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.

“My concern is just that if not taken with full context, certain numbers and charts can reveal different things to different people,” 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.

“There’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,” Chief City Planner Patricia Diefenderfer said.

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

“Design review is a time when the public is able to come provide testimony,” Robinson said. “It’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.”

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

Design review “cannot 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,” Commissioner Zari Santner said. “We cannot dictate those.”

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

Santner said design review represents a “social pact” with city residents: Essentially, a promise that if residents allow taller, denser development, zoning and design review will ensure that it “improves the quality of life for people in neighborhoods where the development is happening.”

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.

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Portland design commissioners gave advice Thursday on an early design for a proposed Portland State University student dormitory.

University officials have opted to take the project through a Type II design review process, which is overseen by Portland Permitting & Development staff. That means the Design Commission will not again consider the project unless the staff’s decision is appealed.

The proposal for 1831 S.W. Park Ave. calls for 216 to 269 rooms in a building that would reach five or six stories.

“We’re still exploring both (configurations),” said Michael Coon, a GBD Architects associate principal.

The project has been somewhat controversial because the new building would replace two dating from the early 20th century: Blackstone Residence Hall, completed in 1931, and Montgomery Court, which was built in 1917 for the Portland Women’s Union. Both are brick structures that preservationists have praised for fine detailing.

Advocates who testified on Thursday urged the university to reconsider the design, or at least incorporate brick and other historic touches.

“We would always prefer the preservation of historic buildings,” said Xavier Stickler, chairman of the Downtown Neighborhood Association‘s land-use committee.

Stickler urged designers to incorporate the Blackstone’s statuary into the new building. He also asked designers to consider using mass timber rather than a five-over-one design.

Hannah Bronfman, a member of the Historic Landmarks Commission, said the building should better reflect its surroundings.

“The building reads very generic — one that could exist almost anywhere,” she said.

PSU officials have said the building is crucial to attract new students. The university, which began life as a post-World War II commuter campus, has never had purpose-built student housing.

“This project brings vibrancy by students living on campus,” said Ashley Wendler, PSU’s executive director of University Housing and Residence Life. “These students really become integral to the downtown community.”

A structural engineer was brought in to evaluate the possibility of renovating the historic structures but found that they would require seismic upgrades and major interior reconfiguration, said Tom Maki, who is serving as owner’s representative for PSU.

“For a number of reasons, it just was not feasible,” Maki told commissioners.

The proposed building would hold approximately 550 beds, mostly in double-occupancy units. Some units would have single or triple occupancy.

Fortis Construction is on board as general contractor. Lango Hansen is the landscape architect.

The building would also have a single classroom and three community rooms per floor. A bike parking hub would be located outside the main building.

PSU officials hope to open the student building in time for the start of the fall term in 2028.

“The timing of that is really important to us,” Wendler said.

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