TL;DR:
All three District 2 City Councilors toured East Columbia on April 10 to see how proposed wetland buffer zone expansions could restrict what you can build, farm, or do on your property — and significantly reduce land values for many neighbors. Join us at our Open House on May 6, 6–8 PM at Columbia Bible Church to learn more and make your voice heard.

Hi neighbors! On April 10, ECNA Chairman Patrick Henry and neighbor Gary Kunz led all three District 2 City Councilors — Sameer Kanal, Dan Ryan, and Elana Pirtle-Guiney — on a driving tour of East Columbia. The goal: to show them, street by street, how proposed Environmental Zone (E-zone) overlay expansions could affect residential, farming, and commercial properties throughout our neighborhood.

What’s Happening

The City of Portland is considering expanding protected buffer zones around wetlands connected to the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. Under the proposed zoning changes, properties near these waterways — including many in East Columbia — would be classified as “environmental zones,” restricting what owners may build, add, or do with their land.

One important distinction: most waterways in our area connect to the river through pump stations, not natural tributaries. Fish cannot pass through them. Despite this, the proposed overlays would treat these pump-connected ditches and engineered wetlands the same as natural river corridors — placing many private properties under environmental restrictions without a direct ecological connection to the river to justify it.

You can explore the CCIL project and see how the updated E-zone mapping may apply to your property using the City’s interactive map:
portlandmaps.com/bps/ccil

What the Tour Covered

Neighbor Alice Christine Walker met each touring group along Gertz Road and walked the councilors into the brush to “ground-truth” the actual conditions on the ground. The tour included properties near the Oak Harbor Trucking business, a parcel straddling South Shore and Faloma Roads, a Marine Drive home, several Meadow Drive homes, and a Blue Heron home. In each case, the proposed buffer zones covered all or most of the privately owned parcel.

Walker also brought her expertise in farming and land preservation programs to the tour, explaining how the proposed changes affect not just homeowners, but also larger landowners with Oregon-protected farming rights. She highlighted a particularly striking example along NE Gertz and NE Levee: a wetland created by Oak Harbor Trucking as a condition of paving over their truck yards. Under the proposed overlays, that mitigation-created wetland could now be used to reclassify adjacent traditional farmland as an environmental zone — denying those landowners their ability to raise animals and grow food crops.

Why This Matters for Your Property

For many East Columbia property owners, the proposed buffer zones could mean:

• Restrictions on adding ADUs, garages, or other structures on your property
• Loss of Oregon-protected Right to Farm protections for larger and agricultural properties
• Reclassification of pastureland as “wetland,” changing what you’re legally allowed to do with your land
• A meaningful reduction in property value

The councilors saw these realities firsthand. Now we want to make sure the broader community understands what’s at stake — and has a chance to weigh in.

Open House: Come Learn More and Have Your Say

Date: Tuesday, May 6
Time: 6:00 – 8:00 PM
Location: Columbia Bible Church, 420 NE Marine Drive, Portland, OR

All neighbors are welcome — whether your property is directly affected or you simply want to stay informed. Come with questions, bring a neighbor, and help us shape the direction of this conversation with the City.

Together, we stay informed. Together, we advocate for East Columbia.