The appeals board ruling is also a defeat for the City of Portland, which argued the permit it issued Sackhoff was legal.



Last summer, opponents of the development formed a coalition called Richmond Neighbors for Responsible Growth, arguing to the city that the apartment complex would cause traffic and parking congestion, wreck the quiet landscape of the street, and become "a dormitory without a college."



The city rejected their complaint. And the state appeals board ruling isn't based on any of those points.



Instead, the board revoked Sackhoff's permit because the main residential entrance to the apartment complex is more than five feet away from the facade facing Division Street—which violates the zoning code for the Main Street Overlay Zone. (The apartment entrance is planned for the 37th Avenue side of the complex instead.)



Sackhoff and the city can appeal the reversal by showing that code can be met with minor changes to the permit application. But the appeals board noted that meeting code would probably require "more than insignificant changes" to the plans.



After a summer of public outcry, the city's Bureau of Planning and Sustainability suggested changes earlier this month to the zoning code. The new rules would increase parking requirements for large apartment projects.