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The Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development has turned back objections to Portland’s 2035 comprehensive plan.

The state agency’s Dec. 5 ruling means the comprehensive plan has cleared a hurdle toward implementation by the city of Portland in 2018. Yet opponents could still appeal the plan to the Land Conservation and Development Commission and the Land Use Board of Appeals.

One group left no doubt an appeal would be forthcoming.

鈥淲e’re going on with the appeal, and we’re working on it right now,鈥� said Martie Sucec, chairwoman of the Multnomah Neighborhood Association.

The Multnomah Neighborhood Association in Southwest Portland was joined by the Goose Hollow Foothills League, Rose City Park Association and several individual property owners in lodging objections to the comprehensive plan.

Several objections concern changing the character of single-family neighborhoods by adding apartment buildings. Others also lodged complaints about the city’s process in adopting the comprehensive plan.

The comprehensive plan is a wide-ranging set of rules meant to guide how Portland will develop during the next two decades. The plan affects zoning throughout the city, and such crucial rules as maximum height and allowed building uses.

The Multnomah Neighborhood Association lodged objections against Multnomah Village being designated as a 鈥渘eighborhood center,鈥� and also against the city’s public process.

鈥淲e’ve just been ignored, which is why we’ve filed objections,鈥� Sucec said.

The city’s neighborhood center designation 鈥渨ipes out Multnomah as a single-family neighborhood,鈥� she added.

Multnomah Village has seen a recent influx of apartment proposals. Crews are finishing construction of a four-story building with 70 units at 7661 S.W. Capitol Highway 鈥� a site that formerly held a gas station.

鈥淲hat we don’t want is for developers to have free rein on any lot at any time,鈥� Sucec said. 鈥淭his is not good planning, to just say build anything, anywhere.鈥�

Nevertheless, the DLCD turned back the group’s objections. The department found the city complied with its citizen involvement program during development of the comprehensive plan. It also found that designating an area a neighborhood center did not result in rezoning, and that rezoning would require further public notice.

The City Council adopted the comprehensive plan in June 2016. State law requires periodic review of a city’s comprehensive plan, and the 2035 plan is the first thorough overhaul of Portland’s rules since 1980.

The city’s plan allows neighborhoods to grow up to accommodate housing demand, DLCD Director Jim Rue stated in a news release.

鈥淧ortland is an attractive city with lots of people moving there each year,鈥� he stated. 鈥淭he City Council had to make difficult choices about how to best accommodate the expected growth. Our review found the plan to be consistent with the state’s requirements for efficient, managed use of land.鈥�