A big step in Portland’s work toward an emergency shelter solution was the 2017 Emergency Shelter Amendments, which added shelters as a conditional use to several commercial and industrial zones.

The Amendments stated, “In preparing the draft amendments, staff considered whether it made sense to simply permit emergency shelters as conditional uses City-wide.

However, in looking at the urban design and fabric of the other zones in the City, and the likely design of any new emergency shelter, it did not seem appropriate to site emergency shelters in other residential zones.”

Any Portland resident who read that probably breathed a sigh of relief, agreeing it would not be appropriate to site a shelter in a residential neighborhood for obvious reasons. But lo and behold, the city has proposed building a 200-bed shelter in a residential neighborhood on Holm Avenue.

Because Portland’s Land Use Code doesn’t allow large shelters in residential zones, the city proposed a loophole solution: Rezone part of the Barron Center’s campus as a commercial zone which allows the shelter.

Of course, there are no plans for any commercial development at the Barron Center, and the area surrounding the neighborhood is still residential (and the commercial area across Brighton Avenue is a different commercial zone which also doesn’t allow shelters).

But, a dot on Portland’s zoning map changes from yellow to red, and suddenly it’s appropriate to build a shelter within a residential neighborhood, simply because the ground that it’s sitting on is zoned commercially.

If you haven’t visited Holm Avenue, maybe you’ve only driven past the Barron Center – please go take a walk around.

You’ll see it’s not a commercial district; it’s a residential neighborhood where a 200-bed shelter doesn’t belong.

And if the proposed location doesn’t go through, watch out – they might pick your neighborhood next.

Zan Cadman

Portlan