The Portland City Council voted Wednesday to temporarily suspend some permitting rules in a bid to simplify home and business renovations — part of a yearslong effort to mop up messy permitting codes.
The unanimous vote from the 12-member council marks the latest of the city’s ongoing efforts to make it easier to renovate commercial buildings and homes.
Builders have long criticized the City of Portland for long permitting delays and unwieldy bureaucracy that hold up projects. City officials established a Permitting Improvement Task Force four years ago and last year consolidated several bureaus’ work into one department, called Portland Permitting & Development, last year to streamline its processes.
Wednesday’s code suspensions, co-sponsored by Councilors Jamie Dunphy and Angelita Morillo, continue through Jan. 1, 2029 so officials have time to see how the reforms work and evaluate whether the council should make the changes permanent.
The city had required new buildings and renovations valued at more than $25,000 to plant trees along the street as part of their project. Under Wednesday’s changes, councilors exempted building alterations and additions from the requirement but left the tree-planting requirement in place for new construction. (Sites where the Portland Bureau of Transportation requires sidewalk improvements would still be beholden to the street tree requirements, too.)
Developments where the project value is greater than 35% of the site’s assessed improvement value had been required to improve the “frontage” in the area of sidewalks and curb ramps. Wednesday’s vote suspends that mandate for most alterations for existing buildings when the changes don’t increase occupancy. Schools and hospitals will not be exempt.
Applicants with structures built prior to 1974 previously had to conduct seismic evaluation reports when they proposed alterations and additions valued at more than $362,000. Councilors also paused this reporting requirement.
Under the prior rules, applicants had to add bike parking, improve pedestrian connections and enhance landscaping when they undertake alterations or additions valued at more than $356,300.
The Wednesday vote pauses these requirements for all projects until January 2029. That’s expanded from a similar pause the council enacted for housing projects last year.
The exemptions apply to new renovations and to permits that are in progress but have not obtained final inspection, beginning Oct. 24. They don’t affect new construction, and applicants who currently have permits in are asked to submit a request to Portland Permitting & Development to obtain the exemptions.
In a news release, Morillo said the pause represented “one step in making housing and businesses safer and our city more welcoming for all.”
Dunphy added, “Permitting should never be a barrier to Portlanders who are working to improve their homes, businesses or communities.”