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Portland design commissioners on Thursday grappled with how to respond to a push by the City Council to reform the design review process.

City councilors in December unanimously approved requiring preparation of a report on design review, including options for a temporary suspension of its requirements. The report will also study design review’s economic impacts, process and use of design overlay zones and historic districts.

Portland Permitting & Development and Planning and Sustainability will prepare the report for City Administrator Raymond Lee. It is due on April 9.

In 2025, the city issued only 22 new construction permits for multifamily projects amid city and state officials pushing for more housing. But design commissioners said design review should not be blamed for the slowdown in multifamily construction.

鈥淢y concern is just that if not taken with full context, certain numbers and charts can reveal different things to different people,鈥� said Commissioner Sarah Vaz, who asked whether impacts such as rising construction costs and inclusionary housing requirements would be considered.

A senior city staffer noted that the review is part of a wider City Council effort to remove barriers to development and to encourage development.

鈥淭here’s wide recognition that there’s many factors, and I don’t think anyone is saying that design review is why we are in the situation we find ourselves in now,鈥� Chief City Planner Patricia Diefenderfer said.

Design review gives residents a chance to be heard, Design Commission Chairwoman Chandra Robinson said.

鈥淒esign review is a time when the public is able to come provide testimony,鈥� Robinson said. 鈥淚t’s the time when they’re able to get their voices on the record, and I think it’s an important part of the process that they’re able to share their thoughts on proposals in their neighborhood.鈥�

Commissioners said members of the public are often unclear about the limitations of their power.

Design review 鈥渃annot change the heights, the (floor area ratio requirements), the zoning, the required parking or not parking, what a property owner can do with his property,鈥� Commissioner Zari Santner said. 鈥淲e cannot dictate those.鈥�

Robinson agreed, saying residents often urge the Design Commission to require parking or a grocery store as part of a larger development 鈥� something the commission cannot do.

Santner said design review represents a 鈥渟ocial pact鈥� with city residents: Essentially, a promise that if residents allow taller, denser development, zoning and design review will ensure that it 鈥渋mproves the quality of life for people in neighborhoods where the development is happening.鈥�

Commissioners did point out some potential improvements. Application requirements could be better aligned with project phasing, Vaz said. Applications can often require too much detail, too early in the process, when architects haven’t worked out items such as lighting, she said.

Members of the public who testified Thursday said they want to be able to weigh in early in a project’s review process, before the developer has fully shaped the development.

City staffers assigned to the forthcoming report will hold a similar meeting on Monday with the Historic Landmarks Commission. After the council receives the report in April, the group could weigh possible code changes.