From the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability e-newsletter:

Portland’s Comprehensive Plan has served the city well since 1980, but it’s time to give it a complete overhaul so that it reflects the Portland of the 21^st century. The Bureau of Planning and Sustainability is taking the lead on this citywide effort to manage the location of population and job growth, as well as public investments in infrastructure (such as streets, sidewalks, parks and stormwater systems) over the next 20 years. The new Comprehensive Plan will set guidelines for community involvement and influence the direction of private development and public facilities — all to ensure that Portland is a more prosperous, healthy, educated, equitable and resilient city.

While the Portland Plan set goals and policies for economic development, housing, education, transportation and watershed health, the new Comprehensive Plan will help implement them through more specific city policies to help us make better on-the-ground decisions in our neighborhoods. With the Comprehensive Plan as the foundation, we can improve zoning and provide direction prosperous and sustainable development throughout the city. These ideas will then be represented through a set of maps and a list of capital projects.

The bureau recently published the Working Draft Part 1 of the Comprehensive Plan Update, which includes initial draft goals and policies for public discussion and review. The accompanying Companion Guide provides an introduction to the Working Draft Part 1 and highlights the document’s main ideas.

Collective Effort Requires Community Input

The Comprehensive Plan Update is being developed with the help of more than 160 community members, technical experts and City staff from a variety of bureaus who serve on eight different advisory committees called Policy Expert Groups (PEGs). Now it’s time for the entire city to have a say in how this long-range land use plan will evolve.

“We need your help to bring this document from a “60 percent draft” to 100 percent,” says Bureau Director Susan Anderson. “The draft Comprehensive Plan is a work in progress, which means there are still areas to be fleshed out and detail to be added. I encourage all Portlanders to join me at a workshop or give us your feedback in whatever way you can.”

Portlanders are invited to review and comment on the Working Draft Part 1, available on the Comprehensive Plan Update project website at www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/pdxcompplan. Printed copies are also available at Multnomah County libraries throughout the city and at the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.

The Working Draft Part 2, available this summer, will include draft maps and a draft list of capital projects.

Citywide Workshops Offer Chance to Learn and Comment

In February and March, City staff and partners will be sharing information and soliciting feedback through a series of community workshops in six different locations.

Workshop Dates and Times

West: Tuesday, February 19, 6 – 9 p.m.
Multnomah Arts Center
7688 SW Capitol Highway, Portland

North: Tuesday, February 26, 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.
De La Salle North Catholic High School
7528 N Fenwick Avenue, Portland

Southeast: Thursday, February 28, 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Franklin High School
5405 SE Woodward Street, Portland

East: Saturday, March 2, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
David Douglas High School
1001 SE 135th Avenue, Portland

Central: Tuesday, March 5, 5 – 8 p.m.
Smith Memorial Student Union, Portland State University
1825 SW Broadway, Portland

Northeast: Saturday, March 9, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Beaumont Middle School
4043 NE Fremont Street, Portland

Business: Thursday, March 14, 7:30 – 9:30 a.m.
Location to be announced

For more information about how to engage, visit the Get Involved section of the Comprehensive Plan Update website at www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/pdxcompplan.