Portland committee forwards six Development Review Advisory Committee appointments to full council

Portland Permitting and Development recommended two reappointments and four first-term appointments to the Development Review Advisory Committee (DRAC), and the Homelessness and Housing Committee voted to send the bureau's report to the full City Council with a recommendation to accept.

DRAC, the city's advisory body for permitting and development review established in 2001, currently holds 17 seats meant to represent a broad range of development and community perspectives. At the committee meeting on Oct. 21, bureau staff described DRAC's role as advising on timely, predictable and consistent application of development-related regulations and said members serve three-year terms, with one optional reappointment for a second three-year term.

Deputy Director Ilsad Hajiev and liaison Ross Caron presented the slate of candidates. Staff recommended reappointing Jennifer Sandhaus to a second three-year term in the major facilities/landowners seat and Elizabeth Gomez to a second three-year term in the remodeler seat. They also recommended appointing four people to first three-year terms: Lan Jiang (citywide neighborhood interests seat), Brian Montaneo (environmental conservation and green building seat), Seth Otto (neighborhood coalition/land-use committee seat) and Mary Rain O'Mara (Planning Commission–designated seat).

In discussing the appointments, council members asked candidates about DRAC's role: whether members primarily maintain steady review or pursue code changes to speed development. Brian Montaneo said DRAC should weigh the city's climate and building goals against practical buildability, noting his personal preference for high-performance building but saying his role would be to assess whether proposed policies are achievable in practice. Mary Rain O'Mara described DRAC as an opportunity to bridge the Planning Commission's legislative perspective with advisory review and said she looked forward to tracking whether regulatory changes intended to accelerate development actually produce faster approvals.

Several candidates described practical customer-service improvements they hoped to advance on DRAC. Elizabeth Gomez emphasized expanding access for Spanish-speaking contractors and owners, including translated paperwork and bilingual inspectors. Seth Otto and other candidates suggested permitting liaisons and clearer early flags in the permitting pipeline for projects with affordable-housing or social-service funding to improve navigation and reduce delays.

After the discussion, Councilor Ryan moved that report/document number 2025-409 be sent to the full council with a recommendation to accept; Councilor Zimmerman seconded. The clerk called the roll and the motion passed with five ayes; the report will move to full council for final action.

The committee did not take final appointment votes at the meeting; it forwarded the bureau's appointment report to the council for confirmation.

The committee chair asked the new and returning DRAC members to bring forward specific recommendations and best practices and offered to receive private follow-ups from members who see roadblocks that staff or the committee should address. Staff also offered to provide a history of prior DRAC recommendations and code changes, citing the demolition ordinance as an example of earlier DRAC input.

The committee clerk recorded the motion to forward the report, and the report will appear on the full council docket for confirmation of the appointments.

Ending: The committee adjourned its DRAC business after the vote and moved on to public testimony on homelessness and housing.