Portland City Council Weekly Roundup for March 27–31, 2017
My weekly series on what’s happening with the Portland City Council.
Published in
3 min readMar 27, 2017
> Monday, March 27 @ 5:30pm — City Council Meeting
City Hall, Council Chambers (2nd floor, to the left)
Key agenda items:
- First reading of the the ~$3 million Community Development Block Grant budget, comprising various housing and neighborhood-related projects partially funded with federal funds. Public comment will be taken.
- Vote on the new proposed Short Term Rental (Airbnb) regulations, created by the Housing Committee. Public comment will be taken.
- Re-vote on the proposed $65 million bond question to repair four elementary schools, recommended by the Finance Committee and the School Board. (Last week the measure failed 6–3, which was not enough to defeat it, so it will be reconsidered and re-voted at this meeting.) Public comment might be taken — I’m not sure.
- As always, you can speak about anything not on the agenda at 6pm.
Read the agenda, drafts, and associated materials here.
> Tuesday, March 28 @ 5:30pm — Health & Human Services Committee
City Hall, Room 24 (basement, near Myrtle Street entrance)
Key agenda items:
- Public hearing on proposed zoning changes to allow homeless shelters in more zones, especially off-Peninsula zones. (Currently they are only permitted in a small area on the Peninsula. On this map, current allowable areas are in red; proposed new allowable zones are in other colors.) Public comment will be taken.
- Discussion of whether the city’s noise ordinance is effective. Public comment will not be taken on this item.
- Discussion of the proposed program to give temporary minimum-wage jobs to panhandlers. For more information on this (awesome) idea, see this Press Herald article. Public comment will not be taken on this item.
Read the agenda and associated materials here.
> Wednesday, March 29 @ 5:30pm — Economic Development Committee
City Hall, Room 209 (2nd floor, to the left)
Key agenda items:
- Vote to sell a tiny slice of City-owned land on Franklin Street to an adjacent developer. Postponed from an earlier meeting so that the public and councilors could learn more about the proposal. Public comment will be taken on this item.
- Vote to exchange a few small parcels of City-owned land on the Waterfront with the 58 Fore Street developers and the Maine Department of Transportation, so that the developers can complete their desired footprint. Public comment will be taken on this item.
- Vote to issue a Request for Proposals for a 1-acre City-owned lot on Thames Street on the Waterfront, with the stated goal of building a parking garage. Public comment will be taken on this item.
Read the agenda and associated materials here.
> Thursday, March 30 @ 5:30pm — Housing Committee
City Hall, Room 209 (2nd floor, to the left)
Key agenda items:
- Vote on changes recommended by the Planning Department to increase density bonuses and height limits based on the percentage of low income and moderate income units in new housing developments. More information can be found here. Public comment will be taken.
The agenda can be found here.
> Friday, March 31 @ 8am— Legislative Committee
City Hall, Room 209 (2nd floor, to the left)
Key agenda items:
- This committee is charged with advancing council policy initiatives before federal, state, and regional governments. It is a joint meeting with City staff and elected officials together with members of the Portland delegation to the State Legislature. No public comment will be taken.
No agenda is publicly available for this meeting. I will update this post when/if one becomes available.
