Portland planning panel recommends city adopt major Unified Development Ordinance updates, including Old Town LED overlay changes

The Planning and Zoning Commission voted to recommend that City Council adopt a package of amendments to the City of Portland Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) after a public hearing and a presentation by the city’s consultant planners.

The recommended changes would implement the city’s Plan 2040, expand site-plan requirements to multifamily and mixed-use projects, create a Leisure and Entertainment (LED) overlay for the Old Town area that limits some uses and removes minimum off-street parking for nonresidential uses there, add triplex and quadplex housing types, and streamline procedural items such as delegating some plat approvals to city staff.

The UDO is Portland’s combined zoning and subdivision code and is the principal tool to implement the comprehensive plan adopted in 2023, consultant Erica Craycraft of Friese and Nichols told the commission. “The UDO refers to the Unified Development Ordinance, which is the city’s zoning and subdivision regulations,” Craycraft said.

Why it matters: The amendments would change how developers and property owners can build in Old Town and elsewhere in the city, alter review pathways for plats and planned unit developments, and add new standards for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and short-term rentals. The commission’s recommendation moves the package to City Council for public hearings and final readings, so the measures could change how future development is designed and reviewed in Portland.

Key changes and details

- LED overlay (Old Town): The proposed overlay aims to encourage walkable, after-hours activity in Old Town by limiting uses deemed unlikely to generate foot traffic, and by removing the minimum off-street parking requirement for nonresidential uses in that overlay area. The overlay would not change…