“While most Councilors said the restrictions — in conjunction with new proposed citywide design standards — will help curb overdevelopment and preserve the unique character of downtown, Councilor Hannah Bowen, who opposed both the height restrictions, said that they would not accomplish the stated goals while they could limit affordable housing opportunities and send a message — whether intentional or not — to business and potential new residents that they were not welcomed downtown.”

Read the full story here, and/or read coverage of this meeting from The Salem News here.

This was a hard vote, on a complex issue. Please take 10-15 minutes to watch some of the meeting recording below, where I had the opportunity to share not only the flaws I saw with the proposed height restrictions, but also a long list of more effective policy tools we should be pursuing if we really want to protect the unique character of downtown, manage congestion, promote affordability, and provide excellent public services (without overburdening infrastructure/schools/etc.) – those are all goals I share and want the Council to focus on.