Not Yet Done with Downtown Waterfront: PDC Votes to Extend Urban Renewal Area Plan

On December 17, 2003, PDC’s Board of Commissioners voted to issue additional bonds and extend the Downtown Waterfront Urban Renewal Area (DTWF URA) Plan for four more years. Commissioners voted three to two in support of extension and voted unanimously (4-0) to support the issuance of $42 million in additional bonds with Commissioner Doug Blomgren abstaining due to a potential conflict of interest. In support of extending the plan, Chairman Matt Hennessee noted that, “PDC needs to finish what we started in building a healthy downtown. Portland is dynamic and constantly changing; we need to keep up with those changes and keep downtown vibrant and economically competitive.” PDC’s vote to extend now moves to the City of Portland’s Planning Commission to review and make a recommendation to City Council before Council takes its final vote on plan extension. The issuance of additional bonds is pending final approval by City Council as well.

The Board of Commissioners’ decision to approve extension follows extensive outreach efforts by PDC to solicit comment from private citizens, downtown stakeholders, overlapping taxing districts and City of Portland commissioners. “We have been reviewing this decision for three months, meeting with our taxing district partners and downtown business and community groups, and receiving feedback from private citizens at public meetings and through email and letters. The large majority of our partners and constituents really want us to extend the Area Plan, and we are listening,” Mazziotti noted. Metro, Multnomah Educational Service District, the Port of Portland, Tri-Met and Multnomah County have all sent letters supporting this decision. “We appreciate PDC’s efforts to work with the other jurisdictions in truly seeking our input on this issue. In this time of economic stagnation, it simply makes sense to extend the agency’s bonding authority in the face of so many needs and opportunities in the downtown area,” explains Multnomah County Chair Diane Linn.

In addition to briefings with representatives from local jurisdictions, PDC hosted a public hearing on November 19, 2003, to solicit testimony regarding the future of this urban renewal area. Of the nearly 30 citizens who testified at the hearing, all agreed that 30 years of investment by PDC and its private, public and non-profit partners have contributed toward the removal of blight and the revitalization of Portland’s downtown core. Many speakers, such as Ann Niles, a Pearl District resident and neighborhood association board member, testified that PDC and Portland community “are not done yet in the DTWF URA. We need PDC to help us keep the momentum going.” All but one of the speakers supported extending the district and issuing additional bonds.

PDC was created by Portland voters in 1958 to serve as the city’s urban renewal agency as laid out in Chapter 15 of the City’s Charter. The Commission’s role is to serve as a catalyst for, and a participant in, a collective, public effort to focus attention and resources in blighted or underused areas to stimulate private investment and improve livability. Currently PDC manages ten active urban renewal areas within the City of Portland to accomplish this goal. PDC also provides comprehensive housing, development and economic development programs within the Portland region.

For more information contact:

• Christine Egan, PDC
  (503) 823-3795

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