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You are here: Home / housing / Inclusionary Housing In Sellwood Hits Parking Stumbling Block

Inclusionary Housing In Sellwood Hits Parking Stumbling Block

April 22, 2017 By TonyJ 9 Comments

Update: Take a minute and email Commissioner Eudaly at chloe@portlandoregon.gov. Ask her to look into this situation in Sellwood. Ask her to work to remove barriers to more housing and let her know you think we need to build affordable housing, not more parking, in Portland. If you can, cc or bcc pdxshoupistas@gmail.com so we know our campaign is working.

In February 2017, new inclusionary housing rules went into effect in Portland and, as of early April, there has been only one qualifying multi-family building submitted for review under the new rules.

As previously reported, the Urban Development Group (UDG) asked for Early Assistance on refiling three permitted developments in Sellwood. If approved, this project could provide 40 units of affordable housing in Sellwood, but the deal is in jeopardy due to minimum parking requirements.

UDG is currently permitted to build three buildings in Sellwood.  Combined, the projects would add 187 market rate units, 46 parking stalls, and no units guaranteed affordable for tenants making less than 100% of the median family income (MFI).  These permits were filed, along with hundreds more, in the months before February’s inclusionary zoning mandate was enforced.

Less Housing = More (And Affordable) Housing. Permitted development has 187 market rate units, 0 guaranteed affordable, 46 parking stalls, proposal is for 170 market rate, 40 affordable, 0 parking stalls.
UDG Proposal would trade 46 parking stalls for 23 more homes (and allow 40 affordable homes)

The request for early assistance affirms much of what proponents of parking reform have been saying for years:  Required parking reduces the amount of housing built and makes it more expensive.  With the required 46 parking stalls waived, UDG would be able to build 23 more apartments for a new combined total of 210 homes.  Of the 210 apartments, 170 would be market rate, 31 would be affordable to tenants making 60% of the MFI, and 9 would be affordable to tenants making 80% MFI.

For every two parking stalls eliminated in the project, we get one more home for Portlanders. Because those additional homes still bring in rents and the project is not burdened with expensive parking, the development pencils out with the affordable housing as well.  This is how the system is supposed to work.

But the deal, as proposed, is unlikely to get approval from Commissioner Eudaly’s Bureau of Development Services (BDS).

To qualify for a parking waiver, the building must be “located 1500 feet or less from a transit station, or 500 feet or less from a transit street with 20-minute peak hour service.” That level of service is defined as “service provided by public transit to a site, measured on weekdays between 7:00 AM and 8:30 AM and between 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM. The service is measured in one direction of travel, and counts bus lines, streetcars and light rail lines.”  BDS has some leeway in interpreting the code and according to their response to UDG, they don’t consider the level of service near 1717 SE Tenino Street to be sufficient. The issue seems to be a few points in the “peak hour” where the schedules have a gap of a few minutes beyond the 20 minute requirement.

There are two bus lines nearby 1717 SE Tenino that could be considered north/south routes (although one runs east/west at the location), the 99 and the 70 and the MAX Orange Line Station at Tacoma/Johnson Creek is just over 1/2 mile away (3 minutes by bike or 12 minutes leisurely walk).  Combined, the transit options are very good and the location is in the heart of Sellwood, walking distance from restaurants, New Seasons, Sellwood Middle School and much more.

But unless BDS interprets the code favorably, say by considering TriMet’s admitted 3 minute plus/minus for schedules to provide some flexibility, it’s very likely that Sellwood will lose the opportunity to have 40 affordable units built and, in their place, shelter for 46 cars will be provided to the community.

Ultimately, however, the situation highlights the capricious nature of minimum parking requirements. A few minutes on a TriMet schedule can lead to a very walkable apartment building having the same requirements as a building far from transit in the SW hills.

With BDS approval, three locations could support a combined 170 market rate apartments and 40 affordable apartments

If Portland City Council wants affordable housing to be built, they should remove all parking requirements for projects meeting the inclusionary housing mandate, wherever they are built. This would not only prevent corner-cases from sinking much needed housing projects, but would also help Portland catch up to our critical climate action goals.

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Filed Under: housing, Minimum Parking Requirements, Zoning

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Comments

  1. Heather E Kimball says

    September 12, 2017 at 5:40 pm

    Any update on this? I live on this street (SE Nehalem) and honestly would prefer they keep the parking units— you can’t add 60 new apartments and no additional parking when we all rely on street parking!!

    Reply
  2. TonyJ says

    September 12, 2017 at 6:03 pm

    No update as far as I know. I understand your concern, but I think it’s very difficult to argue that parking for cars is more important than housing for people. If parking is a concern, the city should be allowing neighborhoods to create permit zones and charge enough to manage the existing supply.

    The era of the personal automobile isn’t over yet, but the writing is on the wall. The damage of that era’s excess will be causing trouble for a very very long time. It’s long past time to move forward.

    Reply
  3. Paul says

    February 2, 2018 at 10:33 am

    I have heard of these affordable units being only temporary solutions, and How long would the terms be for the affordable rental units be before they would be allowed to raise the rental cost?
    Could they make the units affordable to purchase?

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Weekly Roundup: 1645 SE Nehalem, Tesla Showroom, Rothko Pavilion, and more - Next Portland says:
    April 23, 2017 at 2:56 pm

    […] Portland Shoupistas reported that proposed changes to buildings planned at 1717 SE Tenino, 5965 SE Milwaukie and 1645 SE Nehalem—which would see 46 parking stalls removed from plans in favor of the addition of 40 affordable units—may not happen, due to the Bureau of Development Services’ interpretation of what counts as “frequent service” transit. […]

    Reply
  2. Ask Commissioner Eudaly To Remove Barriers To Affordable Housing – Portland Shoupistas says:
    April 26, 2017 at 10:17 am

    […] proposal to build 40 affordable apartments in Sellwood is at risk because of minimum parking require…. Currently, to qualify for a parking waiver, a development must be within certain distances of […]

    Reply
  3. Bundled Parking Adds a 17% Premium or $1,700 a Year to Your Rent says:
    July 18, 2017 at 12:18 pm

    […] for parking requirements. The Urban Development Group (UDG) filed an early assistance request for three proposed residential projects in Sellwood. The proposal, if approved, would provide 40 affordable housing units and 170 market […]

    Reply
  4. Revised Portland Apartment Permits Prove Parking Math says:
    August 10, 2017 at 9:34 am

    […] multi-site project, still seeking approval, in the Sellwood neighborhood was the first indication we had that parking could be exchanged for […]

    Reply
  5. Update: Affordable Housing Plans In Sellwood Still Somewhat Stymied says:
    November 29, 2017 at 10:46 am

    […] transit-frequency requirements disqualified one of the buildings from receiving a waiver for mandatory car parking, UDG is still pursuing the project […]

    Reply
  6. Proposal would effectively eliminate minimum parking requirements in Portland says:
    November 4, 2019 at 12:11 pm

    […] Better Housing by Design (BHD) revises development and design standards for new apartment zones in Portland. The project will create more housing options for households of all ages, sizes, and income levels. The recommended draft expanded parking waivers for projects on small (<10,000 sq/ft) lots and cut requirements for projects deemed too far from transit in half, but a few recent projects in Portland have shown the problem that transit proximity based parking waivers can cause. […]

    Reply

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