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LEE PERLMAN
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
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| Listening to questions at the final East Portland Action Plan meeting held last month are, from left, City of Portland Senior Planner and Project Manager Barry Manning, Parkrose School District Superintendent Karen Gray, community members Vadim Raskin and Simon Wong, and Metro councilor Robert Liberty and Hazelwood Neighborhood Association Chair Arlene Kimura. |
| MEMO PHOTO: TIM CURRAN |
The project’s 27-member steering committee had its final meeting July 24. At that session they are scheduled to adopt and possibly change a series of strategies and specific actions in the following areas:
• Housing and Development
• Commercial and Mixed Development
• Transportation
• Public Infrastructure and Utilities
• Parks and Open Space
• Natural Areas and the Environment
• Economic Development and Workforce Training
• Education and Social and Public Safety Issuesa
The Portland City Council and Multnomah County Commission are expected to ratify the committee’s actions sometime near the end of the year.
The council has already allocated $500,000 for near-term actions that could be implemented in the near future and which could have an immediate impact. The EPAP process has settled on three such actions: a multilingual phone number where nonemergency public safety issues could be reported, a series of regular graffiti cleanup events, and a multicultural festival. A smaller volunteer committee will continue meeting after July to oversee the implementation of these actions.
Project manager Barry Manning emphasizes that the contents of the draft report are still subject to changes, deletions and additions by the steering committee at the final meeting.
The draft housing and development action items contain “sticks” which include implementing mandatory new design standards and/or a design review process for new construction in east Portland, a review with possible changes of zoning, new requirements for on-site play areas and open space in large residential developments, proactive code enforcement and a rental housing inspection program, as well as a review of residential tax-abatement programs. There are also “carrots” that include a package of incentives for good design in new development, funding of demonstration pilot projects that could show off good design, and a competition for quality infill development designs similar to ones that the Bureau of Planning has done for the city as a whole. To create better review processes and planning, there are proposals to improve the land-use notification process, provide the information in languages other than English, and to include school districts in notification for projects that could affect attendance.
For commercial and mixed development, the draft recommends possible new areas of commercial zoning, reexamination of business fees and regulations in key areas, revitalization in existing business districts and promotion of redevelopment in designated main streets and centers to provide more commercial services to serve residences. It also calls for promoting business districts through unique signs and artwork, walking maps and creation of an arts or entertainment facility in the area, including an international marketplace theme on 82nd Avenue.
Among the many transportation actions the draft lists are the creation of a better master street plan for the area, numerous specific traffic improvements, more bus routes (especially along north-south streets), an expanded bicycle network with more bike lanes and pedestrian safety improvements, particularly in association with the Safe Routes to School program.
Regarding infrastructure, in addition to several specific sewer and storm-water-runoff improvements, the draft calls for “concurrency,” the concept that new development should be accompanied by sewers, roads and other facilities to serve it, rather than expecting these things to be done in the indefinite future.
The parks section of the plan calls for a number of specific park improvements: creation of the planned Beech, Parklane and Clatsop Butte parks as well as the Sullivan’s Gulch Trail and Gateway Green; improvements to the Springwater, Johnson Creek, Marine Drive and Columbia Slough trails; and possibly a second community center and an outdoor pool. It also calls for a policy or plan for shared use of recreation space between the city and school districts.
The natural areas section calls for protection of natural resources on Powell Butte, Johnson Creek and elsewhere. It also calls for the revamping of existing rules on the planting and preservation of trees on private and public property.
The economic development section is less specific than some of the others, but it includes calls to nurture and develop both small businesses and larger enterprises offering family-wage jobs. It also calls for programs to train residents to fill such jobs and provide openings for local hiring.
The education section calls for greater support for early childhood education, kindergarten and the SUN School Program, mentoring programs as well as for an expansion of Mount Hood Community College.
The largest section of the plan, dealing with social and public safety issues, combines crime prevention and community-building proposals.
At the committee’s final meeting on July 24, Mayor Tom Potter, Multnomah County Commission Chair Ted Wheeler, Oregon House Speaker and U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Merkley, and Metro Councilor Robert Liberty praised the plan process, as did the committee members. Those who spoke repeatedly emphasized that as good as the process has been so far, the action items must be implemented to have meaning. Liberty, who, unlike his fellow politicians, attended most of the committee meetings, said east Portland is entitled to the sort of $100+ million budget the City has lavished on the South Waterfront.
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