Committee advances Portland–Gresham urban service boundary fixes to full council

The Climate Resilience and Land Use Committee on Sept. 11 voted to send two ordinances that would amend the Portland–Gresham Urban Service Boundary (USB) and related map and zoning changes to the full Portland City Council with a recommendation to pass.

Bureau of Planning and Sustainability staff said the package is a housekeeping set of corrections affecting four locations in the Pleasant Valley area on Portland’s southeast edge. “This proposed amendment to Portland's urban service boundary is a clean up to better align this component of the comprehensive plan so that we're coordinating the provision of services with our regional neighbors,” said Ryan Singer, a principal planner with the bureau.

The recommended changes fall into two types: the removal of comprehensive‑plan and zoning designations from two privately owned parcels and mapping fixes for two public rights of way. Kyle Jenkins, the project manager, described the private parcels as currently split between Portland’s and Gresham’s USBs; one is owned by Centennial School District and largely served by Gresham, and another is a small residential/small‑farm property already served by Gresham sewer. Jenkins said the right‑of‑way fixes include shifting the USB to align a 50‑foot stretch of Southeast Jenny Road entirely inside Portland’s USB and moving the USB east to reflect a 23‑foot right‑of‑way dedication made in 2017 along Southeast 170th Avenue.

The motion before the committee asked the council to: amend the comprehensive plan map to change the USB in the four locations, remove comprehensive plan and zoning designations from the two private parcels, amend the Pleasant Valley plan district map in Title 33 to remove those two parcels, and authorize the city administrator to execute an updated intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with Gresham and Multnomah County explaining how those properties will be handled going forward.

Councillor Ryan moved and Councillor Knoell seconded the motion to forward ordinance document numbers 2025‑349 and 2025‑350 to full council with a recommendation to pass. Diego called the roll; Councillor Kanal (recorded on the roll call as “Canal”) voted “aye,” Councillor Ryan voted “aye,” and Commissioner Novick voted “aye.” With three ayes, the committee carried the motion and the two ordinances will go to the full council with a recommendation to pass.

Staff noted the IGA implementation steps will require coordinated legislative steps by Gresham and Multnomah County to assign their own plan and zone designations for the parcels once Portland removes its designations. The committee also set a time‑certain for the IGA to return to full council as a formal public hearing on Sept. 18 at 2:30 p.m.

If adopted by council, the changes will not re‑evaluate the broader urban service boundary; staff described this work as limited, technical corrections to remove overlaps, fill small gaps and update legacy mapping topology with modern data and interjurisdictional coordination.

Votes at a glance: ordinance document numbers 2025‑349 and 2025‑350 — forwarded to full council with a recommendation to pass. Vote: 3–0 (Kanal: aye; Ryan: aye; Novick: aye).

Next steps: both ordinances will be considered at full council; the USB IGA will be heard at a full council public hearing on Sept. 18 at 2:30 p.m., time certain.

Speakers in the meeting who addressed this item included Ryan Singer (Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, principal planner), Kyle Jenkins (BPS project manager), Director Engstrom (BPS director), Chair/Commissioner Novick, Councillor Ryan, Councillor Kunal, Councillor Kanal, and the council clerk Diego. The packet before the committee listed the proposed map and Title 33 amendments and the draft IGA as the implementation mechanism between Portland and Gresham.

Notes: staff said the amendments have been coordinated with the City of Gresham and Multnomah County over roughly two years and that removing Portland designations from the two private parcels will require Gresham/County to process their own map and zone updates for those parcels. The package was presented as having no direct budget impact for Portland’s current fiscal year.