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Portland is a Sanctuary City

Learn more.

Environmental Overlay Zones (E‑zones)

Planning a development project in an environmental zone? Discover the rules that protect natural resources and find out what your project needs to stay on track.

A stream, with houses on both sides, surrounded by trees.View full size image

Environmental Review

Environmental Review is a land use process for projects in protected natural resource areas. We review how a project will use the land and how your project meets environmental regulations. You must show how your project will meet these regulations.

When Environmental Review is required

You need an Environmental Review if:

Your project is in an environmental overlay zone and:

  • Cannot meet one or more development standards
  • Your project is not exempt
  • You need to correct a violation of environmental regulations

If you're unsure, talk with a planner early. Not meeting a standard is the most common reason you'll need a review.

Application requirements

Your Environmental Review application must include a written narrative and site plans.

Get the detailed list of requirements:

Please refer to the City Code chapter, Environmental Zones 33.430, for approval criteria and requirement details.

Written narrative

Your narrative must explain:

  • Which standards your project cannot meet
  • How the project meets applicable approval criteria from 33.430.250. As part of addressing the approval criteria, you will need to explain:
    • How your project affects natural resources (e.g., impact evaluation)
    • What alternatives you considered and why you chose the least-impactful option
    • How construction will be managed to minimize disturbance
    • How you will mitigate impacts, including required plantings and restoration

The narrative must include:

  • Impact Evaluation: Explain the natural resources on your site and how your project could affect them.
  • Alternatives Analysis: Show that you considered different layouts, locations, and construction methods. You must choose the alternative that is practicable and causes the least impact.
     
  • Construction Management Plan: Describe how you will protect trees, soils, slopes, and water features during construction, both in writing and with a plan drawing.
    Tree protection must follow Title 11 requirements and may require input from a certified arborist.
     
  • Mitigation Plan: Describe how you will offset the remaining impacts. Mitigation must replace the types of resources you are affecting.
    The mitigation area must be larger than the disturbance area. This accounts for the time it takes for the mitigation to provide the same level of environmental functions.

Required site plans

You must submit the following plans:

  • Existing conditions
  • The location of all e‑zone boundaries
  • Conditions before a violation (if applicable)
  • Proposed development
  • Construction management
  • Mitigation or remediation

Each plan has specific requirements listed in 33.430.240.A.

Do you need a professional?

You may be able to prepare the application yourself if you understand local natural resources and know how to prepare detailed site plans.

Many homeowners choose to work with a professional environmental consultant, engineer, planner, or architect because it can save time and reduce back‑and‑forth with reviewers.

How to apply

To apply for Environmental Review, submit:

  • The land use review application form
  • The required fee
  • Your narrative and site plans
  • Any other items listed in the application checklist

Application form:

Land Use Review Application669.5 KB

Fee schedules: Land use services fees

Submit your materials following the instructions on the Land Use Reviews and Final Plat Applications webpage.

Environmental Review process

Different types of projects follow different procedures depending on their complexity:

  • Type II Review: Most Environmental Reviews and most violation-related reviews use this process.
  • Type Ix Review: Used for property line adjustments, public recreational trails, and resource enhancement projects.
  • Type III Review: Used for projects in the Environmental Protection (p) zone and some complex violation corrections.

Optional, but highly recommended: Request an Early Assistance appointment before applying for Environmental Review. It can help find any major issues that could affect your project.

For more information on review types and requirements, visit: Land Use Review types and fees

After Environmental Review is complete, what comes next?

The Environmental Review decision is not a permit for the work.

You must apply for required permits before you start work.

Your permit application must be consistent with the plans approved through the Environmental Review and document how conditions of approval are met.

Resources

Map environmental zoning lines on your property (required for site plan)

You must show environmental zoning lines accurately on site plans for permits and land use reviews.

The easiest way to map these lines is to download the digital files and load them into your mapping system.

How to download the map layers:

  1. Go to the Environmental Zone Subareas map.
  2. Select the download icon (cloud with a downward arrow).
  3. Download all environmental overlay layers for Portland.
  4. Upload the files into your mapping system to create your site plan.

These layers include georeferenced boundaries for the c and p zones, including the transition and resource areas within each zone.

Find the natural resource inventory that applies to your property (required for the written narrative)

  1. Go to the Open Data Portal Resource Sites.
  2. Find your property on the map and click on it.
  3. A data window will pop up:
    • The GeographicPlanArea field shows which natural resource inventory applies to your site.
    • The Site_Label field shows the specific resource site for your property.
  4. Go to the Environmental and River Planning Documents page.
  5. Find the document using the GeographicPlanArea.
  6. Within the document, search for the specific resource site using the Site_Label.

Native plants approved for use in e-zones

The Portland Plant List is an extensive list of native plants and the various Portland plant communities.

All vegetation planted in environmental zone resource areas must be native species as identified on the Portland Plant List.

Meet mitigation monitoring requirements

Landscape monitoring is often required as a condition of approval for environmental reviews with mitigation plantings.

Required landscape plantings are intended to enhance environmentally sensitive areas or to mitigate the loss of natural resource values as part of a proposed development.

To ensure the plantings become established, written and photo proof is required at yearly intervals between one and five years after installation, depending on the size of the mitigation planting area.

Replace any plants that die in kind.

Monitoring of landscape areas is the ongoing responsibility of the property owner.

Specifications on mitigation and restoration plantings can be found in the zoning code on Landscaping and Screening, Mitigation and Restoration Plantings, Section 33.248.090.

To ensure the required written and photo proof of survival, you must provide us with a Landscape Monitoring Report Application before you can get a building permit.

When a Landscape Monitoring Report Review is required

  • When new development or alterations to existing development that exceed the nonconforming development threshold are requested within the Greenway Overlay zone in South Waterfront Subdistrict and South Waterfront Greenway landscaping improvements are required.
  • When new development or alterations to existing development within the River Environmental Overlay zone require mitigation plantings.
  • When a correction to a violation within the Environmental or River Environmental overlay zones requires mitigation or restoration plantings.
  • When submitting monitoring reports for review, which were required by a condition of land use approval, to document the survival of mitigation plantings. These conditions are typically found in Environmental, Greenway, and River Review land use decisions.

Fees

The fee is based on the number of monitoring reports required.

Find current fees listed on our Current Fee Schedule page. In the document, Land Use Services Fee Schedules, search for Landscape Monitoring Report Review (per annual report).

Apply for a landscape monitoring report review

  1. Complete the Landscape Monitoring Report Application.
  2. Optional: Use the fillable Landscape Monitoring Report form to complete a monitoring report:
  3. Submit the Landscape Monitoring Report Application using the instructions on the Zoning and Land Use Additional Planning Services page.
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