The release of the final draft land use code and zoning map signaled the culmination of a momentous City-wide effort to modernize our century-old zoning code to meet the needs of today’s Portland. The final draft changes responded to almost 900 individual comments received over the course of the spring and summer at the two-day ReCode Studio, through our online map and code comment platforms, and via emails, meetings, and phone calls. They also responded to feedback from two Planning Board workshops and two workshops of the Historic Preservation Board.

What changed?

The final draft changes consolidated additional zoning districts (the proposed RN-1 and RN-2), added new Transit-Oriented Development and mixed-use zones to the zoning map, refined dimensional standards to support growth at key intersections and along key corridors (as shown in Portland’s Plan), added permitted uses to certain zones to provide more flexibility, and revised zone boundaries where appropriate. The residential zoning structure continued to look different, with all of the mainland residential zones having new names. In the final draft, the proposed RN-1 and RN-2 were consolidated.

Quick summaries of the final drafts in updated versions of our zone guides were provided here. The Planning Board held a workshop on the final draft on September 17.