim said.Overall, Kim said the changes will help add housing to Salem.“I think all of this moves the city a little bit closer to just chipping away at our housing needs and helping make sure that we continue to meet the needs of our community,” Kim said.  Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post Salem plans to give housing developers more options, faster process appeared first on Salem Reporter.