By Derrick L. Coley
November 17, 2003

Portland (OR) hosted the Brownfields 2003 Conference October 27 — 29. Portland Mayor Vera Katz welcomed conference attendees at the opening plenary. Katz discussed the success Portland has experienced in revitalizing the downtown area by reconnecting the city to the waterfront and creating what she said was America's most livable city. "Brownfield site redevelopment has been a key tool in making Portland a prosperous and dynamic city," Katz said. She highlighted Portland's work in brownfields redevelopment in garnering two Phoenix Awards for the city's work at the Yards/Union Station and the River Place Marina and Hotel, as well being a US Environmental Protection Agency national brownfields pilot city and brownfields showcase community.

Katz illustrated that many of Portland's major developments and local landmarks were former industrial properties, such as the Oregon Museum on Science and Industry, Rose Garden and the River District. Katz said, "Two weeks ago we broke ground on a $2 billion expansion on the south waterfront that is the largest development project in the city's history, which sits on a brownfield." She said, "It will be a site for nearly 3,000 new housing units, 10,000 new jobs, as well as an extended campus of our medical school the Oregon Health Sciences University." She continued, "It is planned that the current campus will be connected to the waterfront, by an air tramway and streetcar."

Katz highlighted the pervasive problem of brownfields throughout the state. She said, "In Oregon we identified 625 contaminated sites and we think there are another 2,500 suspected sites." She elaborated on Portland's success in redeveloping brownfields by establishing urban growth boundaries. She stated, "We realized that greenfields were really not available anymore if we were going to contain the growth within those boundaries." The invisible boundary around several counties, which encompass Portland, contained the growth within the central city and began to redevelop the properties within the growth boundary. "Utilization of brownfields is seen here, as a way to meet our larger land use goals. Developers look for brownfields first, not last for their development projects," Katz said.

Katz highlighted the initial strategy of focusing on larger brownfield sites and the subsequent backlash from residents that redevelopment efforts should also target smaller sites in and surrounding neighborhoods to boost revitalization. The smaller sites pose some challenges beyond the obvious health and environmental issues that need to be addressed, because the owners do not have the capacity to fulfill redevelopment goals, but the city is working through a prioritization list to meet those needs. "Nothing is more critical to the success of brownfields redevelopment than public involvement. Our citizens have the right to know about the location of contaminated sites in their community, the risks they entail and the opportunities that may be available for these properties. With accurate information and a clear sense of what the community wants to be, the public becomes a partner as important as any developer," Katz said.