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ORS 215.720

Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case 239 Or. App. 542 - Norwood v. Washington County (2010)

Most recently applied in Friends of Yamhill County v. Yamhill County (July 2025)

1993 c.792 §4 (1),(4),(9); 1997 c.318 §4; 1997 c.732 §1; 2003 c.621 §102

How often courts cite this section

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citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) A dwelling authorized under ORS 215.705 may be allowed on land zoned for forest use under a goal protecting forestland only if:

(a) The tract on which the dwelling will be sited is in western Oregon, as defined in ORS 321.257, and is composed of soils not capable of producing 5,000 cubic feet per year of commercial tree species and is located within 1,500 feet of a public road as defined under ORS 368.001. The road shall be maintained and either paved or surfaced with rock and shall not be:

(A) A United States Bureau of Land Management road; or

(B) A United States Forest Service road unless the road is paved to a minimum width of 18 feet, there is at least one defined lane in each direction and a maintenance agreement exists between the United States Forest Service and landowners adjacent to the road, a local government or a state agency.

(b) The tract on which the dwelling will be sited is in eastern Oregon, as defined in ORS 321.805, and is composed of soils not capable of producing 4,000 cubic feet per year of commercial tree species and is located within 1,500 feet of a public road as defined under ORS 368.001. The road shall be maintained and either paved or surfaced with rock and shall not be:

(A) A United States Bureau of Land Management road; or

(B) A United States Forest Service road unless the road is paved to a minimum width of 18 feet, there is at least one defined lane in each direction and a maintenance agreement exists between the United States Forest Service and landowners adjacent to the road, a local government or a state agency.

(2) For purposes of this section, “commercial tree species” means trees recognized under rules adopted under ORS 527.715 for commercial production.

(3) No dwelling other than those described in this section and ORS 215.740, 215.750 and 215.755 may be sited on land zoned for forest use under a land use planning goal protecting forestland.

Official source: Oregon State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Oregon statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.