Oregon lawmakers are working to disentangle requirements for rural “accessory dwelling units,” commonly called “granny flats,” from a statewide wildfire map that’s likely to be discontinued.

The map was intended to identify areas at high risk of wildfire, which would be subject to stricter building codes and defensible space standards, but the concept was broadly criticized for driving up housing costs in rural areas.

The Senate has now decided to rescind the wildfire map under Senate Bill 83 while also trying to unwind related requirements for ADUs under Senate Bill 75, both of which have passed the chamber unanimously.

“Wildfire maps are not a great phrase to have in statute these days,” said Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, who was originally a proponent of the idea after large-scale fires devastated Oregon forests and communities in 2020.

Under Oregon’s traditional land use regulations, landowners in exclusive agricultural zones could only build ADUs on their property if the dwellings were meant for farmworkers. But nearly a decade ago, lawmakers began loosening those restrictions in response to housing shortages.

After the destruction caused by the 2020 wildfires, however, lawmakers imposed new requirements on ADUs in rural residential areas facing a high danger of wildfire, which were tied to the adoption of the controversial wildfire map.

In its original version, SB 75 was meant as a “technical fix” to reconcile legal provisions related to wildfire requirements and ADUs, but the proposal generated confusion and anger among those who thought it’d impose additional construction standards, said Doug Riggs, a lobbyist for Deschutes County.

“A lot of people misinterpreted it as a bill to create wildfire maps when actually it’s a bill just to comply with existing wildfire policies, whatever they might be,” Riggs said during a legislative hearing on SB 75.

To further complicate matters, it became apparent that this year lawmakers intended to overturn the controversial wildfire map whose development they ordered in 2021, which would be problematic for ADU requirements dependent on its completion, Golden said.

“We’re not going to have a map, so we’d wait forever for it to be finalized,” he said.

Under the amended version of SB 75, which is under review by the House Climate Committee after passing the Senate, the law reverts to the requirements for ADUs before the heightened wildfire map requirements were enacted, Golden said.