The Central City 2035 Proposed Draft, a framework for Central City's future, was released for public review on June 20, 2016. Since then, two public hearings were held before the Planning and Sustainability Commission (PSC) on July 25 and August 9, when the public provided testimony. More than 750 community members, City bureaus, other public agencies and organizations, expressed their support, concerns and ideas on a variety of topics to improve the proposed plan for growth and development in the urban core.

The Planning and Sustainability Commission (PSC) has held four worksessions with City planners to discuss public testimony and staff proposals in response to the feedback. The following topics were discussed at each of the worksessions held to date:

• September 27: Building heights in historic districts and scenic view corridors.
• November 16: Additional building heights discussion, Willamette River-related topics and parking code.
• January 10: Proposed street classifications and transportation projects, additional uses in the Open Space zone, specific zoning and floor area ratio (FAR) requests, low carbon buildings, Willamette River and other miscellaneous amendments.
• January 24: Ecoroofs, bird-safe window glazing, and an analysis of the costs of CC2035 green building policies in addition to other recently adopted policies, including those for affordable housing.   

Three more worksessions are scheduled for February 14, February 28 and April 11. Discussion items for these worksessions will be based on any outstanding topics that need to be addressed. The preliminary list of items includes:   

• February 14: Willamette River issues, an initial discussion on bonuses and transfers, policy amendments, and miscellaneous code and action item amendments.
• February 28: Continued discussion about the bonus and transfer system including code amendments necessary due to the adoption of the inclusionary housing program, amendments to the master plan provision and transportation items carried over from previous meetings.
• April 11: Remaining amendments and PSC vote on the final draft of the CC2035 Plan as amended.

Next Steps

The Planning and Sustainability Commission’s CC2035 Recommended Draft is currently planned for public release in late April with City Council public hearings in May. City Council will hold work sessions with City planners in June leading to final action on the plan. The adopted CC2035 Plan will not go into effect until the City’s recently adopted Comprehensive Plan 2035 becomes effective, most likely in January 2018.

For more information about the Central City 2035 Plan, please visit the project website.