News of the College Novemberautumn2006

City Approves 10-year College Master Plan

The college has a new 10-year master plan under the City of Portland’s land-use rules. Approval of the plan culminated a two-year effort that included a strategic planning process, numerous hearings, and input from major constituencies, including students, faculty, alumni, trustees, and neighborhood residents.

The Portland hearings officer who presided over the process approved the college’s proposed Conditional Use Master Plan in nearly all respects. Approval gives the college the authority to expand the master plan boundary by the addition of properties along its northwestern and eastern boundaries; to construct new residential, administrative, and academic facilities; and to utilize the Willard House at Woodstock Boulevard and Reed College Place for administrative offices.

However, the hearings officer denied Reed’s application to include the historic Parker House property across from campus on Woodstock Boulevard within its master plan boundary.

The officer found that the proposed use of the house for college-related purposes was intrinsically compatible with the residential character of its neighborhood, but that the specific frequency-of-use guidelines proposed by city planning staff and the college were not sufficiently protective of that character. The college has accepted the finding and is looking for ways to restrict its uses to conform with the hearings officer’s opinion.

College officials expect to continue working closely with the community on several issues, including relocation of the Reed Community Garden, which is to be supplanted when construction begins on new residence halls next spring; new guidelines for operation of the Parker House, which could be submitted to the city as an amendment to the master plan; and efforts to encourage students, employees, and visitors to utilize on-campus parking rather than park on neighborhood streets.

Meanwhile, a task force of students, faculty and staff members, and architects has begun the design phase for the new residence halls. Construction is scheduled to begin mid-2007, with completion set for the 2008–09 academic year.

View the Reed College Master Plan site.