91ÊÓƵ

Portland planners this month will host two public meetings to share potential revisions to city mixed-use zoning designations, development and design standards.

The meetings, part of the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability‘s , will take place on Feb. 25 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Feb. 26 from 7:30 to 10 a.m. at 1900 S.W. Fourth Ave. in Room 2500. Each session will begin as an informal open house, and follow with a presentation by city staffers. On Feb. 25, the presentation will start at 6:30 p.m.; on Feb. 26 it will start at 8 a.m.

The Mixed Use Zones Project stems from efforts to update the city’s comprehensive plan and encourage development of mixed-use centers for more walkable urban neighborhoods. Currently, the city uses commercial and central employment zones that were created in the 1990s, when car-centric developments and lower-density commercial projects were more common.

In a briefing on the project last week, senior planner Barry Manning told the Portland Design Commission that a preliminary zoning concept was released last fall and that city staffers are in the process of developing the new codes. Plans call for consolidating the current nine zones that relate to mixed-use buildings down to four zones catered to the size of the development, he said.

Planners have also used community feedback to craft potential revisions to development and design standards along the city’s commercial corridors, Manning said. Standards could relate to building articulation and massing, and require windows on a certain percentage of the ground-floor space.