The Portland City Council on Wednesday gave final approval to Better Housing by Design – a sweeping zoning reform that will encourage greater housing density in urban areas, including parts of East Portland, the Alphabet District and King’s Hill.

Better Housing by Design recognizes the reality that Portland will continue to grow and change, Mayor Ted Wheeler said.

“So the question isn’t how do we stop growth, and how do we stop change,” he said. “The question is how do we manage it so that we maintain the things about our community that we love.”

Commissioners Jo Ann Hardesty and Chloe Eudaly joined Wheeler in voting to pass Better Housing by Design. Amanda Fritz voted against it, and Nick Fish was absent.

Fritz said the package added to the complexity of the city’s zoning code, and did not take into account existing unbuilt housing capacity.

“The council is voting for quantity over quality as if we need to add more housing capacity,” Fritz said. “We don’t need more capacity. We need more livable homes.”

A proposed amendment backed by Fritz to require common areas for large apartment buildings was rejected. Affordable housing developers had opposed the potential change, saying it would reduce the number of housing units built and increase costs.

Hardesty said Better Housing by Design is “one way of ensuring that the pain of growth is shared by every single community.”

“These are difficult decisions,” Hardesty said. “Zoning brings out a whole host of emotions because there are always winners and losers when you are changing zones. I want to ensure that, this time, the winners are communities of color, low-income community members and those who have never, quite frankly, gotten a fair shake from this council.”

Better Housing by Design allows larger buildings near major corridors, increases bonuses for inclusionary housing units and limits front garages and surface parking, among other changes.

Most of the changes will take effect March 1, 2020, with a bonus related to three-bedroom units taking effect on June 1.

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A development bonus being considered by the Portland City Council would allow developers to build apartment buildings with no parking in exchange for providing deeper affordability.

For buildings with at least 50 percent of units rent-restricted at 60 percent of area median income, developers would not have to meet parking minimums.

The bonus is already available to projects within 500 feet of frequent service transit or 1,500 feet of a light-rail station. The proposed amendment would eliminate parking requirements for deeply affordable housing throughout the city.

Mayor Ted Wheeler said the aim of the proposed amendment, and others, is to entice such development throughout the city.

“The intent is to expand affordability,” he said at Wednesday’s council meeting.

New affordable housing buildings often include some parking for residents’ use, although typically fewer spaces are provided than at comparable market-rate apartment buildings. There is also affordable housing in historic buildings throughout downtown and Old Town Chinatown that do not have parking.

“For affordable housing, we do have parking sometimes,” Dan Valliere, CEO of REACH Community Development, said in an interview. “It depends a lot on the affordability level and the location. At a close-in location, sometimes that’s not necessary.”

The no-parking bonus is likely to raise opposition from neighbors concerned about street parking and density. Proximity to transit can make a difference, Valliere said.

“The majority of people that rent affordable housing apartments that REACH manages do not have a car and are able to not have a car because the majority of our units are located close to transportation,” he said.

The amendment would be part of Better Housing by Design – a city zoning project to encourage denser development in multi-dwelling zones. Those zones are by land area only 8 percent of the city, but tend to be near transit – a mapping analysis found 89 percent of multi-dwelling zone properties are within 1,500 feet of frequent service transit.

Parking has been an obstacle to development of affordable housing, according to a city analysis. Structured parking typically costs around $40,000 per space, and takes up area that could be used for housing, according to the city.

Affordable housing developers have broadly supported the Better Housing by Design proposal.

Valliere said it often makes sense to build some parking. At times, REACH goes beyond parking minimums. But any flexibility is welcome, he said.

“We appreciate the option not to require any number of spaces,” he said.

Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty has expressed concerns, saying Better Housing by Design fails to address Portland’s history of racist zoning.

“I still believe if we pass this as is – not even addressing the amendments – that we are once again solidifying racially discriminatory policy and reaffirming that past bad practices continue on,” she said.

Hardesty also criticized program aspects that discourage demolitions in historic districts and in some cases apply to only one property. An amendment pitched by Wheeler would rezone the Anna Mann house in Laurelhurst for use as an 88-unit affordable housing project.

“Writing exceptions for individual properties are very problematic to me,” Hardesty said.

Commissioners heard more than three hours of public testimony on the proposal Wednesday, but did not take a vote. The council will again take up the matter on Nov. 21. It will be the third hearing for Better Housing by Design after an initial council hearing on Oct. 2.

Written testimony will be accepted until Nov. 21, but commissioners closed the record on oral testimony.

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The Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability‘s Better Housing by Design proposal to encourage development of more densely built apartments in certain areas encountered a somewhat mixed reception by the City Council on Wednesday.

Commissioners received about two hours of public testimony from residents, nonprofit advocates and development professionals on the proposal, which is essentially the multifamily companion to the Residential Infill Project that is meant to create more small dwellings in single-family zones.

Better Housing by Design applies to only 8 percent of the city by land area. Areas zoned for multi-dwelling residential (designated by the city as R1, R2, R3 and RH) are concentrated in East Portland, but also include the Alphabet and King’s Hill historic districts in Northwest Portland and sections along Southwest Barbur Boulevard.

The rezoning project would allow many more apartments on some parcels, which would benefit nonprofit affordable-housing developers.

“Better Housing by Design is a game changer for affordable housing developers,” said Julie Livingston, senior project manager for Home Forward. (Livingston also serves as the Portland Design Commission‘s chairwoman, but said she was representing Home Forward in her testimony).

Livingston gave the example of a 5-acre parcel Home Forward owns in East Portland. Under current R2 zoning, with inclusionary housing, the parcel could host up to 144 units. The proposed zoning would raise the development potential to 330 units, she said.

Better Housing by Design allows for more low-rise housing options, Bureau of Planning and Sustainability project manager Bill Cunningham said.

“The basic message is houses are out of reach for the majority of Portlanders now,” he said. “And knowing that we have a broad range of household types, we know we need a broader range of housing opportunities for people.”

He added, “Housing production hasn’t kept up with the growth in the number of households in Portland. So more people vying for not enough housing does drive prices up.”

Commissioners pushed back on some aspects of the proposal. Amanda Fritz said the city should encourage larger units.

“I want to make sure that we’re going to have family housing in Portland as well as affordable housing,” she said. “I don’t think the two should be mutually exclusive.”

Cunningham noted the program includes bonuses for three-bedroom homes at moderate income levels.

Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty said the city should first release a report, expected later this year, on the racist history of Portland zoning.

“I’m very concerned that we are just solidifying the racially segregating housing policy first, and then we go talking about how we’re not going to displace people after we’ve already confirmed that the racist policy is fine and that we’re going to keep it status quo,” she said.

Representatives of numerous organizations testified in favor of the project, including a Portland Public Schools staffer who said stable housing contributes to learning.

Mayor Ted Wheeler continued the hearing until Nov. 6, when he said the City Council will hear more testimony on Better Housing by Design. Written testimony will be accepted until then.

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A plan to encourage more dense housing projects in certain zones across Portland is raising the ire of Historic Landmarks Commission members, who fear it will encourage demolitions and sideline their ability to regulate building height and size in historic districts.

Commission Chairwoman Kristen Minor is at work on a letter to the City Council ahead of the council’s Wednesday meeting, when the group is scheduled to take up the zoning policies – known as Better Housing by Design – for two hours of discussion. A vote could be held in November.

During a Historic Landmarks Commission meeting on Monday, Minor said the Planning and Sustainability Commission‘s agenda is creating a conflict.

“Some parties would not like this commission to have a say over a project’s bulk or height,” she said. “That’s one of the key measures of compatibility.”

Minor told her fellow commissioners that she was inclined to make their objections known.

“I for one believe we should go in guns blazing to City Council, but I appreciate your discussion on this,” she said.

The Historic Landmarks Commission members’ concerns underscore the tension between their role – “maintaining and enhancing Portland’s historic and architectural heritage,” according to the city’s website – and Portland’s greater policy push to build more housing units throughout the city. That is something Mayor Ted Wheeler and others have sought as a key solution to Portland’s housing crisis.

Better Housing by Design would give larger height bonuses for affordable housing in multi-dwelling zones. It would also provide greater heights for buildings with 50 percent or more units made affordable at 60 percent of area median income – a provision intended as an incentive for nonprofit affordable housing developers.

“This is of course related to the housing crisis, and wanting to make better use of housing opportunities when they arise,” said Bill Cunningham, a Bureau of Planning and Sustainability project manager.

The proposal would also allow the transfer of floor area ratio to historic districts, enabling greater building heights in exchange for seismic upgrades. Earlier attempts by city officials to encourage seismic retrofits have run into roadblocks.

The proposal also would establish “base” floor area ratios. In a draft letter to the City Council, the Historic Landmarks Commission protested that provision.

“Giving developers of projects extra bulk or height in historic districts creates less predictability and more opportunity for contentious hearings for projects in these districts,” the letter dated Sept. 9 states. “Increasing a new development’s height or bulk (beyond code ‘maximums,’ which are themselves not always approvable in every situation) will not always meet Historic Review approval criteria. The (commission) strongly opposes opportunities to ‘earn’ more bulk in these areas, even for deeply needed affordable housing.”

The letter also states that a provision to allow measurement from a low point below the sidewalk would encourage tuck-under garages.

Better Housing by Design would apply to multi-dwelling residential zones (R1, R2, R3 and RH in zoning jargon) outside the Central City. In practice, much of this property lies in East Portland. The proposal would also affect the Alphabet and King’s Hill historic districts in Northwest Portland.

Cunningham said there’s nothing in Better Housing by Design that would remove the Historic Landmarks Commission’s authority to govern building height and bulk in historic districts. Among the commission’s primary tasks is reviewing development proposals on properties within historic districts.

“That’s not changing at all through this proposal,” Cunningham said. “They would continue to have the discretion to change (designs) based on context.”

Nevertheless, Historic Landmarks Commission members fear the proposal would sideline their review authority. Minor pointed to another city planning project, Design Overlay Zone Amendments (DOZA), that would limit the Design Commission’s discretion in certain neighborhoods.

“It’s kind of been this implicit threat that the Landmarks Commission would also lose purview,” Minor said. “It would be a vastly different thing for us to lose that. They are in the position of wanting more height and density just about anywhere,” she said, referring to the Design Commission. “Whereas for us, there are definitely situations in historic districts where the maximums allowed under the code would result in noncompatible projects.”

Minor said the Historic Landmarks Commission is on board with the city’s overall goals to increase housing density. But, she added, the Better Housing by Design proposal should do more to discourage demolitions.

“The code has definitely swung in the direction to build our way out of the housing crisis,” she said. “That’s certainly part of the picture – but we also have to sustain what we have.”

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