HBA Supports Housing Regulatory Relief Project in Portland

Following voluble testimony at the Planning Commission, the City of Portland’s Housing Regulatory Relief Project faced its toughest challenge yet. Given the level of public outcry against the city’s intent to roll back certain development standards in an effort to increase housing production, planning commissioners indicated their intent to see the project slow-rolled and its impacts on the environment studied further. The project outlines several potential relief measures, including reduced requirements for bike parking, neighborhood contacts, design review, and land use vesting rights. HBA, and our partners in the development community in Portland are aggressively pursuing a council-led approach that will ensure this voluntary act of removing onerous regulations pass before the end of the year. We fully support Commissioner Carmen Rubio and her team’s effort in developing these regulatory changes, which are fully voluntary but have the potential to increase production and lower cost of building in housing in Portland. A full draft of the project can be found here.