Bend building & ADU permits

Oregon allows accessory dwelling units by-right in single-family zones within urban growth boundaries, with no owner-occupancy requirement and no extra off-street parking mandate.

HB 2001 (2019) legalized middle housing statewide — duplexes in mid-size cities and up to fourplexes, cottage clusters and townhouses in large cities and the Portland metro.

Bend allows accessory dwelling units on residential lots with a single-unit dwelling, townhome, or manufactured home, and a 2025 code amendment raised the limit to as many as two ADUs per lot (only one is allowed alongside a rowhouse). Units may be attached, detached, or conversions of existing structures. There is no owner-occupancy requirement, consistent with Oregon's SB 1051, and no off-street parking is required for an ADU.

Under the Bend Development Code (Section 3.6.200.B), a first ADU is generally capped at 800 square feet of enclosed floor area, with a smaller cap for a second unit, and a detached ADU must sit a short distance from the primary dwelling; remaining height and setback standards follow the underlying zone. Most ADUs are approved ministerially through the building permit, without a separate land-use review, unless the property sits in a special overlay such as a historic or waterway district.

Bend adopted its middle-housing code under Oregon's HB 2001 in 2021, and the city offers a free pre-approved ADU plan set (with the Bend Chamber maintaining an additional design library) to reduce design cost and shorten the path to permit.

This is an informational summary — verify current rules with the city's planning/permitting department; not legal advice.

See also: Oregon ADU law and what is an ADU?