Portland is clearing the way for a major remake of Cleveland High School, signing off on a full rebuild that will swap out the current campus for a four-story main building of roughly 300,000 square feet along SE Powell Boulevard. The move is a big milestone for Portland Public Schools' bond-funded modernization program, and it pushes right up against local zoning limits, with parts of the project landing extremely close to the sidewalk. With a short appeal window now open, the district is shifting from paperwork to permits and construction planning.
Hearings officer signs off on the overhaul
According to city land use records, the hearings officer has approved the conditional use review that allows the multi-lot Cleveland modernization to move ahead. As detailed on PortlandMaps, the decision covers the main school property, a separate athletic field lot and an upgraded parking parcel, and it adopts the staff report's findings as the basis for the ruling.
What the new campus will include
Portland Public Schools is planning a new four-story main building at 3400 SE 26th Ave that bundles classrooms, labs, a gym, theater, cafeteria, a courtyard and bike parking, plus a revamped athletic complex on a separate lot. The filing puts the main campus area at about 300,000 square feet and notes that the project requires a Type III conditional use review and multiple adjustments to local zoning rules. As outlined by Portland.gov, the existing school building will be demolished to clear the site for the new construction.
Height, setbacks and zoning tweaks
The main structure is designed to reach 64 feet, which is 14 feet taller than the neighborhood's standard 50-foot height cap, and parts of it would sit as close as one foot from SE Powell Boulevard where a 32-foot setback is normally required. Roughly 20 zoning adjustments are wrapped into the package the hearings officer approved in order to accommodate the larger footprint. As reported by Realtor.com, city staff argued that a windowed south facade and a gym entrance facing Powell could still improve pedestrian access even with the sharply reduced setback.
Athletics, nighttime limits and parking
The athletic field lot is set to receive a new field house, grandstand, practice field and storage building, while the parking parcel is slated to retain capacity for about 93 spaces. The hearings officer attached conditions aimed at keeping nighttime impacts in check: outdoor events and amplified voice systems must wrap up by specified times, and field lighting has shut-off and intensity limits. Those operating conditions, along with the case exhibits, are part of the public land use record available in the decision summary and documents on PortlandMaps.
Appeal clock is ticking
The ruling will automatically take effect on April 30 if no one files an appeal by the April 29 deadline, and the appeal fee is listed at $5,789. Only people who testified at the March 4 hearing or submitted written comments before the record closed are allowed to appeal, and any appeal would send the case to City Council for an evidentiary hearing where new evidence could be introduced. The full hearings officer decision, case record and timelines are available through the city file and local coverage, as noted by Realtor.com.
