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Portland weighs loosening city code around where homeless shelters, organized camps can open
“You can t be perpetually in a state of emergency. We have to find a new normal at some point,” said Eric Engstrom, a principal planner with the city. Author: Maggie Vespa Updated: 8:27 PM PDT March 15, 2021
PORTLAND, Ore. Nearly 100 people, as of Monday evening, were signed up to speak to Portland’s City Council Wednesday about a proposed list of changes to city codes surrounding where homeless shelters and organized camps can open.
It would essentially wave zoning restrictions and speed up permitting processes, allowing agencies and non-profits to open shelters practically anywhere in Portland. That, in temporary cases, includes parks.
Council delays vote on homeless shelter expansion plan March 11 2021
A second hearing on the proposal is added after concerns grow that too many new shelters will be sited in East Portland.
The City Council has scheduled an additional hearing on a controversial proposal to allow more homeless shelters, including sanctioned campsites, in most of Portland.
The first hearing on the Shelter to Housing Continuum Project is scheduled for Wednesday, March 17, as originally planned. But, largely because of concerns that a disproportionate number of new shelters could be sited in East Portland, the council has now scheduled another hearing on March 24, when the final vote was set to take place. That is now tentatively scheduled for March 31.
Updated March 10 The Portland City Council will vote soon on a proposal that would make it easier to site homeless shelters but East Portlanders worry they will bear the brunt of the policy shift. East Portland doesn t trust the city, says community advocate Donal Mac Uileagoid. It feels like all the problems of the city are being shoved to the eastside. The Shelter to Housing Continuum Project would make it easier for anyone property owners, nonprofits and the city to open homeless shelters and would make other changes to city zoning code, such as legalizing RV occupancy on residential property and adding outdoor shelters as a new use type in the code language.