6 • The Southwest Portland Post
NEWS
October 2017
State commission to provide development criteria for future MAX line
By Erik Vidstrand
The Southwest Portland Post
In August, Governor Kate Brown
signed House Bill 3202 providing
procedures and requirements for
establishing criteria for citing of the
Southwest Corridor MAX Light Rail
Project.
T h e b i l l re q u i re s t h e L a n d
Conservation and Development
Commission to establish criteria to be
used by the Metro Council to adopt a
land use final order approving project
improvements and locations for the
light rail.
The new transit line is not under
one government jurisdiction. In
this case, the proposed line would
cross two counties (Multnomah
and Washington) and three cities
(Portland, Tigard, and Tualatin).
The commission held a hearing
in late September in La Grande
to consider the proposed criteria.
The results of the hearing were not
available at press time.
HB 3202 creates a streamlined
process for a single final order that
would authorize the light rail route.
It does not directly approve the
location for the light rail line but
directs the commission to set criteria
for reviewing the proposed project
based on relevant statewide planning
goals and local plan policies.
It also provides an expedited
process to handle any appeals of the
criteria. According to the commission,
approvals may include “reasonable
and necessary conditions of approval
and by themselves or cumulatively,
prevent implementation of a land use
final order.”
Highway improvements include
ancillary facilities such as retaining
walls, bridges, signals, electrification
equipment, lighting equipment,
staging areas, facilities for bus or rail
travel, stormwater facilities, wetland
mitigation facilities, and facilities
designed for vehicle, pedestrian and
bicycle traffic.
At the September meeting of
the Multnomah Neighborhood
Association, land use chair Jim
Peterson reminded members that
the association had filed objections
to zoning changes in the Portland
Comprehensive Plan.
“The city could increase the
capacity of residential units along
Barbur [Boulevard] by 28 percent,”
Peterson said. “This should be a
public process.”
Peterson wrote the commission
on Sept. 22. “We are concerned that
the criteria need [strengthening] to
protect single family housing.
“These criteria originated from
the light rail project along North
Interstate and Portland’s planning
policies have engendered widespread
displacement and gentrification.
“Criteria need to be modified
to reflect the nature of Southwest
neighborhoods and to protect the
existing character.
“The Multnomah Neighborhood
The cities of Portland and Tigard, along with Metro, are developing an Equitable Housing
Strategy for the Southwest Corridor. An Affordable Housing event is being held on Oct. 14
at Markham School. Visit www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/equitablehousing for details.
(Photo courtesy of City of Portland)
Association also requests that there
be a public hearing for testimony
within the affected area.”
According to Eric Engstrom, the
principal planner from the Bureau
of Planning and Sustainability, large
scale land use changes are probably
not necessary.
“The land use designations generally
already enable transit-supportive
density along the corridor,” Engstrom
said.
There were three things that Engstrom
said the city may consider in the future.
“In some locations,” Engstrom said,
“we may want to make parcel-specific
land use and zoning adjustments
to better reflect opportunities for
station area redevelopment, but this
can’t happen until we finalize station
locations.”
Engstrom wrote that there also may
be some minor zoning boundary
adjustments to reflect street alignment
changes, for example, at the Ross Island
Bridge.
“In some areas of the corridor,”
Engstrom wrote, “the land use
designations of the comp plan would
enable higher density zoning than will
be initially in place in 2018.”
Engstrom explained that in the
vicinity of the Barbur Transit Center
and the Burlingame Fred Meyer, the
short term zoning is CM2, commercial
mixed-use, intended for medium scale
projects.
“The town center designation at those
locations would enable consideration
of CM3, large-scale commercial mixed-
use, near high capacity transit station
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