Columbia County

A heavily forested county on the lower Columbia, running from the Portland metro edge north to Clatskanie and west into the Nehalem valley. Its resource zoning is mostly forest rather than farm, which matters: the county's Primary Forest zone authorises a template dwelling by administrative review — a staff-level approval rather than a hearing — where a 160-acre template around the tract contains enough pre-1993 lots and dwellings. That test turns on what surrounds a parcel rather than on the parcel itself, so two tracts in the same district can differ. The county adopted rural accessory dwelling units in its RR-2 and RR-5 zones in 2023 (Ordinance 2023-1, Section 224.2 of the zoning ordinance), has not taken up the recreational vehicle rental dwelling statute, and separately adopted a family forestry accessory dwelling in the forest zone in 2022, which is a different and narrower thing.

Last verified August 16, 2026 · Land Development Services — Planning Division

District codes not fully confirmed. The district codes below are taken from the County Assessor's published zoning descriptions, which list PA-38 and PA-80 for agriculture, PF-76 and PF-80 for forest, FA-19 and FA-80 for forest/agriculture, and RR-2 and RR-5 for rural residential. The zoning ordinance itself is written in articles headed PA-80, FA-80, PF-80, RR-5 and RR-2, so the -38, -76 and -19 designations appear on the map without a correspondingly headed article. They are carried here because a parcel really can be mapped that way, but which article governs a given designation has NOT been confirmed with the county — establish both the designation and the governing article for a specific parcel before relying on anything that follows from it.

Checked 2026-08-16 · source. District names and acreages change; confirm the district for a specific parcel with the county.

General planning information, not legal advice. Describes what generally applies in a district, not a specific property. Confirm with the county — how this works.

Rural districts

Local district codes vary between counties. Each maps to a broader class that determines which pathways generally apply.

PA-38

Primary Agriculture — 38 acre minimum

Exclusive farm use

Land zoned primarily to protect commercial agriculture. New dwellings are generally not allowed unless a narrow statutory test is met, and those tests are fact-intensive rather than automatic.

The Assessor's descriptions record this as an agriculture district with a 38 acre minimum. The ordinance's agriculture article is headed PA-80; confirm which provisions govern a parcel mapped PA-38.

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PA-80

Primary Agriculture — 80 acre minimum

Exclusive farm use

Land zoned primarily to protect commercial agriculture. New dwellings are generally not allowed unless a narrow statutory test is met, and those tests are fact-intensive rather than automatic.

The agriculture district the ordinance's Section 300 article is written for. Dwelling routes are split by whether the parcel is high value farmland, and a nonfarm dwelling is not permitted on high value farmland at all.

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PF-76

Primary Forest — 76 acre minimum

Forest / conservation

Land zoned primarily to protect forest use and conservation values. New dwellings are generally not allowed except through narrow statutory tests, often with additional fire-related siting requirements.

The Assessor's descriptions record this as a forest district with a 76 acre minimum. The ordinance's forest article is headed PF-80; confirm which provisions govern a parcel mapped PF-76.

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PF-80

Primary Forest — 80 acre minimum

Forest / conservation

The forest district the ordinance's Section 500 article is written for. It authorises a template dwelling and, since 2022, a family forestry accessory dwelling.

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FA-19

Forest / Agriculture — 19 acre minimum

Mixed farm and forest

Land zoned for a mix of farm and forest use, typically in larger parcels. Dwelling approval is generally constrained and depends heavily on parcel history and the specific county's provisions.

A mixed forest and agriculture district with a 19 acre minimum on the Assessor's descriptions. The ordinance's forest/agriculture article is headed FA-80.

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FA-80

Forest / Agriculture — 80 acre minimum

Mixed farm and forest

Land zoned for a mix of farm and forest use, typically in larger parcels. Dwelling approval is generally constrained and depends heavily on parcel history and the specific county's provisions.

The mixed forest and agriculture district the ordinance's Section 400 article is written for. Whether the farm or the forest provisions govern a given parcel generally turns on its soils.

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RR-2

Rural Residential — 2 acre minimum

Rural residential

Land zoned to allow rural living on acreage. This is generally where a first dwelling is most likely to be achievable, and where second-dwelling options such as accessory dwellings or RVs are most likely to be available if the county permits them at all.

Rural residential with a two acre minimum — an acknowledged exception area committed to non-resource use.

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RR-5

Rural Residential — 5 acre minimum

Rural residential

Rural residential with a five acre minimum. Section 601 describes these as areas committed to non-resource uses under the county's acknowledged exceptions.

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Pathways in this county

raw holdGenerally available
Holding the land without placing a dwelling on it is generally available in every rural district. Under Oregon's assessed value limit the tax base on unimproved land generally grows slowly until new construction occurs. Forest and farm land is also commonly under a special assessment that lowers the tax while the land stays in that use, and taking it out can trigger a deferred tax.
Last verified August 16, 2026 · source
primary dwellingAvailable with conditions
The Primary Forest zone authorises a template dwelling by administrative review. The county applies a 160-acre square centred on the tract and counts lots and dwellings that existed on 1 January 1993: for the most productive forest soils at least 11 other lots and 3 dwellings, for middling soils at least 7 other lots and 3 dwellings, and for the least productive at least 3 other lots and 3 dwellings, with the dwellings still standing. Where the tract abuts a road that existed in 1993 the county may instead use a one mile by quarter mile rectangle aligned with the road. The parcel must have been lawfully established and carry no dwelling. Because the count is of what surrounds the tract, two parcels in this district can reach opposite answers, and the district designation alone does not indicate which.
Last verified August 16, 2026 · source
primary dwellingAvailable with conditions
The Primary Agriculture zone lists several dwelling routes by administrative review rather than a single one: a farm dwelling, a lot of record dwelling, a nonfarm dwelling, a replacement dwelling and a replacement of a historic dwelling. Which are open turns first on whether the county classifies the parcel as high value farmland — a nonfarm dwelling is not permitted on high value farmland, and the lot of record route is written differently for the two. A nonfarm dwelling is assessed on the parcel being generally unsuitable for farm use, which is a soils and siting argument rather than a question of size.
Last verified August 16, 2026 · source
primary dwellingAvailable with conditions
The Forest/Agriculture zone sits between the farm and forest articles, and which set of dwelling provisions governs a given parcel generally turns on its soils rather than on the district label. That means both the forest template route and the farm routes are worth asking about for the same parcel, and the county decides which applies before it decides whether the parcel qualifies. Two questions in sequence, and the first is free.
Last verified August 16, 2026 · source
primary dwellingAvailable with conditions
The rural residential districts are acknowledged exception areas committed to non-resource use, and are generally the most likely rural districts here to support a first dwelling, subject to the county's development standards, approved sanitation, legal access and setbacks. Approval remains a county determination rather than an entitlement.
Last verified August 16, 2026 · source
second dwelling aduAvailable with conditions
The county adopted a family forestry accessory dwelling in the Primary Forest zone in 2022. This is not the rural accessory dwelling unit statute and is considerably narrower: the lot of record must be at least 80 acres and contain exactly one existing dwelling that was lawfully established before November 1993 or approved under one of the named forestland dwelling statutes, the new unit must sit within 200 feet of it, the parcel must lie within a rural fire protection district, the new unit must meet the wildfire hazard mitigation code, and both units must be occupied by the owner or a relative who assists in managing or harvesting the forest.
Last verified August 16, 2026 · source
second dwelling aduAvailable with conditions
The county adopted accessory dwelling units in its Rural Residential zones by Ordinance 2023-1 — heard August 15, 2023 and integrated into the zoning ordinance on October 12, 2023 — at Section 224.2. One unit is allowed with a detached single-family dwelling on a lot or parcel zoned RR-5 or RR-2 outside an urban growth boundary where the lot is at least two acres, the unit has no more than 900 square feet of usable floor area and sits no farther than 100 feet from the existing dwelling, the lot is served by a fire protection district with adequate access for firefighting equipment, and the unit is not used for vacation occupancy. Section 224.3 adds the general standards: the unit meets the underlying zone's siting criteria for residential structures, and an authorization notice to connect to the primary dwelling's sewage disposal system is required unless a connection is not physically and legally available. Establishing the unit does not allow the further division of the property. Under state law a property generally may have either an accessory dwelling unit or a rented recreational vehicle, but not both.
Last verified September 9, 2026 · source
second dwelling rvNot adopted by this county
The optional state allowance for a recreational vehicle as a second dwelling is adopted county by county, and no provision implementing it appears in the county's zoning ordinance as integrated through August 2023 — the edition that added rural accessory dwelling units. The ordinance addresses recreational vehicles as camping in private campgrounds, with occupancy capped at 30 days in any six month period, as a temporary hardship dwelling, and within the floodplain overlay, none of which is a dwelling allowance.
Last verified September 9, 2026 · source
temporary occupancy during constructionNot yet researched
No provision expressly allowing occupancy of a recreational vehicle or temporary structure during construction was located in the county's zoning ordinance as integrated through December 2022. The ordinance does provide for a temporary dwelling for medical hardship by administrative review in both the agriculture and forest zones, which is a different route with its own physician documentation requirements. Treat construction-period occupancy as an open question for this county rather than as allowed or disallowed.
Last verified August 16, 2026 · source
non resource rezoneAvailable with conditions
Changing a resource designation requires a plan amendment, which in Oregon generally means demonstrating that the land does not meet the definition of agricultural or forest land, or taking an exception to the relevant statewide planning goal. These are lengthy, expensive and contested proceedings decided on evidence rather than intention, and they are appealable to the Land Use Board of Appeals. Generally a sensible undertaking only for an existing owner.
Last verified August 16, 2026 · source
short term rentalNot yet researched
No provision expressly regulating short-term letting of a dwelling was located in the county's zoning ordinance as integrated through December 2022. That absence is not permission: an unregulated position is generally less stable than an express one, transient lodging tax may apply regardless of whether a land use permit is required, and the county can regulate at any time. Establish the county's current written position before relying on this.
Last verified August 16, 2026 · source