The Portland Design Commission on Thursday discussed a draft of the .

Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) staff presented an overview of approximately 18 potential amendments to the comprehensive plan, zoning code maps, zoning code use allowances and development standards that are intended to facilitate housing production and revitalization in the Central City. The draft will be open to public review through Feb. 13.

The project is responsive to other efforts to revitalize the Central City, BPS Chief Planner Patricia Diefenderfer said.

“BPS began to research ways to maximize housing, including the analysis of current density allowances, floor area ratios and maximum building heights, specifically on how to structure bonuses to encourage large multi-bedroom units,” she said.

Amendments to the Central City 2035 Plan could include increasing allowable heights in certain areas, providing additional floor area ratio (FAR) bonuses, and more. Since the plan was adopted in 2018, the downtown area has experienced unprecedented trends in retail and office vacancy, according to the project’s website.

Other possible changes include rezoning parts of the Central City to provide greater development flexibility and encourage new housing, expanding land use allowances in Central Commercial zones to accommodate a broader mix of uses such as light manufacturing, repealing prohibitions of housing in parts of Central Employment zones, expanding allowances for retail and other uses in Open Space zones to support parks, adding a FAR bonus to encourage the development of multi-bedroom units, expanding allowable locations of food carts and pods, and providing more flexibility for temporary surface parking.

Since the pandemic, there has been a desire by the city to let food carts operate outside of surface parking lots, Senior City Planner Troy Doss said.

“The reason food carts have been in surface parking lots for so long is because they are regulated as a vehicle,” he said. “They can only be in vehicle areas or legally created parking lots.”

The food carts in Pioneer Courthouse Square were grandfathered in before provisions were changed, Doss said. The proposed change would be citywide and not just in the Central City.

BPS also proposes changing the requirement of 60 percent coverage of eco-roofs in the Central City to allow a mix of eco-roofs and solar panels, Doss said.

Another possible change would be to reduce the coverage of prohibition of ground-floor housing units. Commissioner Zari Santner expressed concern about potential losses of active uses at ground level. A reduction in the number of streets with prohibition of ground-floor units would need to come something that addresses quality-of-life issues, she said.

Improving livability in a neighborhood requires additions of amenities such as retail spaces and health care facilities, Commissioner Tina Bue added. The main goal of the project is to make sure the zoning code is not standing in the way of such development, Diefenderfer said.

People can submit comments on the discussion draft through Feb. 13. BPS will then create a proposed draft in March.

The Design Commission on Jan. 29 will finalize ideas to incorporate into a letter to the Planning Commission and the City Council with its recommendations. The Design Commission plans to vote on the letter during its meeting on Feb. 5.

A Planning Commission hearing will take place in April. Any revisions will be included in BPS’ recommended draft, which will go before the City Council in late summer or early fall. A final decision on the draft is expected by the end of the year.

The post Portland Central City code changes in development appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.