Page 10
Commentary
Street Roots • Sept. 23-29, 2016
The Residential Infill Project is good - and could be better
Madeline Kovacs is
the Program
Coordinator for
Portland for
Everyone, a project of
1000 Friends of
Oregon. Portland for
Everyone focuses on
those land use
decisions that can
support the provision
of more affordable
housing options for
Portland residents.
Madeline’s
professional
experience includes
work in urban
planning with the
Portland Bureau of
Planning &
Sustainability, in
small-scale
community-oriented
housing development
with Orange Splot
LLC, and over a
decade in non-profit
organizing with the
youth climate
movement.
BY MADELINE KOVACS
what’s allowed now in most residential areas,
and scaling down maximum house sizes on
smaller lots proportionally.
ortland is growing, fast. Our city is
■ Measuring height from the lowest (as
expected to add more than 120,000
new families by 2035 - both those born opposed to highest) point on a lot, and
here and those just arriving. Through City ■ Increasing the distance between the
front of the house and the sidewalk
planning efforts, most of this growth will be
■ Limiting overall height of the house.
channeled into our central city and
■ Stops the spread of McMansions (by
commercial corridors, but people need
reducing maximum allowed height and size)
options in residential neighborhoods, too.
■ Prohibiting front-loading garages and
Most of Portland’s residential land is
changing parking requirements for narrow
locked up in zones that only allow a single
homes to make them fit in more with the
home on each lot, yielding large and
surrounding neighborhood.
expensive new homes. However, nearly two-
With these changes, the current proposal
thirds of Portland’s households are now just
creates disincentives for demolishing existing
one or two people. People of all ages are
looking for a variety of smaller homes - these houses because a builder can no longer profit
from oversized houses. This may prove to be
homes are more affordable, more resource
especially successful in slowing “1:1
efficient, and fit household sizes better.
replacements,” where a smaller, older house
As a city, we have a choice to make: Will
is replaced with a bigger, newer one.
we be a city that continues to push its lower-
In those neighborhoods within a quarter
and middle-income residents out, or will we
mile of established neighborhood business
change our rules, to allow more choices and
hubs and frequent transit corridors, the
affordability in all our neighborhoods? Enter
proposal also:
the Residential Infill Project, or RIP, which
■ Allows conversion of existing homes into
seeks to do just that.
two or three units, incentivising the
Recently, there has been confusion and
structure’s preservation.
heated public debate around the RIP, and the
■Allows two Accessory Dwelling Units
changes that are being proposed in Portland’s
residential neighborhoods. In fact, the project (ADUs) per house (instead of one allowed
now), as long as the total size is still within
was initiated largely in response to concerns
the reduced total square footage allowed for a
from neighborhoods, including the recent
single house, per the new design rules.
increase in demolitions, lack of affordable
■ Makes it easier for homeowners to add
options, new narrow houses with front-loading
an ADU or “granny flat” to their property,
garages, and large “McMansions” out of scale
whether for rental income, for their parents
and character with existing neighborhoods.
to age in place, or other family members and
The Residential Infill Project addresses
friends.
these things - pretty well. Here is what the
■ Restores the ability to build discrete
current proposal does in all neighborhoods:
small-scale “middle” housing that Portland
■ Reduces the height and size of new
has phased out (namely duplexes,
homes and homes that are significantly
triplexes,and cottage clusters). This helps
remodeled by:
further support mixed-income, walkable and
■ Capping square footage at less than half
CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST
P
transit-enabled neighborhoods.
Portland for Everyone believes these
changes are a great start, but we strongly
encourage the city to go further in four
distinct ways. These will provide diverse and
more affordable housing options in all
neighborhoods and will further discourage
demolitions:
1) Outer neighborhoods shouldn’t miss a
chance at better transit and walkability. Allow
middle housing types in all Portland’s
neighborhoods, not just those that are already
well connected. We need to create the
conditions for all Portland neighborhoods to
have the duplexes, triplexes, internal
divisions and ADUs that make transit and
vibrant neighborhood retail districts viable.
2) Offer incentives for affordable housing
that’s accessible to seniors and people with
disabilities. The city is far behind its goals for
affordable housing, and affordable housing is
dramatically more effective when it’s part of
more income-diverse neighborhoods. We
should offer incentives like a bonus unit and/
or size exception if one of the homes is made
permanently affordable and accessible.
3) Increase the flexibility of planning
codes - in all neighborhoods - so that it’s
easier to design around and preserve more
existing homes and trees. We could also offer
financial incentives for tree preservation.
4) Offer incentives for conversion and
preservation of existing homes, and
disincentivise demolitions by allowing internal
conversions, two ADUs, “middle” and other
housing strategies being proposed near
transit in all neighborhoods.
With these types of changes in the city
code, we can anticipate that there will be
more choices available to more Portlanders.
For example, by allowing internal divisions of
See INFILL, page 11
“The Residential
Infill Project (RIP)
will allow more
opportunities for
building smaller
more affordable
units like this small
home in Woodlawn
in single family
zones without
increasing threats
to trees. The City’s
revised RIP
proposal, due out
this Fall, should go
further in by
removing
regulatory barriers
to preserving more
trees and providing
a unit bonus for
preserving large,
healthy trees.
PHOTO BY RYAN
AUSTIN