The City of Portland's Bureau of Planning -- not every homeowner's friend -- has just released a "discussion draft" of something called a "regulatory improvement workplan."

In other words, they're getting ready to start screwing around with the city's land use rules again, so it's time to pay very close attention.

One of the items that's on the list of things to be "improved" are the rules regarding "conditional uses" in "single-dwelling zones." These are the rules that govern such things as sticking cell antennas on school buildings and opening gangster halfway houses in residential neighborhoods.

I've been through two battles under these rules so far, and let me tell you, the city code language is usually the crucial deciding point.

And so every Portland resident needs to take a look over here and get educated. You can bet the developers, cell phone weasels, and operators of high-impact social services will be keeping a close eye on this (and attempting to call the key shots). Neighbors and neighborhood associations had better do so, too.