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Portland officials plan to limit sizes of new homes in much of the city as part of a broader drive to encourage development of more housing units.

The is an ambitious rewrite of residential zoning throughout the city, with exceptions made for a few neighborhoods.

The long-gestating plan is moving closer to enactment. The Planning and Sustainability Commission will take it up in two public hearings in May. Then city planners will make any necessary changes before bringing the project to the City Council in the fall.

Developers and residents are being urged to now.

Planners aim to encourage more middle housing 鈥� anything larger than an apartment but smaller than a single-family house. Housing such as townhomes and duplexes can house more residents at lower cost with minimal disruption to existing single-family neighborhoods, city officials said.

As part of the zoning rewrite, city planners are proposing stricter rules on how large newly constructed homes can be. In an R5 zone, which covers 132,000 lots in Portland, homes would be limited to a 0.5 floor-area ratio 鈥� for example, a 2,500-square-foot house on a 5,000-square-foot lot. That’s a significant change from current rules that allow 1.35 floor-area ratio, or a 6,750-square-foot house on a 5,000-square-foot lot.

Instead of McMansions, the rules would encourage accessory dwelling units, duplexes and other building types in urban neighborhoods.

Existing homeowners would not be forced to make changes. But any expansion of a nonconforming home’s footprint, or a scrape-and-rebuild, would trigger the new requirements.

The Residential Infill Project allows more building options on residential lots, such as a house with two ADUs or a duplex with an attached ADU. Triplexes would be allowed on corner lots.

鈥淲hat we’re trying to do is create options that are single dwelling-like, but smaller,鈥� said Joe Zehnder, chief planner with the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.

The rules are likely to prompt developers to build more small condominium projects.

鈥淭hat’s our expectation; that’s our hope,鈥� Zehnder said.

The restrictions on new, large homes are likely to make existing large homes more attractive, said Mike Nuss, owner of RareBird, a small-scale Portland infill developer. The rules will also make some projects infeasible because of the square footage limits. And developers are likely to be less aggressive in acquiring land for residential projects.

鈥淭he building community is in somewhat of an outrage for it, because it does limit what you can build,鈥� Nuss said. 鈥淚 think the end result will be smaller units.鈥�

Meanwhile, the Portland real-estate market has a low inventory of single-family homes 鈥� only 1.6 months in the metro area. Median sales prices continue to rise, up 6.8 percent in March to $395,000.

鈥淭he market need is more family-size housing, and this does not address that,鈥� Nuss said.

The infill options 鈥� known as 鈥淎鈥� overlay 鈥� would be available in most Southeast and Northeast Portland neighborhoods, and portions of Southwest Portland. Areas with natural hazards such as landslide risk were excluded. Neighborhoods considered at risk of displacement of existing residents of color, including Cully, North Portland and East Portland, were also excluded. (A map is available at ).

The 鈥淎鈥� overlay could be extended to neighborhoods at risk of displacement in future years if conditions warrant it, city planners said.

鈥淭his is just being conservative to see how the thing plays out,鈥� Zehnder said.

Some Cully residents have decried being left out of the overlay zone.

Houses would still be allowed as tall as 30 feet 鈥� two and a half stories 鈥� on standard lots. Rules would be changed to measure height from the lowest point near the house, not the highest point.

Parking would not be required for duplexes and triplexes.

鈥淚t’s a little bit of an incentive to build more unit types,鈥� said Sandra Wood, supervising planner at BPS.

The city is also seeking to discourage driveways that access streets, and to encourage alleyway parking where possible.

鈥淔or every driveway, it eliminates an on-street parking space that would be used by many people,鈥� Wood said.

The plan has garnered more than 180 public comments submitted online. Among them, Ethan Seltzer, a Portland State University professor emeritus of urban studies and planning, said the project falls short of what’s needed but would improve upon current rules.

鈥淲e need a city built for change, not one that is stubbornly committed to a past long since gone,鈥� Seltzer wrote. 鈥淚 applaud the RIP for moving us into what I think is a much better direction. It could do more, but this is a good first step and I support it.鈥�

Another resident, Bruce Gilley, said the residential infill plan is 鈥渦nfair to people who chose to buy houses in neighborhoods with the current density limits.鈥�

The Planning and Sustainability Commission will hold public hearings on the Residential Infill Project on May 8 and 15.