Portland’s Land Use Code Evaluation

What is the code evaluation?

In December of 2021, we released a land use code evaluation, an assessment of our current land use code as it relates to the goals of numerous recent City policy documents, first and foremost Portland’s Plan. The evaluation looked at our current regulations and their impact on key policy directives, and presented a series of potential revisions to the code. It also identified areas where more work will be required to develop thoughtful and informed approaches to critical land use issues in the city and suggested avenues for future study.

How did people hear about it?

The code evaluation was presented to the public in multiple ways - through Planning Board and Council workshops, email blasts, and small group presentations. The evaluation itself was posted online in an interactive format that allowed readers to dive into the details or jump from section to section reading high level take-aways. A shorter summary version of the evaluation was also published, as was a video that translated the evaluation into an easily digestible, 15-minute audiovisual format. Ultimately, the online version of the land use code evaluation had over 1,000 visits, and almost 300 viewers watched the video.

SO what did people say about it?

While people were reading and learning about the code evaluation, we were also busy collecting feedback on its recommendations. In addition to public comment from workshops, meetings, and email, we collected comments directly on the code evaluation through an interactive document comment portal, published a survey on the recommendations, and held virtual public forums over two nights in March 2022. In the summer and fall of 2022, we also released a questionnaire specific to island zoning. Through these feedback channels, we gathered valuable input on potential edits to the land use code as suggested in the code evaluation. We’ve summarized some of what we learned here.

And where do we go from here?

The feedback we heard on the code evaluation is invaluable, and is directly informing the next stage of the ReCode process - drafting regulatory changes to the land use code through text and map amendments.