Jun. 4—A steady stream of people trickled into the empty retail space at 1 Canal Plaza in downtown Portland on Tuesday afternoon where colorful posters were hung on the white walls and a projector played a short film. Several city employees sat at a folding table, handing out pamphlets.

It was the start of a two-day open house to solicit public feedback on the city’s proposed zoning changes, which are expected to be enshrined by the City Council this fall.

“This event is really helpful,” said Marianna Pratt, who lives on Munjoy Hill and was studying a map of the proposed changes. “My primary interest is in Munjoy Hill and what changes might take place. We like our green space, we like our parks.”

City staff have spent seven years meticulously working to overhaul zoning regulations in Portland — which dictate where and how parks, schools, businesses and housing can be built — in an effort to modernize and make room for growth.

The first phase of the project, called ReCode, was an organizational overhaul of the existing land use codes and was completed in 2020. Since then, the city has been working to propose policy changes, which include increasing maximum building height and density in some zones and adjusting land use restrictions and parking requirements.

A final draft of the proposed changes was released to the public this spring and Tuesday’s event marked the start of an effort by city staff to get feedback before sending it to the planning board and then the City Council. The open house continues Wednesday from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. The planning board also has a ReCode workshop scheduled for Wednesday at 4:30 p.m., where the public is invited to offer comment.

Nell Donaldson, the director of special projects, and Kevin Kraft, interim director of planning, who oversee the ReCode process, were both at the open house Tuesday.

“We’re really trying to make this complicated topic digestible for people,” Kraft said.

Donaldson said they had tried to give people a variety of ways to offer feedback, including a huge sheet of tissue paper spread over the ReCode map. In red, some sections of Washington Avenue were circled with marker.

“B2 TOO dense,” someone had scrawled, referencing a zoning change proposed for the avenue.

“Height is too much,” someone else had written around the same area.

“Impact to parking?” read a third note.

Chuck Schick, who lives in Munjoy Hill, said he had some concerns about the proposal.

“I’m definitely worried about massive projects in residential areas and some of the height increases are really concerning to me,” he said. “Yeah, you gotta have housing, you gotta have development, but I want it to be done thoughtfully.”

MORE ROOM FOR GROWTH

As of 12:45 p.m., about an hour and a half after the event started, more than 30 people had signed in, according to Kraft.

“I think it’s been a great turnout so far,” said Donaldson. “There’s a lot of ways for folks to learn and lots of ways for people to give us feedback.”

Chris Jennette, a consultant with the urban planning firm Camiros, said he’s been working with the city for several years on crafting ReCode changes that adhere to the city’s comprehensive plan, Portland’s Plan 2030. He chatted with attendees and pointed out specific changes on the map. One controversial change is the new B2 zone that would allow for building heights up to 75 feet, a jump from the current 45-foot allowance.

For Richard Marino, a lifelong Portlander, that seems too high.

“It’s too much density for the neighborhood. I think the impact is too great,” he said.

Marino said he was glad the city had decided to hold these events to engage the general public, but he worried the needs of developers were being valued more highly than what regular Portlanders want.

Nicole McKeith said she was excited about the possibilities these changes could mean for affordable housing in Portland. She serves as director of housing initiatives for Prosperity Maine, a nonprofit offering housing navigation and workforce development services primarily to new Mainers. She is hoping to spearhead the organization’s first affordable housing development in the city.

“I do think that some of these proposed changes would make it easier as a developer to develop housing here,” she said. “It’s exciting to see the rewrite.”

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