<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=00e63z_1H3iWJhE00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=00e63z_1H3iWJhE00" width="650" height="400" >A Central City zoning code package intended to boost housing production, post-pandemic economic recovery and downtown revitalization was approved by the Portland City Council on Thursday. The zoning code changes will take effect on March 1, 2027. The ordinance passed by council amended Title 33 of the Portland Zoning Code, the Portland Comprehensive Plan Map and zoning maps. The map changes mostly focus on maximum building heights.The Central City Code Amendments Project (CCCAP) dates back to 2022. Public outreach began in March, and then the Portland Planning Commission voted in July to recommend that City Council adopt the zoning code package. The package includes increases in allowable building heights and floor area ratios, more allowable uses in Tom McCall Waterfront Park, increases in opportunities for housing development in some Central Employment zoned areas where it is currently restricted, expanded location options for food carts, relaxed regulations for off-street parking, and greater flexibility in the Central City Master Plan amendment process. “The zoning changes part of this project are really about creating greater flexibility in the allowable uses in various zones in order to help fill vacant ground-floor and office spaces and to foster new residential development,” Patricia Diefenderfer, chief planner at the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, said during a City Council meeting on Oct. 14.The zoning code amendments that provide temporary surface parking provisions to assist redevelopment activities, expand the range of uses allowed in the Central Commercial base zone, expand opportunities for retail sales and service uses in the Central Eastside subdistrict and in the open space base zone in the Central City, and reduce barriers for the siting of food carts and food cart pods. “When we switch to more flexibility to our commercial and industrial space, that’s great for that light industrial work we need to make sure we retain in our Central City,” Councilor Elana Pirtle-Guiney said during a meeting in October. “But it does mean that we move our industrial space to a higher value property by moving it to property that can be used for industrial or commercial.” The amendments also expand the types of land uses allowed in Tom McCall Waterfront Park, remove barriers to developing major entertainment uses and increase the development potential for residential land uses across the Central City Plan District. ​​The CCCAP amendments primarily address the Central City Plan District and the 10 subdistricts. However, amendments related to food carts and food cart pods apply citywide in zones where such uses are allowed. Changes in lower Albina include rezoning a waterfront site from industrial to allow for mixed use and activation. In Goose Hollow, two blocks will change from multi-dwelling residential to central commercial. The CCCAP also removes a housing prohibition in three central employment zoned areas: on North Russell Street, an area south/southeast of the OMSI Master Plan site, and north of Southeast Powell Boulevard. The package includes two tracks to increase maximum building heights. Track 1 increases the maximum bonus height that can be earned when a floor area ratio bonus is also earned. Track 2 provides an unlimited height option for proposals that meet applicable development standards. They include at least 75 percent of project floor area being residential, the site not being within a designated public view corridor or historic district, and the site not being in the North Pearl or RiverPlace Height opportunity areas, or within the South Waterfront subdistrict. Provisions will allow more retail use and visitor-serving use in Tom McCall Waterfront Park, reduce the river setback and allow park-related uses within the setback. Other provisions relate to parking and food carts. They will allow surface parking on lots covered by a freeway, temporary surface parking for a five-year period and limited monthly parking in city-owned parking structures. Food carts will now be allowed outside of parking lots, such as on plazas or on paved areas in parks. Additional amendments allow a combination of solar panels and eco-roofs and reduce the level of review for amendments for an approved Central City Master Plan. Technical amendments clarify the standard that requires an entryway or porch for ground-floor residential, and updates one Greenway Inventory Map. Another amendment deletes the requirement for a shadow study on residential areas outside the Central City or on Tom McCall Waterfront Park. To learn more about the zoning code amendments, review the ordinance at https://tinyurl.com/ydy5wpw5. </div></body>

Block Source: Daily Journal of Commerce

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A Central City zoning code package intended to boost housing production, post-pandemic economic recovery and downtown revitalization was approved by the Portland City Council on Thursday. The zoning code changes will take effect on March 1, 2027. The ordinance passed by council amended Title 33 of the Portland Zoning Code,...

Portland City Council OKs Central City code changes

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A Central City zoning code package intended to boost housing production, post-pandemic economic recovery and downtown revitalization was approved by the Po

Portland City Council OKs Central City code changes

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