North Pearl Planning

The North Pearl District Plan, set to be published by the city in February, will cover future building in the now-development-dormant area stretching north from Northwest Lovejoy Street to the Willamette River. The Bureau of Planning, the Portland Development Commission and the Office of Transportation have been at work on the plan for about a year, pulling stakeholders like local developers and neighborhood associations into the process.

The plan, which the Portland Planning Commission got a look at last week, proposes changes to FAR, which controls the overall density allowed on a development site, for the area.

Most north Pearl properties have an FAR of 2:1. Borrowing to add density to other Pearl projects has left developers – most notably, Hoyt Street Properties – with less. What planners now recommend is a 4:1 base FAR, with at least 3:1 additionally available through bonuses.

And a maximum of 9:1, if PDOT finds the transportation system can handle the density, is a possibility.

Changes to the FAR bonus system would realign how developers can grab extra density.

What’s proposed is adding bonuses ranging from 1:1 to 2:1 for building housing with two-, three- and four-bedroom units and onsite common areas for families. The number of kids born in the area has doubled between the 1990 and 2000 census, city planner Troy Doss said, and many families see the Pearl as home.

“The idea that they should have to leave once their kids leave school age seems far-fetched,” he said.

A new bonus for community amenities like a K-8 public school, community center, day care, and library is also proposed, and it would allow the FAR for the community-oriented space to not count toward the total FAR available.

“The timing for it couldn’t be better,” Planning Commissioner Don Hanson said. “It helps the district evolve.”