A federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility proposed for Portland’s South Waterfront neighborhood faces a lengthy process over concerns for its primary use.
A federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility proposed for Portland’s South Waterfront neighborhood faces a lengthy process over concerns for its primary use.
The Portland City Council this afternoon determined that the facility, which would consist of about 57,000 square feet of office space and 8,000 square feet of holding cells, has two primary uses: office and detention facility. The determination goes against the initial understanding that the primary use was only office, and sparks a Type III Conditional Use review that could put a snag in the project.
The project’s primary use is such a big concern because if the building is determined to have an office primary use, the project only requires design commission approval, which only takes into account how the building will look.
But if it’s determined to be a detention facility, the project needs to go through the Type III Conditional Use review, which can be a lengthy and expensive process. In a Type III Conditional Use review the project proposal must go through a pre-application conference with the city, followed by a public hearing in front of a review committee that must take into account the public’s concern over design, transportation and safety issues.
Read more at the Daily Journal of Commerce.
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