The City of Portland is projecting that 2015 will mark a record year for residential demolitions, with approximately 400 homes expected to be demolished by year’s end. While new code requirements provide for a delay and notification period before a demolition takes place, the trend for more and larger housing units continues to increase pressure on […]
Momentum Building to Reduce Demolition Waste
With outcry intensifying over the stream of waste being generated by demolitions in Portland, the Mayor’s office and City bureaus have been working to develop regulatory responses intended to address some issues of concern. Two initiatives have recently been announced: one designed to incentivize higher rates of reuse of materials from buildings slated for demolition, and the […]
Guide to Requesting Delay Extensions for Proposed Residential Demolitions
In April 2015, the City of Portland adopted new rules governing demolitions in the city’s single-family residential zones. These rules allow the public to request an additional delay period for the purpose of saving significant houses from demolition. Because the process can be confusing, a citizen guide has been created to provide step-by-step instructions for individuals and organizations […]
Zoning Code Loophole Contributes to Demolition Pressure
While the rebounding economy and influx of new residents has left no shortage of opportunity or incentive for developers to tear down and replace older houses in Portland’s single family neighborhoods, a recent trend indicates that an arcane provision in the City’s Zoning Code is among the biggest threats to the fabric of Portland’s older neighborhoods. The […]
Portland to Reevaluate Residential Infill Development Standards
With a rebounding economy driving frenzied development and projections that Portland will grow by more than a quarter of a million residents over the next twenty years, the city’s single family neighborhoods are facing more building pressure than ever before. While the majority of the city’s growth (and nearly all of its net density gains) have been occurring […]
New Demolition Code to Take Effect April 20
The City of Portland announced today that new regulations governing the demolition of houses will take effect on April 20. The long-anticipated code change is the result of many months of negotiations and a vote of the City Council back in February. As the economy has rebounded in the Portland area, smaller, older homes have become targets […]
Restore Oregon to Endorse Proposed Demolition Code Revisions
After six months of negotiations between preservationists, builders, neighborhood leaders, and City staff, Restore Oregon is set to endorse a compromise proposal that would greatly strengthen the City of Portland’s demolition code. As Portland’s real estate market has boomeranged out of the recession, established neighborhoods have witnessed sharp increases in the number older houses being […]
Recommendations to Address Demolition Epidemic Now Headed to Council
Three months after being tasked by the Portland City Council to propose modifications to the City’s demolition code, the Development Review Advisory Committee (DRAC) on Thursday endorsed a slate of recommendations that would affect how demolitions are conducted in Portland’s neighborhoods. The package of proposed code revisions—ranging from notification processes to defining ‘demolition’—is scheduled to go before the […]
The Impact of Oregon’s Increasing Demolition Trend
Rarely a day goes by that the Restore Oregon office doesn’t get a panicked call about the demolition of an older building somewhere in the Willamette Valley. As the economy rebounds across Oregon, permit data from the state’s larger cities are confirming what we’ve been hearing for the past year: a lot of buildings are […]