New rules governing where residential treatment facilities, psychiatric hospitals and crisis stabilization centers can locate in unincorporated Clackamas County took effect Tuesday, Sept. 8.
The county adopted Section 849 of its Zoning and Development Ordinance through Ordinance ZDO-293.
The rules apply to all residential treatment facilities and treatment homes except those with 15 or fewer residents living in a single dwelling unit in an urban residential or commercial district.
The restrictions matter for neighborhoods bordering unincorporated areas near Lake Oswego, Stafford and other communities in the county.
The ordinance bars treatment facilities and psychiatric hospitals from public park land.
It also prohibits them on properties that require land use permits for floodplain management, the Willamette River Greenway, habitat conservation areas, water quality resource areas or mass movement hazard zones.
On industrial-zoned land, the rules are narrower.
A treatment facility can locate in Light Industrial or Business Park districts only if the property is publicly owned or held by a public benefit corporation and sits within 250 feet of land zoned for residential use.
Every facility covered by Section 849 must demonstrate adequate water, sewer, stormwater drainage and street access.
The same infrastructure requirement applies to crisis stabilization centers.
Review process
Proposed facilities require a Type II-S land use review under the county's procedures in ZDO Section 1307.
That process involves a hearing before a hearings officer appointed by the Board of County Commissioners. Facilities must also meet the county's development standards for institutional uses.
Recovery campus under construction
The new siting rules arrive as the county builds out its behavioral health infrastructure. Clackamas County broke ground in July on a recovery campus at 15301 SE 92nd Ave. in Clackamas.
The Lake Oswego Review reported the campus will add 76 beds for adults with substance use disorders, funded by roughly $31 million from state and federal sources.
Construction is expected to finish by late 2027.
The rules are now in effect. Commissioner Ben West said in an Aug. 4 statement at the recovery campus groundbreaking, "This campus will be a lifeline for our entire community."
Section 849 was adopted alongside Section 848, which governs emergency shelter siting, under the same ordinance. Residents can review the full text of both sections on the county's ZDO page or contact Clackamas County Planning for questions about the review process.
