ADU rules in Bend

Detached backyard ADUs are allowed outright. Table 2.1.200 lists 'Accessory dwelling units (ADUs)' as P (permitted) in all six residential districts: UAR, RL, RS, RM-10, RM and RH, with no conditional-use column entry and no minimum lot size gate. BDC 3.6.200(B)(5) sets a standard written specifically for detached ADUs, requiring six feet of separation from other dwelling units on the lot measured between building footprints, which confirms the detached form is contemplated. Bend allows a maximum of two ADUs per lot or parcel, not just one. The only categorical bars are lots or parcels created by a middle housing land division and cottage developments.

Bend's code grants the ADU use without distinguishing attached from detached, so additions, over-garage units and internal conversions ride the same path. BDC 1.2 defines an accessory dwelling unit as 'a small dwelling unit on a lot or parcel with a single-unit dwelling as a primary use', and separately defines 'attached dwelling unit' for ADUs to mean a unit sharing a common wall for at least 25 percent of another unit's length, sharing an entire elevation, or built above or below another dwelling unit or a garage so that it shares a ceiling or floor. State law reads the same way: ORS 197A.425(1)(b)(A) defines an ADU as 'an interior, attached or detached residential structure'. Attached and internal ADUs get the same 800 square foot cap and the same building-permit review as detached ones.

BDC 3.6.200(B)(3)(a) caps a single ADU at 800 square feet of floor area and a second ADU on the same lot or parcel at 500 square feet, and BDC 3.6.200(B)(2)(a) allows up to two ADUs per lot or parcel. There is no percent-of-primary-dwelling test. Floor area is measured inside the exterior walls; stairs count once unless the space beneath them is part of the ADU floor plan, and space under a sloped ceiling less than five feet high does not count. Accessory structures attached to the ADU are excluded from the cap if they cannot be reached from inside the ADU or if they supply an allocated parking space. Height follows the base zone under BDC 2.1.800(A): 35 feet in UAR, RL, RS and RM-10, 40 feet in RM and 50 feet in RH. Inside a BDC 3.8.300 small dwelling unit development the ADU cap drops to 600 square feet, only one ADU is allowed, and all dwelling units on the site together may not exceed 1,200 square feet.

There is no owner-occupancy requirement. BDC 3.6.200(B) sets out the complete list of ADU standards (eligibility, number, floor area, sewer analysis, detached separation) and contains no occupancy condition, nor does Table 2.1.200 or the building-permit path in BDC 4.2.400(A). State law forecloses one regardless: ORS 197A.425(1)(b)(B) provides that 'reasonable local regulations relating to siting and design' does not include owner-occupancy requirements of either the primary or accessory structure. Bend is well over the 2,500 population threshold in ORS 197A.425(1)(a). Occupancy resurfaces only in the short-term rental rules, which ORS 197A.425(2) expressly leaves to local control for vacation occupancies: the optional owner-occupied STR track in BDC 3.6.500(C)(5) requires the owner to occupy the dwelling during the rental period, and that track cannot use rooms inside a detached or attached ADU.

BDC 3.3.300(A) is unambiguous: 'There are no minimum parking requirements in the City of Bend.' The rule is citywide, not an ADU carve-out, so neither the ADU nor the primary house needs an off-street space, and the parking maximums in Table 3.3.300 expressly do not apply to accessory dwelling units. The Planning Division's ADU quick reference guide lists 'Minimum On-Site Spaces: None'. Bend also exempts ADUs from the frontage street and alley improvements, the sidewalk improvements and the street tree and planter strip landscaping that BDC 4.2.400(A)(3)(b) otherwise requires with new construction, and no driveway or apron work is triggered if you propose no change to the existing driveway. State law separately bars requiring additional off-street parking as a condition of ADU approval (ORS 197A.425(1)(b)(B)). If you later permit the ADU as a short-term rental, BDC 3.6.500(H) governs whatever parking you do provide: minimum 20 feet by nine feet, paved, entirely on site, tandem allowed.

Fully ministerial, with no separate land use application at all. Table 2.1.200 lists ADUs as P, meaning 'Permitted, subject to BDC Chapter 4.1, Development Review and Procedures', in every residential district, and there is no conditional-use path. BDC 4.2.400(A)(1) then says that for new construction of an accessory dwelling unit 'A Minimum Development Standards Review application is not required ... however, compliance with subsection (A)(3) of this section, Approval Criteria, is required and will be verified through the building permit process.' The zoning check therefore rides along with the building permit. The city states that 'You only need to apply for one permit to satisfy the permitting requirements for both our Planning and Building Safety Divisions', with an estimated 4 to 8 week processing time. Discretionary Planning review returns only for Historic Resources and Historic Districts, the Waterway Overlay Zone, or when an applicant voluntarily elects the discretionary track, which is elevated to a Type II application.

Nothing in BDC 3.6.200(B) limits who may occupy or rent an ADU, and there is no owner-occupancy or minimum-lease condition, so long-term rental is unrestricted. Short-term rental (under 30 consecutive days per guest) is heavily regulated. In the residential zones an STR requires a Type II land use permit under BDC 3.6.500(C)(4) plus an annual short-term rental operating license under Bend Code Chapter 7.16, and BDC 3.6.500(E) requires at least 500 feet of separation from any other property holding a valid Type II STR application or permit. Where a property holds more than one dwelling unit, BDC 3.6.500(A)(2) allows only one of them to be permitted as a short-term rental, and it names ADUs in the examples, so a house plus ADU cannot run two STRs. STR permits do not run with the land and terminate on sale or transfer (BDC 3.6.500(F)), and a permit is void if the use ceases for more than 12 months. The city's short-term rental page confirms that Type II STRs 'include accessory dwelling units (ADUs) used as short term rentals'. Bend's code has no separate-sale or condominium provision for ADUs, and ADUs are barred outright on lots created by a middle housing land division.