Oregon
Buying Land in Clackamas County, Oregon
Clackamas County runs from dense Portland suburbs to Mount Hood wilderness, and its urban-growth-boundary rules genuinely differ depending on which part of the county you're in. Add productive EFU farmland, a real 2020 wildfire history in the county's eastern reaches, and you have a county where 'check the zoning map' means something different depending on where the map is.
A county split between two urban-growth-boundary systems
Most Oregon counties deal with a single, county-administered relationship to each city's urban growth boundary. Clackamas County is different because part of it sits inside Metro's jurisdiction -- Metro is the directly elected regional government covering most of the Portland metropolitan area, and it holds authority over the region's shared UGB, including expansion decisions for the Clackamas County cities within it: Lake Oswego, West Linn, Oregon City, Milwaukie, Happy Valley, and Wilsonville. Land near those cities' edges is subject to Metro's regional growth-management process, not a purely local county decision.
Outside Metro's boundary, Clackamas County's more rural cities -- Molalla, Estacada, Sandy, and Canby -- have their own separate urban growth boundaries that the county deals with more directly, following the standard statewide DLCD framework rather than Metro's additional regional layer. For a buyer evaluating a parcel's proximity to future urban development or annexation potential, the first question isn't just 'how far is this from the UGB' -- it's which UGB system applies at all.
EFU farmland and nursery production in the valley lowlands
Clackamas County's Exclusive Farm Use zoning (governed by Chapter 401 of the county's Zoning and Development Ordinance, most recently substantively amended September 3, 2024) is concentrated in the flatter Willamette Valley lowlands toward Canby, Molalla, and Woodburn -- productive ground that has made the county one of the country's leading nursery-crop production regions, alongside more traditional grass-seed and row-crop farming. The county's current long-range planning work program includes narrow, incremental EFU updates -- for example, a proposal to allow childcare facilities in farm zones when co-located with a community center or school -- signaling the code is actively evolving rather than static.
A genuine, narrow exception worth knowing about: ORS 197.719 lets counties redesignate abandoned or diminished mill sites from EFU to rural industrial use without going through a full statewide-planning-goal exception process. Clackamas County held a land-use hearing on August 4, 2026 for exactly this kind of case -- a roughly 7.5-acre former mill site on South Crop Road proposed for redesignation under applications Z0437-25 and Z0438-25. It's a real, current example of how a former industrial parcel embedded in EFU land can sometimes move to a different zoning designation, but it's a narrow statutory pathway tied to specific qualifying facts, not a general precedent for rezoning ordinary farmland.
Wildfire risk in the eastern county
Clackamas County's eastern reaches, toward Estacada, Colton, and the Mount Hood corridor, sit squarely in wildland-urban interface terrain, and the county has recent, well-documented proof of the risk. The Riverside Fire ignited in the Mount Hood National Forest on September 8, 2020, during the historic Labor Day windstorm that drove multiple major fires across the state, and it burned roughly 138,000 acres across Clackamas and Marion counties, destroying at least 50 homes and 150 other structures. Communities including Estacada, Molalla, Colton, and Springwater were placed under evacuation orders as the fire advanced.
For anyone evaluating rural or forested land in eastern Clackamas County, this history is a real factor: confirm current wildfire-hazard classification for the specific area, ask about defensible-space and building-code requirements that may apply, and check homeowners' insurance availability and pricing before assuming a wooded foothill parcel is straightforward to insure and build on.
Who to Call Before Buying Land in Clackamas County
Clackamas County's GIS/parcel mapping is accessed through the Assessment and Taxation department's online tools rather than a separately staffed GIS office. Direct phone confirmation for planning, Metro, and the DEQ septic agent was not completed this research pass -- confirm current numbers on the linked pages before calling.
Planning & Zoning
Clackamas County Planning and Zoning Division
Zoning verification, EFU dwelling and conditional-use questions, and confirming whether a specific parcel falls inside or outside Metro's UGB jurisdiction.
Other
Metro (Portland regional government)
Urban growth boundary questions for parcels near Lake Oswego, West Linn, Oregon City, Milwaukie, Happy Valley, or Wilsonville, which fall inside Metro's regional UGB jurisdiction.
Other
Oregon DEQ Onsite Wastewater Program (Clackamas County agent)
Septic system permitting and site evaluations for parcels not on a public sewer system.
Assessor / Property Tax
Clackamas County Assessment and Taxation
Current assessed value, farm/forest deferral status, and GIS/parcel lookup for a specific property.
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Get local guidanceSources
- ZDO 401: Exclusive Farm Use District — Clackamas County, Oregon Government (accessed 2026-09)
- Clackamas County Zoning and Development Ordinance 401 — Clackamas County, Oregon Government (accessed 2026-09)
- Land Use Hearing - August 4, 2026 - #ClackCo TV — Clackamas County Government (via Govly) (accessed 2026-09)
- ORS 215.283 -- Uses permitted in exclusive farm use zones in nonmarginal lands counties; rules — Oregon Revised Statutes (accessed 2026-09)
- Farm and Forestland Deferrals — Clackamas County, Oregon Government (accessed 2026-09)
- In Clackamas County, fire-threatened residents find their own ways to face danger — Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) (accessed 2026-09)
- Wyden, Merkley: More than $1.2 Million to Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal for Service during 2020 Riverside Fire — Office of U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (accessed 2026-09)
- #ClackCo Alerts — Clackamas County, Oregon Government (accessed 2026-09)
Last reviewed 2026-09