The first wave drafts of revisions to the land use code were released in June 2023. Over the course of the summer and into the fall of 2023, the City collected public feedback on the drafts.

What were the big take-aways?

As described in the land use code evaluation, the changes the City made to the land use code were designed to help the city achieve the goals of Portland’s Plan, including goals around housing creation, equity, the local economy, the health of downtown, the environment, and transportation choice. All of the changes recognized that decisions about where more intensive development is encouraged and where it is not have sustainability, health, economic, and fiscal implications for the entire city.

In a nutshell, what was proposed in the first wave?

The ZONES looked different!

• Some zones were new - for instance the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) zones and the Open Space Preservation zone.
• Sparsely used zones and zones that are similar in intent were consolidated.
• Many of the zone purpose statements were revised to more clearly align with uses and dimensional standards.
• The mainland residential zones were renamed - ‘Residential Neighborhood’ zones, with a prefix of ‘RN’. Here’s roughly how to track the existing ‘R’ zones to the new RN ones

The USE STANDARDS looked familiar, but they included important changes.

• There were new residential use categories - 3-family dwellings and 4-family dwellings - to allow for mid-density uses in areas not suitable for higher densities.
• There were new uses - the neighborhood non-residential reuse category for instance - that would permit small scale businesses in a residential neighborhood context.
• Group living uses, like the congregate care, intermediate care, etc. were consolidated to provide more clarity.
• There were new uses to support the creative economy.
• Supplemental use standards were simplified, as have those for conditional uses and performance standards.

There were new DIMENSIONAL STANDARDS.

• There was new terminology, like ‘build-to zone,’ ‘build-to percentage,’ and ‘building length.’
• Many rules were illustrated and basic rules were revised for clarity, like how height is measured.
• Residential dimensional standards were adjusted to better reflect existing neighborhood patterns, including modifications to setbacks and lot sizes.
• New small island lot provisions were drafted for previously non-conforming lots on Peaks Island.
• Heights were increased in nodes and along corridors in many of the mixed use zones.
• Density limits in zones like the B-1 and the B-2 were eliminated to encourage residential development in these areas, and dimensional standards in industrial zones were loosened to support industrial development.
• Last, supplemental dimensional standards and exceptions were simplified so that rules apply more uniformly across similar contexts.

And DEFINITIONS?
Definitions were updated to correspond to new and revised uses, and consolidated from other sections of the land use code.

What feedback did we hear?

Over the course of the summer and fall, the City heard a lot of questions and comments on the first wave. People learned about the drafts on the ReCode website, as well as through our open houses and virtual public forum. We also held a workshop with the Planning Board on August 17. 2023. Feedback from the open houses has been summarized here, and a summary of individual comments on the drafts can be found here.