Nonprofits urge more green plazas, depaving and streamlined permits to expand city green infrastructure

Nonprofit groups and community partners presented to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Sept. 22 about efforts to convert over-paved sites into green plazas and community food spaces, and urged the city to streamline permitting and coordinate across bureaus to scale the work.

Sean Perez, board president of Depave (DPAVE), described the organization’s work removing asphalt and replacing it with green infrastructure at schools, churches and public sites. Perez said DPAVE’s projects reduce urban heat and provide community benefits: “We are able to make reductions of up to, 7 degrees Fahrenheit,” he said, citing a NASA-linked study the group referenced.

DPAVE highlighted a seasonal plaza they organized at Southeast Seventh and Sandy in the Central Eastside, where organizers reported daily visitors ranging from 200 to 1,000 on some days this summer and said the site has hosted markets, skate and music programming and boosted nearby foot traffic. Depave and other presenters — including Portland Dream Plaza, Montavilla business leaders, St. John’s Boosters and GroundScore — described partnerships that combine city-provided furnishings and barriers with community programming, maintenance crews and horticulture support from Portland Parks.

Zoe Walker Aparicio of Depave urged the city to adapt technical standards that limit planting around underground water infrastructure so larger trees and planting can be used in green plazas. She also asked for a single point of contact at the city for community benefit projects to reduce the time nonprofit groups spend on permitting and compliance.

Sean Perez said DPAVE has grown from a volunteer organization to a staff-run nonprofit with roughly a $1 million annual budget and that over half of their projects include stormwater management. He said DPAVE prioritizes projects in historically underserved neighborhoods, partners with workforce development groups, and directs a large share of contracts to BIPOC and disadvantaged emerging businesses.

Kyle Leslie Christie of PDX Urban Gardens urged city officials to adopt policies that treat plazas, greenways and community orchards as essential infrastructure: “Why shouldn't the shade canopy trees also be producing food?” he asked, arguing that fruit trees and edible understory plantings can contribute to cooling, food access and neighborhood stewardship.

Committee members supported the goals but asked about how projects would be prioritized. DPAVE representatives said they now prioritize higher-impact sites and conduct targeted outreach to congregations and Title I schools. Councilors and PBOT staff noted that the bureau’s street plaza program already offers seasonal pilots and that grant-funded work (for example ARPA-supported pilot funding) helped start several plazas, but they agreed more coordination with parks, water, Prosper Portland and enhanced service districts will be needed for durable green infrastructure.

Requests to the city included: streamlining and consolidating permit and fee processes for community-led pop-ups and depaving projects; aligning water bureau setbacks with city planting goals so larger trees can be planted in plazas; and reforming conditional-use review and other land-use processes that limit reuse of surplus parking areas at schools and churches.

No formal vote was taken on these presentations. Committee members thanked the presenters and encouraged continued partnerships; several councilors said they would work with presenters on outreach and potential funding or pilot opportunities in districts that have fewer plazas.