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Council reviews three Foothills concepts, flags access, grading and wastewater plant as key constraints
Summary
City planners and consultants presented three preliminary Foothills District concepts — Park Plaza, Downtown Plaza and Promenade — focused on creating a ‘grand connection’ from State Street to the Willamette waterfront. Councilors pressed issues including rail crossings, topography and the wastewater treatment plant’s placement, and staff said the next steps include Planning Commission review June 8 and a technical advisory meeting June 17.
Long Range Planning Manager Eric Olson and consultant Jason Graff presented three high‑level design concepts for the Foothills District on May 19, centered on a "grand connection" linking State Street to Foothills Park and the Willamette waterfront.
Olson described the scoping work and recent community advisory committee and Planning Commission input that informed the concepts. Graff outlined three alternatives: Park Plaza (a processional State Street entry that terminates at a large waterfront plaza), Downtown Plaza (larger development blocks and a smaller waterfront terminus) and Promenade (a tree‑lined avenue and double‑row canopy emphasizing a pedestrian promenade). He emphasized that the wastewater treatment plant’s location — and the site’s topography — are central constraints that shape access, block sizes and feasible building footprints.
Councilors probed technical issues. Questions included whether a pedestrian overcrossing (a land bridge) could carry people over State Street and the rail corridor, how steep grades would affect accessibility and whether smaller development blocks in some concepts would reduce development yield. "There might be a bridge," Graff said, adding that an overcrossing at Avenue B is feasible and that terraces and grade changes create terracing and accessibility trade‑offs.
Council discussion highlighted competing goals: creating a clear visual and pedestrian link to downtown and the water, ensuring vibrancy on both sides of a grand connection, and balancing public space with development yield and affordability. Several councilors said they favored elements of the Park Plaza concept for its clear arrival sequence; others urged the project team to combine positive elements across concepts and to test development yield, heights and infrastructure costs in the next phase.
Olson said staff will calibrate concepts against development metrics and environmental constraints, present concepts to the Planning Commission in a June 8 work session, meet with a technical advisory committee on June 17 and host an open house in late June or early July.
