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The city of Portland’s new online planning tool, since its launch this past October, has received considerable use.

According to the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, more than 904 of the nearly 1,100 comments the city received regarding its working draft of the Comprehensive Plan update came from the new – an interactive mapping tool that lets visitors view the city’s infrastructure in layers, and leave comments or suggestions. BPS officials launched the site as a way to spur greater community participation in its planning efforts.

Map App users can “pin” specific locations, or draw bubbles around larger areas when leaving a comment. The app remained relatively uncluttered in the weeks following its launch, but today is awash in digital ink.

“In small business districts like on NE Fremont Street at 42nd and to the East, require 0.75 parking spaces for each new apartment unit built and limit heights to three stories to retain the quality of life and character of the neighborhood,” one visitor wrote.

The app’s commenting function is deactivated, but visitors can still view suggestions made previously. Staffers are now in the process of organizing comments by topic; a report summarizing all public input will be available in the spring.

Staffers this summer will present a proposed draft to the Planning and Sustainability Commission, and the BPS will then reopen the Map App to public comments.