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The Portland Planning Commission on Tuesday voted 7-1 to approve a housing production strategy that would temporarily suspend some zoning codes and permanently modify others to better facilitate housing production.

The controversial proposal triggered a surge of public opinion because it would suspend various zoning codes and development standards, including the design review process, for five years and reduce the amount of required bike parking.

Three amendments were made Tuesday to the proposed housing production strategy outlined in the Housing Regulatory Relief Project. Commissioner Wade Lange, who cast the sole vote against approval, said it was to 鈥渟tick to the spirit鈥� of the project鈥檚 original goal 鈥� reduce the number of development regulations.

The next step is for the amended Housing Regulatory Relief Project proposal to be reviewed by the Portland City Council in December.

鈥淚 think that there will be a lot of happy developers and people trying to advance housing under this regulatory relief package,鈥� Commission Chair Mary-Rain O鈥橫eara said.

The two most debated changes to the zoning proposal involved the suspension of requirements for eco-roofs and bird-safe glazing. They were identified in a Bureau of Development Services survey among the top obstructions to housing production of the zoning codes and development standards that would be waived. However, after much deliberation on Tuesday, both items were ultimately removed from the proposal.

The debate on bird-safe glazing requirements quickly escalated into confusion as various viewpoints clashed. The crux of the matter seemed to revolve around finding the right threshold percentage for bird-safe glazing to decrease development costs without inadvertently increasing the risk of bird strikes.

鈥淚 really don鈥檛 feel comfortable moving forward on this without the science and the rigor that it deserves,鈥� Commissioner Michael Pouncil said.

Currently, the bird-safe glazing requirement is triggered with a new building (or major remodel) if more than 30 percent of the exterior has windows within the first 60 vertical feet. The cost ranges from $90,000 to $550,000 depending on the application and building height (0.3 to 4 percent of project costs).

Prior to Tuesday鈥檚 meeting, the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability proposed an amendment to increase the threshold from 30 percent to 37 percent to allow housing developments more flexibility before triggering the bird-safe glazing requirement. However, after deliberation, city staff also said they do not feel comfortable proposing new code language at this time. Commissioners voted 6-2 (Lange and Commissioner Nikesh Patel opposed) to remove the item from the proposal.

An amendment was made to maintain the existing eco-roof requirements that apply to new buildings (20,000 square feet or more) within the Central City to aid stormwater management and reduce the urban heat island effect, typically amounting to around 1 percent of overall project costs ($190,000 to $960,000). The option for housing developments to use solar panels instead of an eco-roof was included in the amendment. Commissioners voted 6-2 (Lange and Patel opposed) to pass the amendment.

Additionally, the amendment to retain posting a signage board with project details and contact information as part of the neighborhood contact process was approved by a 6-2 vote (Lange and Patel opposed).

Patel said that while he didn鈥檛 support the amendments, he believes the entire housing production strategy is wonderful.