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| Vol. 21, No. 9 • Mailed monthly to over 13,500 homes in the Gateway & Parkrose Communities Free • JANUARY 2006 | ||||||||
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FEATURE ARTICLES | |
Memo Calendar | Memo Pad | Business Memos | Loaves & Fishes | Letters | Home |
| East Portland Neighborhood Office considering moving digs LEE PERLMAN THE MID-COUNTY MEMO Editor’s note: The following is a compendium of news items from veteran beat reporter Lee Perlman about the Parkrose and Gateway neighborhoods of Mid-Multnomah County. In January’s compendium, Perlman reports on the East Portland Neighborhood Office’s possible move from their current digs attached to Portland Police Bureau’s East Precinct. Perlman also reports on the Office of Neighborhood Involvement’s director resigning and going to the Portland Water Bureau. Perlman doesn’t rest there. He also reports on the Portland Design Commission reviewing the 122nd Avenue Study; Ron Tonkin family of dealerships winning a Spirit of Portland Award; drug- and prostitution-free zone forums; and what the house going up on the vacant lot near you will look like. East Portland Neighborhood Office considers move The Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement may soon move its East Portland Neighborhood Office from its current location at 735 S.E. 106th Ave., in space shared with Portland Police Bureau’s East Precinct, to property owned by Portland Water Bureau at Northeast 117th Avenue and Multnomah Street. The office’s lease on its current space expires next October, the Portland Police Bureau has several times expressed a desire to take over the space now occupied by the office, and the Water Bureau is willing to lease part of its structure. Under the deal offered by Portland City Council commissioner in charge, Randy Leonard, the Water Bureau would continue to use part of the building, the former Hazelwood Water District headquarters, for storage and occasional training. ONI would have primary responsibility for the building and the five-acre grounds. There are already plans to use part of the surrounding land for a community garden, and to install bollards to discourage off-road vehicle use. The lease would run for 10 years, with an option to renew for another 10 years. East Portland Neighborhood Office Executive Director Richard Bixby says the east Portland neighborhood chairs at their January meeting will consider the matter. Judging by the reaction of the chairs that have seen the site, he says, he expects the move to be approved. The office provides printing and mailing services, plus staff support, for 13 neighborhood associations in east Portland. Unlike most such offices, it is administered directly by ONI, which must OK the move. However, Bixby says ONI Executive Director Jimmy Brown has given him leave to pursue the matter. Jimmy Brown resigns In a Dec. 16 letter, Jimmy Brown announced that he was resigning as executive director of the Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement effective Jan. 10, and pursuing an “exciting” new job with the Portland Water Bureau. Among other functions, ONI provides support services to recognized neighborhood associations, mostly through district neighborhood offices such as the East Portland Neighborhood Office. Brown was hired by Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard, Brown’s grade school chum, then in charge of ONI and now responsible for the Water Bureau. Brown will manage the new community outreach and customer services group. There were rumors that Portland Mayor Tom Potter, who assigned ONI to him when he took office in 2005, was dissatisfied with Brown’s performance. However, Potter spokesman John Doussard denied that Potter had pressured Brown to resign. “This was Jimmy’s idea,” Doussard told the Memo. “We appreciate everything Jimmy has done at ONI, and wish him the best.” Brown could not be reached for comment. Commissions weigh in on 122nd Avenue study Two public bodies will review the 122nd Avenue Study this month. The Portland Design Commission will hold a hearing on the study beginning at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 5. The Portland Planning Commission, which had previously reviewed the study, will have a work session to finalize its position at their meeting starting at 12:30 p.m. Jan. 10. Both meetings will be at 1900 S.W. Fourth Ave. The study is an attempt to reconcile city regulations for new development near major transit stations with the needs of the automobile dealerships that dominate the street. Existing regulations and zoning call for high-density development that is “transit and pedestrian friendly,” with minimal building setbacks and no exterior storage or display. These are at odds with what dealers, notably the Ron Tonkin conglomeration, say they need for new ventures, especially to expand their existing ones. The study draft calls for maintaining rules within designated “nodes” at Northeast Glisan, East Burnside and Southeast Stark streets, while relaxing them on the rest of the street. Proponents of the existing rules such as the Hazelwood Neighborhood Association have grudgingly accepted the proposals, although they want the Glisan and Stark street nodes expanded. They have also called for compulsory design review for new development and major remodels on the street, a process that Tonkin representative Peter Finley Fry has said the corporation would “welcome.” An issue is the size of the remodel needed to trigger review: $50,000 as the code now calls for, or $100,000 as Tonkin requests. >>continued |
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