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Deep in the bowels of the city of Portland’s policymaking process, Committee 3.96 went to work.

The committee’s 25 members quietly reviewed decades-old city codes meant to give neighborhoods a voice in city budgeting and evaluations of land use. The group, formed last year by a City Council directive with members drawn mostly from local activism and nonprofit groups, had a task: examine the roles of the city’s influential neighborhood associations, and recommend changes.

Committee 3.96 began meeting in November 2018, working within the city’s Office of Community and Civic Life. Then on July 18, after months of study and debate, Committee 3.96 issued its recommendations. They landed with all the subtlety of a bomb.

A four-page document approved by the committee is filled with vague language on reducing disparities and delivering just and equitable outcomes, but the recommendations are unmistakable. Proposed changes would broadly reduce the role of neighborhood associations, putting them on equal footing with other groups engaged in affinity-based, business, community or issue advocacy.

Neighborhood associations fear the changes will sideline them, rendering them voiceless to influence the surge of infill construction that has reshaped urban neighborhoods. Yet many stakeholders say it is time for a change in 20th-century city codes that favor neighborhood associations and their largely older, wealthier and whiter demographic of homeowners.

The proposed changes raise a host of questions for future development, including whether neighborhood associations would retain the right to appeal Design Commission rulings to the City Council with the appeal fee of up to $5,000 waived.

鈥淚’m not quite sure if it’s better or worse for development, in part because we have something that we’ve been working with for many, many years,鈥� said Sam Rodriguez, senior managing director of multifamily developer Mill Creek Residential Trust. 鈥淵ou kind of know what you’re dealing with. If you don’t have (a neighborhood association) structure, what are you dealing with?鈥�

Neighborhood associations such as the Pearl District and Overlook groups often have a sophisticated understanding of the city’s design guidelines, Rodriguez said.

鈥淭his could be more of a mob mentality,鈥� he said. Other groups, he said, 鈥渁re not necessarily going to have the structure of the neighborhood association.鈥�

In some cases, splinter groups 鈥� such as the Pearl Neighbors for Integrity in Design 鈥� have sprung up to oppose developments. If those neighborhood groups are recognized alongside neighborhood associations, it could change the dynamic.

The committee’s recommendations, which were first reported by The Oregonian/OregonLive, were overseen by the office of Commissioner Chloe Eudaly, who is in charge of the Office of Community and Civic Life.

A spokeswoman for Eudaly, Margaux Weeke, acknowledged the code recommendations had caused confusion. They are not intended to place limits on neighborhood associations, she said.

鈥淭his is not taking away neighborhood associations; this is not banning neighborhood associations,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey will absolutely continue to exist. It’s allowing other types of organizations to have a seat at the table. It’s about addition and multiplication, not subtraction and division.鈥�

The changes are meant to empower groups such as Living Cully that are not among Portland’s 95 city-recognized neighborhood associations, Weeke said.

鈥淏asically, the proposed changes say 鈥榥eighborhood-based groups’ instead of 鈥榥eighborhood associations,’ which is just to allow other types of groups to be officially recognized groups,鈥� she said.

Some neighborhood association leaders were skeptical that the new code language wouldn’t sideline neighborhood associations.

鈥淚 don’t buy it,鈥� said Stan Penkin, president of the Pearl District Neighborhood Association.

The committee’s report comes as city officials face demands to ease housing shortages. Neighborhood associations often campaign against proposed housing developments, and their demands for parking capacity can drive up project costs.

Rodriguez said neighborhood associations can be difficult to work with.

鈥淭hey’re quite powerful and they’re less inclined to support development than not,鈥� he said.

Penkin and other neighborhood association leaders said the groups deserve some of the criticism they receive for not-in-my-backyard politics.

鈥淚n some cases there’s a NIMBY aspect to it,鈥� Penkin said. 鈥淚 wouldn’t deny that. But on the other hand, (when) there’s a project coming to a neighborhood, the neighborhood having a say in it, we’ve got better projects and better buildings out of it from having a say.鈥�

Committee 3.96’s report seems to raise more questions than it answers, leaving commissioners, neighborhood associations and developers wondering what the proposal actually entails.

鈥淚t’s a bunch of aspirational statements, statements of value, which are important, but there’s no process there,鈥� Penkin said.

The code language will go before the City Council for consideration. A work session is tentatively scheduled for September.

It’s unclear whether Committee 3.96’s proposed changes have majority support on the council. A spokesman for Mayor Ted Wheeler stated that Wheeler has not taken a position.

鈥淲e are watching the process closely and will continue engaging with key stakeholders, including the Office of Community and Civic Life, to better understand the nuances of the proposal and learn more about possible outcomes should the code change go into effect,鈥� Tim Becker, a spokesman for Wheeler, wrote in an email.

Commissioners Nick Fish and Amanda Fritz also have not taken positions on the changes, representatives said. Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The proposed changes caught many neighborhood associations by surprise.

鈥淚 just felt like it wasn’t a robust enough public process,鈥� said Elizabeth Milner, a Sellwood-Moreland Improvement League board member.

Neighborhood association leaders said there’s value in the public accountability they provide. They often invite developers to meet with neighborhood residents in public forums. Neighborhood associations hold public meetings, take votes and publish meeting minutes and agendas. Non-officially recognized groups have no such transparency requirements.

Milner said the Sellwood neighborhood association has become younger and more diverse in recent years. The board president, Tyler Janzen, is a 27-year-old renter. Milner said she has mixed feelings about the proposed changes.

鈥淚 can understand a lot of the criticisms against the role neighborhood associations have played in Portland,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 would like to see the Office of Civic Life work with neighborhood associations as partners to craft the next chapter of civic involvement in Portland. I would like to see them engage the neighborhood associations rather than see them try to erase them systematically.鈥�

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct fee to appeal Design Commission decisions to the City Council.