April 20, 2006

Mayor Tom Potter and Members of Portland City Council

Portland City Hall

1221 SW Fourth Avenue

Portland, OR 97204

Re:  South Waterfront Urban Design & Development Updater: Public Views & Visual Permeability Assessment

Dear Mayor Potter and City Commissioners:

On behalf of the Portland Planning Commission and Portland Design Commission, we are forwarding our joint recommendation regarding the Public Views & Visual Permeability Assessment (Assessment). The Assessment constitutes the first phase of the South Waterfront Urban Design & Development Update Project which is a follow-up to last year’s South Waterfront Height Bonus Analysis Project.

As you may recall, at the conclusion of this prior project City Council directed the Bureau of Planning (Planning) to work with the public and the Planning and Design Commissions to work together in an ongoing urban design process addressing various issues in the South Waterfront subdistrict. Chief among these issues was the development of a regulatory tool to better evaluate public view corridors and visual permeability through South Waterfront when specific modifications are sought to Zoning Code regulations. Over the last year the Planning Bureau has worked diligently with numerous stakeholders to create this tool, now known as the Assessment. Both commissions feel this is a crucial set of evaluation criteria that will have major impacts on the public dialog relative to the long-term impacts of this new district and its’ affects upon the neighboring areas. Please understand that we are attempting to create a platform for discussion with some certainty for new and established development alike. These two Commissions take very seriously the responsibility of hosting discussion and making critical choices as to the fabric of our city.

During this process Planning worked closely with a broad spectrum of stakeholders including neighborhood and community representatives, land owners, developers, architects, and various City staff. Staff then conducted a series of work sessions with the Planning and Design Commissions to refine the draft Assessment before it was ready to be forwarded for City Council’s review. We believe the final version crafted through staff’s collaboration with Planning and Design Commissions has produced a tool that fulfills the desire Council had when they initiated this planning process.

The Assessment is a simple yet effective tool that will allow the Design Commission to better address the important issue of public view protection and enhancement. The Assessment utilizes state of the art computer modeling techniques to create an accurate image of proposed development set against the backdrop of key visual resources surrounding South Waterfront. This tool, combined with additional framework planning tools being developed by Planning, will greatly enhance the ability of the Design and Planning Commissions to review legislative amendments affecting South Waterfront and specific projects within the subdistrict to ensure that they further the City’s vision for this dynamic new district emerging within the Central City.

Recommendation

During the Design Commission’s hearing regarding the Public Views & Visual Permeability Assessment, the Commission voted unanimously to forward the proposed Assessment and recommendation package to Planning Commission and City Council. With one commissioner abstaining for perceived conflict of interest, the remaining members of the Planning Commission voted unanimously to forward a recommendation to City Council to accept the proposed Assessment. Therefore, the Portland Planning Commission and Portland Design Commission jointly recommend that City Council adopt the resolution and recommended report associated with the South Waterfront Public Views & Visual Permeability Assessment.

Thank you for your consideration of the recommendations of the Portland Planning and Design Commissions.

Sincerely,

Paul Schlesinger, President      Michael McCulloch, Chair

Portland Planning Commission      Portland Design Commission

c: Portland Planning Commissioners

Portland Design Commissioners