(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)
Five days after the city council seemed headed for a vote to mandate garages in larger transit-oriented apartment buildings in the Northwest District, it’s put the proposal on hold.
The decision came after opponents of new minimums outnumbered supporters by about three to one at the council’s Wednesday hearing.
“We’re going to keep coming up against these choices: do we want a city for people or a city for cars? I want a city for people,” said Rachel Shadoan, a Portland resident who described the experience (long before it was clear how the council would vote) as her “first encounter with elected officials in which I felt they were operating in good faith, like they cared about good decisions.”
There were definitely dissenting voices, as well as a general agreement that northwest Portland parking policy needs changes. Among the options discussed were higher street parking permit prices, a cap on the number of total permits issued, or some sort of restriction on which buildings could be issued permits.
“If it’s cheaper to park on the street, people are going to park on the street,” said Chris Rall, one of many who urged permit changes to be used before parking minimums.
“I’ve learned today that there’s a lot of tools at the disposal of NW that we haven’t really explored,” said Commissioner Dan Saltzman. “I don’t want this to disappear into the ether. there’s a sense of urgency, at least in my mind. … I think we owe people in NW one way or the other a decision very soon.”
“This hearing has caused each of us to think about this problem in new and different ways,” said Commissioner Nick Fish. “I love the suggestion that there may be a new and hybrid idea out there that’s worth exploring.”
Only Commissioner Amanda Fritz said she supported parking minimums for new buildings in the district. In fact, she proposed changing the rules citywide to require at least one parking space for every five units in all new buildings. But she withdrew her proposal to create minimums without a vote after it became clear that no other commissioners were eager to endorse it.
We’ll have more details later this evening.
— Michael Andersen, (503) 333-7824 – michael@bikeportland.org
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