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| Merkley reports to Hazelwood NA (continued) Low-income housing proposed for 82nd Avenue Innovative Housing, Inc., one of the city’s major housing developers, plans to build a four-story, 58-unit project on Northeast Broadway between 82nd and 84th avenues. Julie Garver, the agency’s housing developer, told the Mid-county Memo that although they are “very early in the planning stages,” current plans call for a variety of unit sizes ranging from studios to three bedrooms or more, with most one or two bedrooms. Rent will be geared to people making 30 to 60 percent of median household income: in effect, low- to middle- income workers. They will have about one parking space per unit, and a community room for both resident and neighborhood use. The agency will use the space for classes for children in such topics as baby sitting and studying, and for adults in home buying. Innovative Housing, Inc., owns and operates 700 housing units in the Portland area, Garver said. “We will be coming to neighborhood meetings regularly,” she said. “We want to be an asset to this neighborhood. We believe in serving not just our residents, but the larger community.” Heights senior housing plans grand opening The Heights at Columbia Knoll, the 208-unit senior residence atop the old Shriner’s Hospital property on Northeast Sandy Boulevard at 82nd Avenue, will hold its grand opening from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. June 9. According to Spokesperson Krista Davis, visitors will be treated to tours of both the Heights and parts of the adjacent Terrace family housing complex, food, live music and other entertainment in a “cruise ship” theme. There will be drawings for prizes that include tickets for a real Willamette River cruise. Prescott Safe Routes to School meeting Prescott Elementary Principal Michael Lopes has set June 1, 7 to 9 p.m., at the school, 10410 N.E. Prescott St., as the final meeting for public comment on proposals for a Safe Routes to School program. The city program, offered to Prescott and seven other city schools, encourages children to walk to school. It also determines what safe routes are, identifies obstacles that prevent given routes from being safe, and proposes ways to fix or eliminate these obstacles, as well as providing $25,000 toward this end. The group working on the Prescott program has considered the installation of speed bumps at certain locations, the removal of street-side parking, and the use of gravel to make walking routes safer. PDC seeks alternative art for Halsey “jug handle” The Opportunity Gateway Program Advisory Committee last month looked at three alternative art projects for the “jug handle” turnaround on Northeast 102nd Avenue and Halsey Street. The Portland Office of Transportation had originally proposed to build a sculpture from recycled concrete, topped by light plastic tubes that would bend in the wind, as part of a redesign and renovation of 102nd. However, when the cost of the installation, called a “wind scape,” climbed to $500,000, both the city and the PAC had second thoughts and sought alternatives. The Portland Development Commission staff unveiled three of these last month. The first concept also used recycled concrete and plastic poles, but reduced the amount of each, and in their place added a stormwater basin and both conifer and deciduous trees; its cost would be $275,000. The second reduced the original materials still further and added a basin, conifers and field grass, for a cost of $155,000. The third, which PDC’s Sloan Schang called an “English Garden” concept, eliminated the poles and concrete and substituted a square pattern of pea gravel, Dawn redwoods, one Pacific Dogwood, and field grass. This would cost $70,000. Schang warned, “The cheaper the option, the higher the maintenance costs.” The first idea received little enthusiasm. PAC member Carol Williams said, “I don’t want something with a lot of shrubbery where kids can go in and do drugs.” PAC member Tim Brunner seemed to have little use for art at the site at all. He said he envisioned Fred Meyer plastic bags blowing into the installation and getting caught there. Ted Gilbert disputed this, but added, “The vast majority will see this from their car. Why spend money on something few people will see?” PAC member Linda Robinson replied, “You spend a lot of time at that light.” Gilbert argued, “The reason we’re doing this is to provide a symbol for Gateway. If it becomes a maintenance issue, it’s counter-productive.” Several people called for something that includes an arch, long the unofficial symbol of Gateway. Former PAC chair and member Dick Cooley said, “I’m not particularly for an arch, but we need something people will notice.” Hazelwood wins moral victory in tree cutting incident The Hazelwood Neighborhood Association won a moral victory, but not much more, in a land use case last month. Property owner Charles Husby earlier this year sought permission to cut down more than 20 mature Douglas fir trees on a vacant parcel he owns at 1304 S.E. 130th Ave., across from David Douglas High School. He said he intends to plant an orchard of fruit and nut trees in their place. The city forester granted permission for some of the trees to be cut down, but Hazelwood appealed that decision to the city’s Urban Forestry Commission. However, during the appeal period Husby cut down all but five of the firs. The commission found that Husby had acted wrongly, and ordered him to leave four of the remaining trees. It was determined the fifth tree is diseased and not viable. However, the group declined to impose any sort of penalty on Husby, finding code regulations governing the situation to be confusing enough that the cutting could have been an honest mistake. Prunedale study consultant hired PDC last month hired veteran consultant Sumner Sharpe, and his Parametrix firm, to conduct a study of the Central Gateway area, traditionally known as Prunedale, and bounded roughly by Northeast Glisan and Southeast Stark streets, 102nd Avenue, and the I-205 Freeway. It is considered a prime area for redevelopment. East European Church redevelops State Farm site The Love of God International Ministries, an Eastern European denomination, has purchased and is planning to redevelop the old State Farm Insurance property at 10014 N.E. Glisan. Merkley reports to Hazelwood NA State Representative Jeff Merkley gave the Hazelwood Neighborhood Association a concise report on the legislature’s one-day special session. The session authorized spending $136 million to plug a hole in the Department of Human Services budget; allocated $42 million in unexpectedly high lottery funds to schools; extended Portland’s “gap” bonding authority; raised the mandatory minimum sentence for first-degree sex crimes against children to 25 years; and capped interest rates for “payday” loans at 36 percent. Of the funding measures Merkley said, “This is not the way to fund a school system; we’re using Band-Aids from this, this, and this. If the income tax is down, there’s no way to fund essential services.” Regarding the payday measure, Merkley said, “We used to have a usury law. We threw it out, and that turned out to be a big mistake. The loan industry sat in front of us and said they’d skirt the law! It does damage (that) all of us end up paying for.” Hazelwood President Arlene Kimura said, “It seems to proliferate where there’s poverty and the education level is low.” Board member Gayland German agreed, “I think this is criminal.” Kimura had an issue of her own. “The state says we can’t deny development based on overcrowding in the schools. It’s killing the schools out here, Jeff!” Merkley said that a ballot measure to levy system development charges on new developments needing new urban services, with the proceeds to go to the schools, was defeated by the Home Builders Association. Commenting on urban renewal he said, “It makes sense, but you wind up with a large part of the city tax base not paying for schools.” |
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