westside study - Project Update

On Wednesday, June 25, 2008, the City Council approved the following amendments with a 4-0 vote.

  • The First Amendment to the Lents Town Center Urban Renewal Area will expand boundaries by 140.05 acres, increase maximum indebtedness by $170 million and extend the expiration date to June 30, 2020. 
  • The Twenty-Eighth Amendment to the Downtown Waterfront Urban Renewal Plan will remove 47.03 acres from the Plan area and standardize Plan amendment process. 
  • The Tenth Amendment to the South Park Blocks Urban Renewal Plan will remove 3.20 acres from the Plan area and standardize Plan amendment process. 
  • The Amended and Restated River District Urban Renewal Plan will expand boundaries by a net 41.98 acres, increase maximum indebtedness by approximately $325 million and extend the expiration date to June 30, 2021. 
  • The First Amendment to the Amended and Restated River District Urban Renewal Plan will expand boundaries by 8.53 acres and increase maximum indebtedness by $19 million.

June 18th Council documents:

Downtown Waterfront

South Park Blocks

River District

David Douglas

On May 14, 2008, the PDC Board unanimously approved the Downtown Waterfront, South Park Blocks and River District Resolutions. The Board approved the David Douglas Resolution with a 4 to 1 vote.

The Urban Renewal Advisory Group completed its work on March 4, 2008 and approved the Final URAG Report.

Background

The Study

The Westside Study started in Fall 2007 with a look at our downtown urban renewal areas (URA).  Two of the URAs, Downtown Waterfront (DTWF) and South Park Blocks (SPB), are due to expire soon but still have important projects to complete. This expiration refers to the last date a URA can issue debt, which was set during the creation of the URA. The River District (RD) URA has performed beyond expectations and a boundary change could allow its tax increment revenue to be used in other needy areas.  Public input is needed to make critical decisions about the future of these URAs. 

The study will be undertaken by the Westside Study Urban Renewal Advisory Group (URAG).  The URAG includes two PDC Commissioners (Wilhoite and Rosenbaum), two City Council members (Sten and Saltzman), County Commissioner Jeff Cogen, Planning Commissioner Don Hanson and citizen budget committee member Jon Kruse. 

As an extension of City Council/PDC’s FY 07-08 Budget Advisory Committee, the URAG reflects the new relationship between the Council and PDC created by last year’s city charter change, giving Council budget approval authority.  The new advisory group also includes other local officials in recognition of the broad potential impact of this community discussion.

Questions:

The PDC asked (in a memo from Executive Director, Bruce Warner) the Advisory Group to help answer the following questions:

      • Should PDC expand the RD by up to 61 acres?
      • Should PDC increase the maximum indebtedness of the RD, which will likely be reached in 2010?
      • Should PDC extend the last date to issue debt for DTWF and SPB? 

These questions grow out of The Central City Urban Renewal Area Study, November 19, 2004.  The study’s conclusions were: 1) focus DTWF resources on Old Town/China Town area projects; and 2) consider moving portions of Old Town/Chinatown into the RD.   

The URAG is meeting monthly throughout the Fall of 2007 and into early 2008 to look at these issues. They have been asked to submit their recommendations to the PDC by January of 2008. If approved by the PDC, the URAG’s recommendations will be submitted as proposed plan amendments for review by the Portland Planning Commission and for final adoption by the Portland City Council in Spring 2008.

Over the course of several months the advisory group will hear from panels on Housing, Jobs & Economy, Infrastructure, Education and Culture to assess the opportunities and challenges facing our downtown. 

Through this page you will be able to track the Westside Study discussion with access to all of the URAG’s meeting notes and materials. 

Urban Renewal Advisory Group (URAG) Members:

  • PDC Commissioner Charles Wilhoite (URAG Co-Chair)
  • PDC Commissioner Mark Rosenbaum
  • City Commissioner Erik Sten (URAG Co-Chair)
  • City Commissioner Dan Saltzman
  • Portland Planning Commissioner Don Hanson
  • County Commissioner Jeff Cogen
  • Citizen Member Jon Kruse

Learn More:

 

Acronyms
  • DTWF : Downtown Waterfront Urban Renewal Area
  • FOUR : Future of Urban Renewal
  • LTC : Lents Town Center Urban Renewal Area
  • ORS : Oregon Revised Statutes
  • PDC : Portland Development Commission
  • RD : River District Urban Renewal Area
  • SPB : South Park Blocks Urban Renewal Area
  • TIF : Tax-increment financing
  • URA : Urban Renewal Area
  • URAC : Urban Renewal Advisory Committee
  • URAG : Urban Renewal Advisory Group (Westside Study)