Committee sends PBOT street plaza package to full council after presentation on permanent program

Portland’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted on Sept. 22 to send a three-part package from the Portland Bureau of Transportation to the full City Council that would make the bureau’s pilot street plaza program permanent, amend the City’s wiring rules to allow decorative overhead lighting in designated plazas, and update plaza permit fees.

The package includes a resolution to adopt a Public Street Plaza Framework; an ordinance granting exceptions to Title 17 (underground wiring district code) to allow decorative lighting across designated PBOT pedestrian plazas and in the Skidmore/Old Town and Chinatown/Japantown historic districts; and an ordinance amending the transportation fee schedule to create plaza permit fee categories and change outdoor dining fees for plazas to a square-foot basis. The committee moved each measure to full council with a recommendation to pass: resolution document number 2025-361 and ordinances document numbers 2025-362 and 2025-363.

Why it matters: PBOT told the committee the plazas started as temporary pilots — many during the COVID-19 pandemic — and have become neighborhood assets that support small businesses, events and community connections. The formal framework is intended to set expectations for stewardship, clarify permitted uses and fees, and create a path for capital upgrades from seasonal to permanent plazas.

Priya Danapal, deputy city administrator for public works, called plazas “spaces for connection, small business vitality, cultural expression, and neighborhood pride,” and said the package “will establish a clear, transparent framework for how plazas are created, managed, and supported.” Art Pierce, PBOT deputy director for planning projects and programs, told the committee the bureau sees plazas as part of investing in Portland’s public realm and noted “about 30 to 40% of the city's land is streets and public space.”

PBOT senior planner Tiffany Swift said the bureau currently manages about 20 active street plazas and described a typology the bureau uses to stage plazas: seasonal (tested over months), exploratory (year-round, several years of materials) and permanent (materials designed to last up to 10 years). She said seasonal plazas cost about $7,000 per three-month pilot, exploratory plazas roughly $10,000–$20,000 per year, and permanent capital upgrades can be about $350,000 (citing Pride Plaza design as a current example).

Sarah Figliozzi, who leads PBOT’s public realm and street-activation team, described seven “key moves” in the proposed framework drawn from staff experience, plaza partner input and best practices. Figliozzi said proposed fee changes aim to simplify permitting for activations inside plazas — for example, creating one rate for outdoor dining based on square footage rather than parking-space counts — and to continue subsidizing nonprofit events (about a 50% reduction from standard fees). She told the committee the goal is to keep most plaza events free and to reduce administrative burden for community groups.

Committee members asked about accessibility, safety and capital costs. Councilor Koyama Lane asked how the program will ensure plazas are accessible to older adults and people with disabilities; PBOT staff said ADA review is part of the review process and emphasized co-design with communities to address lived experience. Councilor Green raised durability of perimeter devices, urging the bureau to favor hard bollards over long-term use of flexible posts in locations where safety requires them. PBOT Director Millicent Williams said the bureau is open to tactical urbanism partnerships but emphasized the need for coordinated review to ensure safety and appropriate engineering.

Funding and next steps: PBOT staff said the program has staffing and some baseline budget — the bureau cited $350,000 for plaza maintenance and amenity upgrades and roughly $6,000 average annual operating cost per plaza — but acknowledged that additional capital and interbureau investment (Parks horticulture, enhanced service districts, Prosper Portland, and others) will be needed to expand permanent plazas. Committee discussion acknowledged a citywide budget gap and signaled council will weigh additional investments in future budget cycles. The committee’s actions on Sept. 22 were recommendations to the full council, not final adoption by the council.

Voices from nearby neighborhoods and plaza partners appeared during the presentation: representatives from Montavilla, Dream Big City (Portland Dream Plaza), St. John’s Boosters, and GroundScore described local events and maintenance partnerships that they said drove foot traffic and supported nearby businesses. A public commenter from Depave urged the city to integrate temporary plazas with green-infrastructure planning and to make permitting easier for community-led projects.

The committee approved forwarding the resolution and both ordinances to the full council with unanimous committee recommendations for passage. The measures will next be considered at a full council hearing.