Building Restrictions On Rural Land (Eugene, Corvallis: zoning, mobile home, college)

[Patrick_in_Taipei]

I'm a US citizen living in Taiwan where I have my own product design & manufacturing business. I'd like to buy a few rural acres in the Eugene-Corvallis area to build a small, cottage-style home on so my Taiwan-born son and I can spend summers there and he can eventually use it to attend college. I also plan to start a small injection molding business in the area as an adjunct to my Taiwan tool-making operation.

Building restrictions on rural land seem to be significant though but how much so it's difficult to determine from here in Taiwan.

Any advice anyone can give me concerning the building restrictions issue would be appreciated.

[freedom]

Originally Posted by Patrick_in_Taipei

I'm a US citizen living in Taiwan where I have my own product design & manufacturing business. I'd like to buy a few rural acres in the Eugene-Corvallis area to build a small, cottage-style home on so my Taiwan-born son and I can spend summers there and he can eventually use it to attend college. I also plan to start a small injection molding business in the area as an adjunct to my Taiwan tool-making operation.

Building restrictions on rural land seem to be significant though but how much so it's difficult to determine from here in Taiwan.

Any advice anyone can give me concerning the building restrictions issue would be appreciated.

I believe Eugene is Lane County. Most counties in the state have websites that have all the info that you need on them regarding zoning and home businesses.

Look at properties that already have structures on them, for the easiest use.
And definitely at existing parcels, try to stay out of the planning process. They are cumbersome to say the least.

Most rural zonings allow small business uses. Remember if you ask permission they have to give you an answer, and its usually not in harmony with what you need...

freedom

[Larry Caldwell]

It sounds like you need to spend a little time defining what you mean by "rural." Most counties have semi-rural land wishfully zoned as Industrial that has remained undeveloped. In some cases, the utility infrastructure has already been built, in the hope of attracting a business venture, so your development costs would be blissfully low. Historically, industrial land has been more expensive than residential land, but residential land has been selling like hotcakes, while industrial land has languished. A residence is normally a permitted use in conjunction with a manufacturing operation.

Rural property would present you with its own problems. Many rural roads are only suitable for small delivery trucks, and you would have trouble with communications, which are often primitive in the country, to say the least. Waste disposal is another consideration. Many rural areas don't even have garbage service, and some counties don't even have solvent disposal facilities. That's not the sort of thing you can dump down a septic tank.

As Freedom mentioned, many counties have their zoning map online, and you can also find a copy of their LUDO (Land Use and Development Ordinance). Look for the Planning Department page on their web site. Pick a zone that allows manufacturing, and go shopping.

[Patrick_in_Taipei]

I was unclear. I don't plan to build a factory on the residential property. I'd start up a factory in an existing building on property zoned industrial in either Corvallis or Eugene. I don't expect that to be a major hurdle.

My real concern is semi-rural/rural residential property within a reasonable drive of Eugene or Corvallis. I've studied the state and county land use websites and other websites in Oregon and have come away with the impression that five-to-ten acre plots are hard to build on typically because of land use restrictions.

There's a good deal of land on the market in that size acreage but getting building permits seems to be a real problem.

Is my impression correct? Are buildable plots in that size range difficult to find in Lane and Benton Counties?

[Larry Caldwell]

As Freedom mentioned, find a parcel with a junky old mobile home, bulldoze it and start over. You can always get a permit for a replacement residence.

[Patrick_in_Taipei]

freedom, Larry, thank you for your replies.