Authorize Bureau of Environmental Services Director to offer market-rate and Safety Net loans to property owners for sanitary sewer dump installation when required by City Code and for repairs on private property to continue sanitary sewer service

The City of Portland ordains: Section 1. The Council finds: On October 17, 2015 the City Council declared a Housing Emergency to help address the city’s growing houseless and affordable housing crisis. Though the declaration supported an increase in the availability of affordable housing units, thousands of people continue to live without housing. In 2019, the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability initiated the Shelter to Housing Continuum project to address the urgent need to provide more options for people living without permanent, safe and secure housing, or those who were at risk of becoming unhoused. The purpose of the project was to facilitate housing-vulnerable Portlanders in transitioning to permanent housing. The Shelter to Housing Continuum was adopted by City Council in April 2021 to increase access to housing options for people experiencing or at risk of being houseless. To implement the Shelter to Housing Continuum project the City of Portland adopted changes to Portland City Code (PCC) Section 29.50.050 (Illegal Residential Occupancy), authorizing permanent occupancy of recreational vehicles on residential properties as an option for increasing the supply of affordable housing. To protect the public’s health from diseases, bacteria, and pathogens, the City of Portland requires that all housing is connected to approved sanitary service. The primary method of service is connection to the public sanitary sewer network. PCC Section 29.50.050 requires a sanitary utility hook-up (sanitary sewer dump) for permanently occupied recreational vehicles on private property because dignified access to sanitation is a basic need of all people and a requirement of safe and healthy housing. In some cases, the costs of installing a sanitary sewer dump could inhibit residential property owners from allowing an occupied recreational vehicle on the property. To facilitate meeting City and Shelter to Housing goals, City Council instructed the Bureau of Environmental Services to reduce the cost impacts of installing a required sanitary utility hook-up (sanitary sewer dump). The public has an interest in increasing the supply of affordable places for Portlanders to live and in assuring public health and safety by having all homes serviced by approved connections to sanitary service. BES currently offers financial assistance for system development charges and sewer work on private property to support property owners in covering the costs of making needed connections to the public sewer system. BES is proposing to offer market-rate and Safety Net loans for the installation of sanitary sewer dumps on private property to support a continuum of housing opportunities. Additionally, emergency repairs on private property to sanitary sewer service can be cost-prohibitive for low-income property owners, putting them as risk of being houseless. BES is proposing to offer Safety Net loans for property owners to support them with emergency plumbing repairs on private property, and construction activities directly associated with the sewer work to continue sanitary sewer service and prevent displacement. Safety Net loans are income-qualified and offer a low-interest rate and deferred payment. Funds are budgeted and available in the Sewer System Operating Fund, Bureau of Environmental Services, ESBS000007. NOW, THEREFORE, the Council directs: The Director of the Bureau of Environmental Services is authorized to offer market-rate and Safety Net loans for sanitary sewer dump installation on private property. The Director of the Bureau of Environmental Services is authorized to offer Safety Net loans to income-qualified property owners for emergency sewer repair on private property and construction activities directly associated with the sewer work.