Planning Commission Takes Finger Off Trigger

PORTLAND-After hearing from commercial property owners this week, the city Planning Commission broke ranks with city staff and voted to recommend a four-fold increase in the price trigger that requires 10% of a project be spent on bringing a non-conforming property into compliance with current standards for bicycle parking, pedestrian circulation, landscaping and screening.

City planning staff recommended the Planning Commission increase the trigger from its current $25,000 level to $35,000, meaning if a property owner planned to spend more than that on a project, the owner would be required to spend 10% of the total project cost on becoming compliant with the aforementioned standards.

Instead, after several commercial property owners requested they be given a break in these tough economic times, the Planning Commission voted to recommend to the City Council a quadrupling of the trigger to $100,000.