By John Laney | Realtor, Newberg, Oregon | John Knows Newberg
If you own property in Newberg, here’s something that changed on July 1, 2026 that almost nobody is talking about: the city cut its land use notification radius from 500 feet to 100 feet for most residential development applications. That means a new subdivision or apartment project could be approved a block and a half from your home — and unless you’re within 100 feet of the property line, you may never receive a notice in the mail.
I’ve read the city’s press release, the coverage, and the underlying state legislation, and I want to break down what these new Newberg land use rules actually mean — for homeowners, for sellers, and for the developers and investors I work with every week. Because depending on which side of a transaction you’re on, this change is either a loss of visibility or a major streamlining win. For a lot of my clients, it’s both.
What Changed on July 1, 2026
The City of Newberg announced that, effective July 1, 2026, it is implementing new land use notification and appeal rules to comply with two pieces of Oregon state legislation: Senate Bill 974 (SB 974), passed in 2025, and House Bill 4037, passed in early 2026. The city has been clear that this is a statewide mandate, not a local policy choice — every Oregon city is making similar changes.
Here’s the short version of what’s different:
Smaller notification radius. For most residential projects — including apartments and subdivisions with fewer than 20 units — the required neighbor notification radius dropped from 500 feet to 100 feet. Larger projects of 20 or more units still use the 500-foot radius.
No public hearings for most residential applications. The city may no longer require public hearings for most residential development, including apartments, subdivisions, rezoning to higher-density residential (on land already zoned residential), and residential planned unit developments (PUDs). Rezonings and PUDs previously required a public hearing in Newberg. Now they’re reviewed by city staff only.
Appeal rights are now applicant-only for most applications. Previously, neighboring property owners, agencies, and members of the public who submitted comments could appeal a land use decision. Under the new rules, for most residential application types, only the applicant can appeal. The exceptions: rezoning for higher-density residential and residential PUDs — on those, people who submit public comments still retain appeal rights.
Some projects require no notice at all. Middle housing — duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, townhouses, and cottage clusters — along with single-family homes and ADUs, now go straight to building permits with no public notice period and no ability for neighbors to appeal.
What Is SB 974 Oregon, and Why Did This Happen?
SB 974 is part of Oregon’s aggressive push to speed up housing production and address the state’s housing shortage. The bill requires cities to review residential development plans within their urban growth boundaries in 120 days, removes aesthetic design requirements that slowed approvals, and — together with HB 4037 — reshapes how the public is notified about, and can challenge, residential development.
HB 4037 came at the problem from the funding and permitting side: trimming regulations, shortening the permit timeline for contractors, and increasing funding for home construction.
The legislature’s logic is simple: every month a housing project sits in hearings and appeals adds carrying costs, and those costs land on the final price of the home. Whether you think that trade-off is right or not, it’s now the law across Oregon — and Newberg has implemented it.
What This Means for Newberg Homeowners
Here’s the practical reality: you can no longer count on the city to tell you what’s being built near you. If a 19-unit apartment project is proposed 150 feet from your backyard, you’re outside the new notification radius. If a triplex goes in next door, there’s no notice period at all.
For homeowners, my advice is to get proactive:
- Bookmark the city’s development map. Newberg maintains an interactive map of active planning applications called “What’s Happening On My Street?” It’s now the single best tool for staying informed, and I’d check it a few times a year even if nothing seems to be happening nearby.
- Submit comments when it matters. For the two application types where appeal rights survive — higher-density rezonings and residential PUDs — you only keep your appeal rights if you submit a public comment during the review window. If you stay silent, you lose your seat at the table. The window is short, which is exactly why the map matters.
- Contact the planning department directly. For detailed questions, the city points residents to [email protected].
If you’re thinking about selling your Newberg home, this matters too. Nearby development can affect value in both directions — a new cottage cluster can bring buyer traffic and comps to a neighborhood, while a large project can change traffic patterns and views. As a listing agent, part of my job is knowing what’s in the development pipeline around your property before we price it and before a buyer’s agent brings it up at the negotiating table. That’s a research step I do on every listing — and under these new Newberg development notification rules, it’s more important than ever, because your neighbors (and your buyers) may not know what’s coming.
What This Means for Developers and Investors
Now the other side of the coin — and as an active real estate investor here in Newberg, this is the part of the new rules I find most significant.
For builders and investors, SB 974 and HB 4037 have meaningfully de-risked residential development in Newberg:
- Middle housing is now nearly friction-free. Duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, townhouses, and cottage clusters go directly to building permits. No notice, no hearing, no third-party appeal. If you own or are eyeing an infill lot in Newberg, the entitlement risk on middle housing has dropped substantially.
- Sub-20-unit projects got faster and quieter. A smaller notification radius, no required hearing, and applicant-only appeal rights mean a well-prepared application faces far less procedural risk than it did a year ago.
- The 120-day review clock creates predictability. Predictable timelines are what make deals pencil. When you can model your entitlement period with confidence, you can model your carrying costs — and that changes what you can pay for land.
- The 20-unit threshold is now a real design consideration. Projects at 19 units live in a different procedural world than projects at 20. Expect to see proposals shaped around that line.
We’ve already seen how streamlined processes play out locally. Projects like the HIVE housing innovation project — the 10-unit modular cottage cluster on N. College Street — show what’s possible when construction innovation meets a faster path to permits. And larger master-planned efforts like the Riverrun development and the Riverfront Master Plan are unfolding in a Newberg that’s clearly signaling it intends to grow.
These rule changes are exactly the kind of thing we dig into at our investor meetup — Newberg’s only one. Every month we get local investors, builders, and agents in a room talking about deals, entitlement strategy, and where the market’s headed. If you want in on those conversations, you can find our upcoming events at the Newberg Investor Meetup on Eventbrite.
My Take: Know Before Your Neighbors Do
These new rules shift the information advantage. Under the old Newberg land use rules, the city did the work of keeping neighborhoods informed. Under the new ones, the people who benefit are the ones paying attention — the homeowners who check the development map, the sellers whose agent researches the pipeline before listing, and the investors who understand which projects now skip the notice process entirely.
That’s where I come in. I track Newberg’s planning applications, I’m invested in this market personally, and my team is embedded in local development projects. Whether you’re a homeowner wondering what that survey crew down the street means, a seller who wants to price with full knowledge of what’s coming, or an investor looking at an infill lot — I can tell you what the new rules mean for your specific property.
Call or text me directly:
📞 503-217-4229
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📞 Call or text John directly: 503-217-4229 📧 [email protected]
John Laney is a licensed Oregon REALTOR® with Epique Realty / Assurance Team Real Estate, specializing in seller representation, investor properties, and commercial real estate in Newberg and the Chehalem Valley.