Land Use Committee

The Land Use Committee reviews and considers development proposals, permits and zoning ordinances, increasing public awareness of our environment and neighborhood.

Below are current and/or recent land use matters affecting SHNA. More information is usually available at the City Portland website through their search engine. For more information, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

1500 SW Skyline Blvd – Skyline Condos development proposal
Diagram #1, Diagram #2, letter, completeness review letter #1, completeness review letter #2, completeness review letter #3, completeness review letter #4
1850 SW Skyline Blvd - new parking spots (LU 08-165197 AD)
1148 SW 57th - proposal for one additional lot
Children's Museum - proposal to improve exterior yard to the east
1742 SW 58th - notification of a new 5 unit residential project

Parking in Washington Park

Press clippings, documents, links

Mayor Charlie Hales - Open Letter to SHNA (PDF) - 2013-05-13<--- NEW!

"The transportation management plan at Washington Park was created before I took office. Public involvement with neighbors over plans for Washington Park happened from April 2011-November 2012. The plan had not one, but two first readings and public hearings before City Council, followed by a second reading. For these reasons, I do not plan to reopen this issue for another round of public hearings."

Paid parking locations map (PDF) <--- UPDATED!

SHNA Letter regarding the Washington Park Meters (PDF)

Collected Neighborhood Letters of Support on SHNA's position regarding Washington Park Meters (PDF)

Metro Council Washington Park TMA Resolution - 2012-11-08

Portland City Council meeting transcript - 2012-11-14

Fish: "Under the proposed agreement Portland parks and rec will join with our partners to develop and improve transportation options throughout the park and we will have a new revenue source to support improvements to the park's transportation infrastructure and to fund long overdue the master plan for Washington Park. We understand that some neighbors are concerned about the prospect of changes in the park."

SHNA Comments to the Portland City Council, 2012-11-28

"SHNA supports several goals and principles in the TPMA; however, the devil is in the details and very many TPMA details are missing and/or premature."

management at Washington Park

"About the new plan for parking and transportation management at Washington Park" - Mike Abbaté, Director of Portland Parks & Recreation, on 2012-12-07

"Susan Nielsen: Family-friendly Portland? At these prices,we'll never see that baby elephant" - Editorial for The Oregonian, 2012-12-08

"From a distance, parking meters sound like a fair way to cover the expense of maintaining a huge parking lot. Up close, the new fees just made Portland less attractive to middle-class families."

"Calculated memory lapse?" - Examiner Editorial Regarding WP Meters, 2012-12

"And you don’t endure eight long negotiation sessions with neighborhood representatives concerning parking at the Oregon Zoo and forget that you haven’t told them about a coming City Council hearing. Or forget that they weren’t shown the document you claim they’ve agreed to. Not only did the director of Portland Parks & Recreation claim such a colossal communication breakdown was unintentional, representatives of the zoo also forgot to share a corresponding resolution they brought to Metro Council earlier last month."

"Washington Park may get parking meters in the fall" (The Oregonian, 2012-07-06) (PDF)

"Washington Park plan for parking meters draws questions from surrounding neighbors" (The Oregonian, 2012-11-30) (PDF)

Washington Park Alliance [the venues, etc. excluding the neighborhood associations] web site detailing park-wide paid parking

Washington Park Transportation and Parking Management Agreement: contrat presentation, contract testimony, exhibits, additional documents

Oregon Zoo

The Oregon Zoo is developing a 20-year master plan, designing six new or improved animal exhibits, a conservation education center and a new veterinary medical center, all made possible by a $125 million bond. Check more details here.

Or visit the Oregon Zoo website for more information about the master plan.

After the workshop of April 27 2011, two documents are available: a one-page summary (MS Word document), including the list of participants and the long list of issues and concerns expressed, and the Parking and Transportation Management Plan - Rick Williams (MS PowerPoint presentation).

In August 2011, Metro sent a neighbor relations proposal that outlines a working relationship over the next few months between the Washington Park Alliance and Arlington Heights and Sylvan Highlands neighborhoods, as a parking and traffic management strategy is developed. The document (MS Word) includes the proposal, a draft timeline and a catalogue of the issues expressed at the April workshop and in subsequent interviews and conversations.

* * * UPDATE Jan 14, 2013 * * * The hearing officer issued his decision in the latest Zoo land use matter (the conditional use review for the next decade). He reviewed and discussed the issues I presented, see item #2 on pages 24-29. Ultimately, SHNA’s concerns did not win and our requested condition of approval (a sidewalk along SW Knights Blvd) was denied.

A historical document: the Washington Park Master Plan of 1981.

Past Land Use Issues

Land Use Applications - as of 8/15/02

The following Land Use Notifications have been received.

Interested parties can contact the city of Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability directly for more information.