We won! The text below is from our successful #BetterBHD campaign in fall 2019, to deliver more housing at all price levels in Portland’s mid-density zones.
Submit testimony via the MapApp by 2pm on November 6th. Testify in person on November 6th, 2pm at City Hall (scroll all the way down for further instructions) Share your support on social media using #BetterBHD
It’s game time.
After four years of pressure, process and significant improvements to both proposals, Portland City Council has finally scheduled public testimony and votes on:
“Better Housing by Design,” a reform to mid-density apartment zones (November and December)
the “Residential Infill Project,” a reform to low-density housing zones (December and January)
Better Housing by Design is first up.
On Wednesday, November 6th, Better Housing by Design will be considered by Portland City Council. Better Housing by Design (BHD) revises development and design standards for new apartment zones in Portland. We need to make sure that Council continues to advance a strong proposal - and make it stronger. Council needs to hear from Portlanders who want abundant homes, at every price point, in every neighborhood.
On Wednesday, Council will also consider proposed amendments to BHD. Some are good and some are bad! We can achieve a #BetterBHD by letting our commissioners know what we think.
HERE is our position - Let Council know you agree!
First, Portland: Neighbors Welcome wrote some comments on the potential amendments that may be introduced by Council on Wednesday. Here is a brief summary of key Portland: Neighbors Welcome positions on that potential amendment package:
Support an amendment to waive parking requirements (potential amendment 2) for all projects with inclusionary below-market housing. City projections show inclusionary housing will not be feasible if parking must be built in most cases.
Oppose amendments (potential amendments 4 and 5) which would make housing less abundant and less affordable including:
Restricting size bonuses for affordability,
Lowering height limits in historic districts, and
Restricting development bonuses more than 1500 feet from current frequent service transit. We need to expand frequent transit access citywide for people who need it most, not cut back on affordable housing.
Remove the requirement (potential amendment 6) of both indoor and outdoor spaces. This amendment will make it harder to build affordable housing which would otherwise be allowed. Keep the proposed regulations, which allow more flexibility in meeting outdoor and shared space requirements, and allow buildings to better respond to unique site characteristics.
We also request adding another amendment to allow single-room occupancy buildings (SROs) by right in the new RM1 zone. This would help to provide more affordable housing options for Portland's residents most in need.
Second, Portland: Neighbors Welcome also submitted a comment letter with our suggestions on how to further improve the BHD Recommended Draft as a whole. We are pleased with the direction the proposal is going, and we think that many improvements have been made over the last three plus years, including:
Bonuses for regulated affordable housing have been expanded to fifty percent above the baseline allowances, and a bonus for deeply affordable housing now doubles most sites’ development capacity. This helps to ensure that as many projects as possible are subject to Inclusionary Housing, and provides both nonprofit housing providers and those partnering with them a meaningful competitive advantage in places that are increasingly expensive to build.
Taking climate change seriously by reducing or eliminating minimum parking requirements on smaller sites, ensuring that more projects will be able to provide more homes without cost-burdening projects and reducing space available for housing.
Creating a transfer of development rights to help preserve existing affordable housing without losing capacity for homes overall.
To testify in person on November 6th, 2pm at City Hall:
Sign-up sheets will be made available before hearings begin, at 1:30pm (could be earlier). We will be there on Wednesday the 6th at 1:00pm just in case, and *may be handing out “I Heart Housing Choices” buttons (TBD). Testimony will begin with those people who signed up and didn’t get to testify on October 2nd, then will proceed to day-of signups. So, if you’re testifying, you should expect to be at City Hall for a few hours.
Testifiers will most likely be given two minutes to speak. Nota bene: Two minutes spoken is about 1.5 pages Times New Roman size 12 double spaced.