Six-Month Review of Inclusionary Zoning in Portland Shows Slowdown in Land Use Review Applications
The Bureau of Planning and Sustainability released its six month review of Portland’s Inclusionary Housing policy, which went into effect February 1st of this year. Prior to the law taking effect, developers rushed to get projects with 20 or more units into the permitting pipeline. That rush to submit plans to the city resulted in a pipeline of 19,000 units, or a four-year supply of new construction. This backlog has led the BPS to determine that the new requirement hasn’t caused a slowdown in development activity. The Bureau also does not believe there is a trend of developers keeping projects under 20 units. 5,000 of those 19,000 units have been permitted since February, but since then only 11 projects over 20 units have been submitted. Five of these these developments are affordable housing projects. According to the Portland Tribune, no new land use review applications have been submitted for projects over 20 units during that time. Read more.