Lane County

Rural districts

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

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. Farm and forest 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

• second dwelling rvAvailable with conditions

  The county adopted the state option allowing a recreational vehicle to be rented as a dwelling by Ordinance 25.01, effective February 27, 2025, at Lane Code 16.290(9), amended by Ordinance 25-07 in May 2026. One recreational vehicle used for residential purposes under a residential rental agreement is allowed on a rural residential lot or parcel that is not within an urban reserve, is developed with a lawfully established single-family dwelling occupied as the owner's primary residence, has no other dwelling units including a temporary medical hardship dwelling, has no part of the house rented as a tenancy, is not subject to an open code enforcement action, and — a condition the county added — is not within the regulatory floodplain defined in Lane Code 16.244. Before the use is established the owner records a covenant against vacation occupancy or other short-term use, the vehicle is owned or leased by the tenant, fully licensed and ready for highway use on its wheels or jacking system with quick-disconnect utilities and no permanent additions, a written rental agreement is in place, and the owner provides sewage disposal, water, electricity and any required drainage to a gravel, concrete or asphalt parking pad; the vehicle contains an operable toilet and sink or the owner provides them. The vehicle sits at least 10 feet from the house and other structures, at least 30 feet from land zoned F-1, F-2 or EFU, and any structure over it is open on at least two sides. County staff estimated that about 12,800 rural residential properties met the statute's minimum criteria and that roughly 790 of them lie entirely within the floodplain.

  Last verified September 9, 2026 · source

• second dwelling aduAvailable with conditions

  This county adopted Ordinance 23-05 in August 2023, allowing accessory dwelling units on rural residential zoned property. County materials describe the parcel as generally needing to be at least two acres, with one single-family dwelling already on the property, and served by a fire protection service provider. State law generally limits the unit to 900 square feet and generally prohibits vacation rental use. Under state law a property generally may have either an accessory dwelling unit or a rented recreational vehicle, but not both.

  Last verified August 16, 2026 · source

• primary dwellingAvailable with conditions

  Rural residential districts are generally the most likely rural districts to support a first dwelling, subject to the county's development standards, approved sanitation, legal access and applicable setbacks. Approval is still a county determination rather than an entitlement.

  Last verified August 16, 2026 · source

• short term rentalNot yet researched

  This county's treatment of short-term rentals in unincorporated areas has not been researched here. Treat it as an open question rather than as permitted or prohibited. Note that this pathway presupposes a lawfully established dwelling to let — on bare land it generally becomes relevant only once a dwelling exists. Note separately that state law generally bars vacation occupancy of both a rural accessory dwelling unit and a rented recreational vehicle, so neither of those pathways can be combined with holiday letting regardless of the county's position.

  Last verified August 16, 2026 · source

• temporary occupancy during constructionNot yet researched

  Counties commonly offer some form of temporary occupancy arrangement while a permitted dwelling is under construction, and neighbouring counties do. This county’s own provisions were looked for and not established, so this is recorded as an open question rather than as an available option. County materials found instead cover temporary dwellings for a documented medical hardship, which is a different arrangement.

  Last verified August 16, 2026 · source

• primary dwellingAvailable with conditions

  Lane has two forest zones and they differ sharply, so which one a parcel is in is the first question. The Impacted Forest Lands zone (F-2) lists a template dwelling, a lot of record dwelling and a large tract forest dwelling in its use table, alongside replacement of a lawfully established dwelling. The Nonimpacted Forest Lands zone (F-1) lists none of those three — aside from a caretaker residence and a temporary hardship dwelling, its residential route is alteration, restoration or replacement of a lawfully established dwelling. Where the template route applies it counts lots and dwellings that existed on 1 January 1993 within a 160-acre square centred on the tract, so it turns on what surrounds a parcel rather than on the parcel itself.

  Last verified August 26, 2026 · source

• primary dwellingAvailable with conditions

  The Exclusive Farm Use use table lists several dwelling routes rather than one: a primary farm dwelling, a relative farm help dwelling, an accessory farm dwelling for year-round or seasonal farm workers, a nonfarm dwelling, and alteration, restoration or replacement of a lawfully established dwelling. Nearly all of them are split by whether the land is High Value Farmland — a nonfarm dwelling on high value farmland and a nonfarm dwelling on non-high-value farmland are separate provisions, each shown as prohibited on the other class. Which class the parcel falls in therefore decides which routes are open before any of them is assessed.

  Last verified August 26, 2026 · source

• primary dwellingAvailable with conditions

  Marginal Lands is a designation only two Oregon counties carry, applied to resource land that met neither the farm nor the forest productivity tests, and it is materially more permissive than either. The use table lists a dwelling on a vacant lot or parcel created before 1 July 1983 as permitted outright, and a dwelling on a vacant lot or parcel created under the county’s own Marginal Lands division provisions likewise. The question here is therefore when and how the parcel was created rather than what can be grown on it, which is a title question answerable from the deed chain.

  Last verified August 26, 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 26, 2026 · source

• second dwelling rvNot yet researched

  Lane has adopted the state option allowing a recreational vehicle to be rented as a dwelling, but that adoption is recorded here for rural residential zoned property. Whether the county extends it to farm, forest or marginal lands zoned property has not been established, and the resource zone use tables read for this entry do not list the use. Treat it as an open question in these districts rather than as available or unavailable.

  Last verified August 26, 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 resource zone use tables read for this entry. All four zones do list a temporary hardship dwelling, which is a different route with its own documentation requirements. Treat construction-period occupancy as an open question in these districts.

  Last verified August 26, 2026 · source

• short term rentalNot yet researched

  This county’s treatment of short-term letting in resource zones has not been researched here. Treat it as an open question rather than as permitted or prohibited. The pathway also presupposes a lawfully established dwelling to let, which in these districts is itself the harder question.

  Last verified August 26, 2026 · source