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New rules adopted by the city of Portland will make it easier for developers to renovate historic properties while keeping the original structures intact.

The changes to city code, which were approved by the City Council on Jan. 26, take effect on March 1. The code changes allow property owners to do more without going before the Historic Landmarks Commission for approval.

鈥淭he goal is increasing housing opportunity, enabling adaptive reuse, but also ensuring strong demolition protection,鈥� said Brandon Spencer-Hartle, project manager for the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.

Among the changes:

• Additional housing units (such as ADUs) are allowed in historic districts 鈥渂y right,鈥� meaning they don’t need special land-use permission.
• Former churches and other historic structures are able to be renovated for other uses more easily.
• Historic homes can be renovated without going through a hearing. By-right work items include solar installation, windows, electrical and mechanical upgrades. Fewer changes will require a hearing by the Historic Landmarks Commission. Minor exterior alterations will not be reviewed, but additions and major exterior alterations are subject to a review 鈥� in most cases at the staff level. Some large-scale changes would require the commission’s approval.

The code amendments’ enactment culminates two years of work by city staff, elected officials and the Planning and Sustainability and Historic Landmarks commissions. City officials successfully lobbied for a change in state law that partially decouples local historic resource protections from listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Portland historic landmarks are still protected from demolition, but not changes in design. Previously, Oregon was the only state that automatically conferred protection from demolition and design changes to historic landmarks.

鈥淚’m excited to see tenants, building owners and professionals get creative with the flexibility provided by this code so that our historic places can continue to inform us of the past and better serve the needs of future Portlanders,鈥� Mayor Ted Wheeler said as the City Council approved the amendments Jan. 26 in a unanimous vote.

The code changes should make it easier to do some projects, said Rick Michaelson, president of Inner City Properties, a Portland development firm that often tackles adaptive reuse projects.

鈥淭he code amendments are a step in the right direction,鈥� Michaelson said. 鈥淭hey are simplifying processes; they are allowing more options for adaptive reuse.鈥�

State building codes need to be further changed to allow for more flexibility, Michaelson said. For example, if a building owner converts a single-family home to a duplex, it falls under one section of the building code. But if the owner opts for a triplex, it falls under a separate section.

Sarah Stevenson, executive director of Innovative Housing Inc., said she supports any changes that make expensive and difficult adaptive reuse projects easier to accomplish.

Spencer-Hartle predicted the code changes will result in a spike in solar installation in historic districts, garage-to-ADU conversions and second ADUs on properties that already have one additional unit. 鈥淭here is a long list of people who have been waiting to install solar,鈥� he said.

The updated rules no longer require onsite parking. And residential units are not limited within a historic structure.

Design guidelines 鈥� including height limits in historic districts 鈥� were not changed. Likewise, a state law that requires the property owner’s consent to designate a historic landmark remains.

City officials hope the new rules result in a generation of well-loved adaptive reuse projects, similar to those done by McMenamins at historic structures in Oregon and Washington. The zoning code 鈥渨ould essentially give Kennedy School-like flexibility to our historic landmarks city-wide,鈥� Spencer-Hartle said, referring to the popular Northeast Portland elementary school that was turned into a McMenamins movie theater, brewery and restaurant venue.

Portland leaders have also worked to diversify historic landmarks, adding protections to the Billy Webb Elks Lodge, an institution in North Portland’s Black community, and the Darcelle XV Showplace, a well-known downtown drag club.

Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty has pushed for greater recognition of landmarks from communities that have been excluded from historic preservation.

鈥淲e have been clear that the status quo around historic preservation cannot continue without an acknowledgement of all of the people left out 鈥� all of the cultural, institutions and neighborhoods who just aren’t reflected today,鈥� she said.