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Council pulls small Powell Boulevard lot from consent; members debate land banking and keep disposition on track
Summary
Councilors discussed a proposed surplus-property sale of a roughly 2,900-square-foot vacant lot on Powell Boulevard, debated citywide asset-management and land-banking strategies, and moved the disposition ordinance to second reading while several members urged developing a citywide property inventory and retention policy.
Portland City Councilors on Sept. 18 discussed a staff proposal to declare a small, roughly 2,900-square-foot city-owned lot on Powell Boulevard surplus and authorize the city administrator to sell it at fair market value. Councilor Dunphy had pulled the item from consent to prompt a broader discussion about city property management and land banking.
Maddie Sauter, director of the Bureau of Fleet and Facilities, explained the city’s current surplus disposition process: when a landowning bureau determines a property is surplus, Fleet and Facilities advertises the property internally and allows other bureaus time to express interest; if no bureau pursues acquisition, staff notify nearby property owners and then bring an ordinance to council to approve sale. Sauter said the city does not yet have a consolidated, citywide real-property database and noted that bureaus repeatedly try to create such an inventory.
Several councilors urged a change in practice. Councilor Dunphy—who said he recently visited Vienna to study long-term housing strategies—said the city should build a land-banking system to retain small parcels as community assets for future uses such as pocket parks or to support adjacent affordable housing. He noted the lot in question sits adjacent to a REACH CDC affordable-housing project and said the city should consider agreements that would preserve neighborhood benefits rather than selling by default.
Councilor Smith asked staff to explain why the city considered the lot surplus and how Fleet and Facilities values property; Sauter said fair-market value estimates come from broker opinions or appraisals. Councilors discussed the parcel’s commercial zoning and the potential for tax revenue if the lot is developed. Councilor Zimmerman said Multnomah County’s assessment showed a higher value than the staff estimate and noted the property could yield ongoing tax revenue if developed. Councilor Green and others urged that while the city develop long-term land-banking tools, in some cases selling small, poorly maintained lots to owners who will redevelop them is preferable to leaving them as blighted city-owned parcels.
Councilors also asked for a clearer, consolidated city inventory to inform future decisions. Maddie Sauter said bureaus have tried periodically to build such a database and that Fleet and Facilities would participate in a citywide effort.
On the Powell lot, councilors ultimately directed staff to bring the ordinance back for second reading at the next council meeting rather than immediately approving a sale. Several councilors said they would support the disposal this time but urged council and staff to develop an asset-management strategy and land-banking policy so the council can evaluate such sales in a citywide context going forward.
