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Portland’s Southeast Quadrant Plan, the last portion of the city’s effort to update an overall plan to reach to 2035, was unveiled Tuesday at a Planning and Sustainability Commission meeting.

Senior planner and project manager Troy Doss presented the 213-page draft plan, which was met with wide support but also some criticism. The latter mostly was about employment opportunity subareas (EOS), which would be expanded but not districtwide.

Doss talked about the big points, including EOS, as well as plans to change city code to allow shared parking, add traffic signals, increase bike infrastructure and green space, and address transportation issues in the area. Shared parking, Doss explained, means that business owners would be able to share their unused parking spaces with other businesses; currently that is prohibited by city code. Industrial traffic is also a consideration, he said.

鈥淲e will create new designations that are most relevant in terms of freight mobility,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 high number are going through the area on bikes, and that will increase.鈥�

Southeast Quadrant Plan details are available at: .

As stated in the executive summary, the goal of is 鈥渢o increase the number of jobs per acre and new industrial types in the Central City while preserving traditional industrial uses, activating increasing accessibility to the waterfront, providing parking solutions and managing increased activity in this emerging area of economic creativity and growth.鈥�

After Doss’ presentation, more than 30 people gave timed comments on the plan.

Attorney Christe White of Christe C. White LLC said the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, located in the southeastern section of the quadrant, should have options for housing. At present, OMSI‘s land isn’t zoned for housing.

鈥淥MSI is here to ask you to retain residential as an option in the Southeast Quadrant Plan,鈥� she said. 鈥淥MSI is not adjacent to heavy industrial, and with the expanded greenway, OMSI is all in, but not without a plan for upland development and housing as part of that plan. We would like to preserve that option for the future.鈥�

Susan Keil, chairwoman of the OMSI board, restated that the plan needs more of a housing component.

鈥淥ur campus is clearly ready for development,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have property where you don’t have to tear something down, like vacant parking lots.鈥�

Allowing residential use on the OMSI property was 鈥渄iscussed thoroughly鈥� but rejected, according to an introductory letter to the Planning and Sustainability Commission from Stakeholder Advisory Committee co-chairs Don Hanson and Debbie Kitchin.

鈥淥MSI was an active member of our committee, and we discussed their housing proposals thoroughly, but in the end, the committee endorsed the proposal to prohibit housing,鈥� the letter states.

Other commenters focused on the new EOS overlay, which many said should be allowed throughout the entire district.

Developer Tom Rocca made that point.

鈥淚 think the EOS should be districtwide and would reduce conflicts,鈥� he said. 鈥淚slands and spot zoning have unintended consequences.鈥�

Several more people urged making the EOS uniform throughout the Southeast Quadrant.

鈥淚 support extending the EOS without spot zoning,鈥� architect Barry Smith said. 鈥淚t makes sense to keep designations clean and uniform and allow growth of the area to fill in the blanks.鈥�

Renee Strand of Portland’s Holst Architecture agreed.

鈥淚 urge you to recommend EOS in all zones,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t’s better to take a holistic approach rather than a spot approach.鈥�

The Southeast Quadrant Plan is the result of two years of work by city staff, citizen volunteers and consultants, and it clearly leans toward less residential, as stated in the executive summary.

鈥淪takeholders were primarily concerned with two things: protecting industrial land and providing transportation options and parking solutions. They didn’t want to see the Central Eastside become another Pearl District, where industry was eclipsed by residential and commercial uses and rents became unaffordable.鈥�

And even though the opening of Tilikum Crossing transit bridge will bring more pedestrians and cyclists through the Southeast Quadrant, stakeholders also want 鈥渢o ensure that trucks and freight movement would be accommodated鈥� the plan states.

The Southeast Quadrant is projected to grow by 2,500 households and 9,000 jobs by 2035, the draft plan reports, for a total of 3,500 households and 26,000 jobs. The Southeast Quadrant’s boundaries are the Willamette River to the west, Interstate 84 to the north, Southeast 12th Avenue to the east and Southeast Powell Boulevard to the south.

Key elements of the plan include:

鈥� Supporting the opportunity that exists around growing momentum in the South Waterfront associated with economic development by Oregon Health & Science University and Portland State University.

鈥� Activating mixed-use corridors already zoned for high density such as Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Grand Avenue, East Burnside, and Southeast Belmont.

鈥� Creating a regional waterfront destination that includes improved habitat as well as parks, beaches, retail and river transportation.

鈥� Maintaining the industrial sanctuary; preserving the highly successful industrial sanctuary while allowing for higher employment densities by increasing flexibility for industrial and industrial office users.

The Southeast Quadrant Plan is the last of three quadrant plans addressing land use and development, transportation, urban design, parks, open space and recreational opportunities. The final plan, Central City 2035, will update the 1988 Central City Plan.

Doss said the draft plan will go to back to the Planning and Sustainability Commission on June 9, when some changes may be made, and then will likely go to the City Council for approval in July. The will probably be completed next year, he said.