Portland Design Commission

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City gears up to streamline development process

The City of Portland contracted with Seattle-based Walker Macy to complete its Design Overlay Zone Assessment (DOZA), a project intended to research the direction the City should take to improve its design process, to prepare for the proposed design overlay zone expansion.

The city is under pressure to streamline development approval policy and zoning in large part because of the building boom — and growing queue of architects and developers waiting for their projects to be heard and approved.

“It’s definitely partially that (boom): the design commission is completely overloaded,” said Sandra Wood, supervising planner at the city’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.

“They’re meeting several times a month now for six-hour meetings, and of course they’re volunteers so we’re sensitive to that,” said Wood. “We’re hoping when the design overlay gets expanded, the development that results from design review won’t be hindered and the process adds value to the buildings that are subjected to the design review.”

...continues at the Business Tribune.