According to the zoning code, a bed and breakfast facility is where an individual or family lives in a house in a residential zone and rents bedrooms to overnight guests. Bed and breakfast facilities in residential zones are limited, by the zoning code, to a maximum of five bedrooms for guests. The individual or family who operate the bed and breakfast must occupy the house as their primary residence and the house must be at least five years old before a bed and breakfast facility is allowed. A new B & B in a residential zone requires a land use review, which takes some time and has a significant fee attached.

The residents of a bed and breakfast facility are allowed to have only twelve private social gatherings, parties, or meetings per year, for more than eight guests or visitors. The private social gatherings must be hosted by and for the enjoyment of the residents. Commercial meetings such as weddings, meetings, or charitable fund raising are not allowed in bed and breakfast establishments in single family residential zones. In multi-dwelling zones, commercial meetings may be approved through the Conditional Use process. (Examples of "commercial meetings" are luncheons, parties, weddings, charitable fund raising, or other gatherings for direct or indirect compensation.)

For more information on the zoning code requirements for bed and breakfast facilities, or for a bed and breakfast in a non-residential zone, call (503) 823-7526.

The building code distinguishes between residences with "transient" residents versus "permanent" residents. This means that a bed and breakfast with a single guest room is actually no longer classified as a single family residence, but rather as a hotel. Through the building code appeals process, it may be possible to convert a house to a bed and breakfast without meeting all of the requirements for a new hotel, so long as the b & b operation doesn't include renting space out for parties, weddings, receptions, meetings or similar uses.

The appeal will look at whether the existing house meets basic life safety conditions such as required escape windows from bedrooms. If the appeal is granted, hard wired interconnected smoke alarms will be required. The appeal will specifically limit the bed and breakfast to five or fewer for-rent guest rooms, with no more than ten guests all together. And the appeal will require that the building owner record a covenant that enforces the five guest room/ten guest limit. For more information, speak to a Life Safety reviewer at 503 823-1456 or visit the Development Services Center.

There would be no seismic issue with converting a house to a bed and breakfast.

A bed and breakfast with five or fewer guest rooms would not be expected to trigger systems development charges.

The city will require that plans for any project with complex issues or structural work be prepared by a licensed professional. Plans need to be clear and complete, regardless of who prepares them.

Plans will generally include a site plan, a plan of each floor, a cross section, and often stair details. Plans should show how the proposed use and layout meet current code requirements. If there are areas that need to be improved to meet current code, the drawings should include construction details showing how these will be modified.

Depending on the age of the building, we may have plans of the existing building in our microfilm records that can help during the planning stage. See information on Resources/Records.

We encourage you to visit the Development Services Center (DSC) as soon as you have preliminary plans showing what you have in mind.

The DSC is on the ground floor of the building at 1900 SW 4th (4th and Hall). See DSC Hours and Service Availability.

In the DSC you will find technical staff from virtually all of the city bureaus that can discuss requirements applying to your project and that will be reviewing your project when it comes in for a permit.

DSC staff can also give you an idea of the permit fees for your project.

It is not uncommon, in the case of a change of occupancy, to have one or more building code appeals. Appeals can be preliminary - before the permit is applied for - or you can wait until you have applied for the permit and can be sure that all the issues that might need an appeal have been identified. The appeals process takes about a week. View more information on the appeal process.

There is a lot of information available about permits and the permit process on the BDS website. You may want to look at the Commercial Alterations or the New Users section. 

A change of occupancy permit is a building permit. To apply for the change of occupancy permit, you must provide the city with four sets of plans, pay part of the fees up front including an additional change of occupancy plan review fee and then turn the plans in for review. Plans will generally include a site plan, a plan of each floor, a cross section, and often stair details. Plans should show how the proposed use and layout meet current code requirements. If there are areas that need to be improved to meet current code, the drawings should include construction details showing how these will be modified.

The DSC is on the ground floor of the building at 1900 SW 4th (4th and Hall). We encourage you to get in to the DSC earlier in the day rather than later. The wait times get longer as the day goes by, and it also tends to be more of a challenge to find parking.

In the DSC you will find technical staff from virtually all of the city bureaus that can discuss requirements applying to your project and that will be reviewing your project when it comes in for a permit.

Staff representing the various groups with an interest in development (building, zoning, fire, transportation, sewer, etc.) will be assigned to your project. Any reviewer who looks at your plans and needs additional info/corrections before signing off will mail you a "checksheet" telling you what they need. The city's goal is to get all of those checksheets out (for a change of occupancy) within a couple of weeks.

To respond to a checksheet, you will go to Document Services, which is on the second floor (above the DSC). You will need to update all four sets of the originally submitted drawings, either by replacing the original sheets with new sheets or marking changes on the originally submitted sheets. Keep any replaced sheets with the new sheets, and mark them "Void".

When all the corrections are made, the reviewers will check the changes made. When all the reviews are completed, it takes several days to process the paperwork. Then, you pay the rest of the fees and the permit is issued. Licensed contractors will need to apply for separate permits to do the electrical and plumbing work.

When all the inspections (building, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing ) are approved, and the card you are given at permit issuance is all signed off, you will be issued a Certificate of Occupancy. The house can then be occupied as an educational use.