37746

WHEREAS, Mayor Wilson has publicly articulated a goal of permitting and enabling the development of approximately 20,000 new housing units within the next eight years, recognizing that achieving this level of production is necessary to address Portland's housing shortage, stabilize housing costs, and support the City's long-term economic and fiscal health; and

WHEREAS, achieving this housing production goal will require near-term and sustained regulatory and zoning actions that expand long-term housing capacity, provide regulatory certainty, and reinforce clear pro-housing market signals, rather than reliance on business-as-usual planning timelines that delay structural planning improvements; and

WHEREAS, over 50 percent of Portland households who rent were cost-burdened in 2023, and 25 percent paid 50 percent or more of their income in rent, according to American Community Survey data; and

WHEREAS, the 2023 State of Housing in Portland report shows that of the 24 neighborhood profiles assessed, none were considered to be affordable overall for Black Portlanders, and fewer than 15 were considered affordable overall for Latine and Native American Portlanders; and

WHEREAS, in December 2023, the Council, through Ordinance 191547, adopted the 2045 Housing Needs Analysis, which states that the City needs to produce about 6,000 units of housing per year to align with Governor Kotek's statewide housing production goals; and

WHEREAS, in August 2024, the Council, through Resolution 37673, adopted the 2024 Housing Production Strategy, which designated the Portland Housing Bureau as the lead bureau for a selection of new strategies to support housing production in the region and included strategy C2, increasing housing capacity in inner centers and corridors through commercial mixed-use and multi-dwelling zoning; and

WHEREAS, the 2045 Housing Needs Analysis and the 2024 Housing Production Strategy were informed by extensive public engagement, including 350 survey responses, 25 community organization meetings & open houses, 6 focus groups with communities of color, 16 developers interviewed, 4 cross-jurisdictional technical advisory committee meetings, Planning Commission hearings, and public testimony; and

WHEREAS, this public engagement included discussion of housing capacity, zoning constraints, affordability, displacement risk, and development feasibility in high-opportunity areas, including the Inner Eastside, and directly informed Planning Commission recommendations related to Inner Eastside zoning concepts; and

WHEREAS, the Council finds that this prior engagement provides a substantial foundation for the Inner Eastside Area Planning project and may be incorporated into subsequent phases of engagement to inform proposal development and reduce unnecessary duplication of previously completed policy analysis, while ensuring full compliance with applicable notice and participation requirements under state law; and

WHEREAS, Council recognizes that although the prior engagement has been meaningful, many Inner Eastside residents are still unfamiliar with the Inner Eastside Area Planning Project, and the passage of this resolution is not intended to suggest that there will not be further outreach and opportunities for public comment before the Planning Commission and the Council; and

WHEREAS, the Council has previously found, including through adoption of the Housing Regulatory Relief Project, temporary code suspensions as part of the Code Alignment Project, and Resolution 37725 which aims to reform the city's design review process, that Portland's housing crisis is severe, ongoing, and requires the City to reduce regulatory delay and act with urgency where legally permissible; and

WHEREAS, in adopting the Housing Regulatory Relief Project, Temporary Code Suspensions, and Resolution 37725, the Council determined that modifying standard processes and timelines was necessary to respond to emergency housing conditions while remaining compliant with state law and maintaining appropriate public oversight; and

WHEREAS, in August 2025, the Council, through Ordinance 192082, passed a temporary System Development Charge (SDC) waiver to improve the financial feasibility of housing development during a period of elevated construction costs and constrained financing; and

WHEREAS, the effectiveness of the SDC waiver in supporting housing production is inherently time-limited and depends on the City's ability to advance zoning and entitlement actions within an accelerated timeframe; and

WHEREAS, maintaining business-as-usual planning timelines of up to 36 months for major zoning changes would significantly limit the City's ability to leverage the SDC waiver and make meaningful progress toward adopted and proposed housing production goals; and

WHEREAS, in 2024, through Ordinance 191722, the City accepted a grant from the State of Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development to develop the Inner Eastside Infrastructure Assessment, which analyzes the infrastructure capacity in the Inner Eastside to accommodate growth for needed housing; and

WHEREAS, the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability is currently in the ramp-up phase of the Inner Eastside Area Planning project and is preparing foundational analysis and internal coordination prior to formal proposal development and additional community engagement; and

WHEREAS, a coalition of 20+ local and regional partners led by Portland: Neighbors Welcome submitted testimony to Council in 2024 urging expedient adoption of the Housing Production Strategy and an upzone of opportunity-rich areas across the entire Inner Eastside, an effort which became the Inner Eastside Area Planning project; and

WHEREAS, prior area planning efforts have demonstrated that delayed infrastructure planning and late-stage budget coordination can impede timely implementation of zoning changes, underscoring the need for earlier and more proactive inter-bureau coordination.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that no later than 90 days from the date this resolution is adopted, the City Administrator, pursuant to City Charter Section 2-406(j), shall provide Council with an expedited report on the Inner Eastside Area Planning project and Housing Production Strategy C2, "Increase Housing Capacity in Inner Centers & Corridors," with the purpose of identifying how the City can shorten the overall timeline to Council consideration of zoning changes, and any barriers to Council consideration of zoning changes no later than June 30, 2027, while ensuring compliance with applicable Statewide Planning Goals, statutory notice requirements, and the development of legally sufficient findings to support a defensible legislative decision; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report shall describe how the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability intends to build upon and incorporate prior public engagement conducted through the 2045 Housing Needs Analysis, the 2024 Housing Production Strategy, and related Planning Commission processes to inform proposal development, reduce unnecessary duplication of analysis, and focus future engagement on proposed zoning concepts and implementation details, while remaining compliant with applicable legal requirements; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report shall focus on the Inner Eastside Area Planning project and discuss zoning concepts and approaches, but shall not be required to include a finalized zoning proposal or completed affordability analysis at that time; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the update shall include, at a minimum:

1. A description of the geographic scope and preliminary zoning approaches under consideration for the Inner Eastside study area, including the following boundaries:
   1. North: NE Fremont Street
   2. South: SE Powell Boulevard
   3. West: 7th and 12th Avenues
   4. East: 60th Avenue;
2. An explanation of the methodology and metrics the City intends to use to evaluate affordability, displacement risk, and equity impacts;
3. A description of inter-bureau coordination and budget planning necessary to support timely, legally defensible implementation of Inner Eastside zoning changes and "lessons learned" for coordination and planning of similar, future area plans; 
4. A summary of how the preliminary zoning concepts align with the infrastructure capacity findings of the Inner Eastside Infrastructure Assessment and identification of any areas where additional capital investment or phased implementation may be required; including an analysis of street capacity impacts on narrow local streets related to street/sidewalk safety, multi-modal transportation, parking, and garbage/recycling service; and
5. Projection of future revenue the zoning changes could generate through additional property taxes and ratepayers in new housing units; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all City bureaus involved in zoning, land use planning, infrastructure planning, engineering, budget development, as well as developing, advising on, or enforcing building code, are directed to prioritize a solution-oriented, proactive, coordinated effort to support the Inner Eastside Area Planning project to its full geographical extent and bring forward an area plan as swiftly as possible, consistent with state law and City-adopted housing policy goals.