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Publisher’s note: For your reading pleasure, we present Perlman’s Potpourri — a roundup of news items from the Gateway and Parkrose neighborhoods of mid-Multnomah County from veteran Beat Reporter Lee Perlman.
This month Perlman reports on the Portland Design Commission’s approval for the third building in Russellville to be located near 103rd Avenue on East Burnside Street.
His next item is about a delay in the groundbreaking and new development of affordable housing units on Northeast 82nd Avenue and Broadway.
Following is a report on the Parkrose Neighborhood Association’s meeting and its attempts to get speed bumps installed on Northeast 105th Avenue, north of Sandy Boulevard. Oh good, more speed bumps. That’ll solve the problem.
Perlman has a busy schedule — his next report is from a meeting of the Gateway Urban Renewal Public Advisory Committee, where Metro councilor Robert Liberty addressed the group.
In Perlman’s next item, we learn the intrepid Riley Whitcomb, Systems Development Charge acquisitions manager, is laying out criteria for parkland acquisitions in the Argay, Cully and Centennial neighborhoods of East Portland.
Perlman reports on the showdown in October between the anti-big box Roseway and Madison South neighborhood associations and the developers that are looking to build a Wal-Mart at the site of the old landfill on Northeast 82nd Avenue across from Madison High School.
Perlman’s final three items are brief, but if they make it in Perlman’s Potpourri, they’re important. In order they are a National Night Out roundup, the Wilkes neighborhood new natural area and the Spirit of Portland nominations. Mid-county’s Bonny McKnight and Joe Rossi have both been recipients.
LEE PERLMAN
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
Russellville Phase III design approved
As expected, the Portland Design Commission last month approved plans for Phase III of the Russellville Commons housing development. The newest phase, to be built on a vacant lot east of Southeast 102nd Avenue and south of East Burnside Street, will be four stories tall at its highest point and will include 122 independent living senior housing units, 17 memory care units serving Alzheimer sufferers, a fitness center and a café available to the public at large. Russellville LLC, the owners, say their long-term plans call for vacation of Southeast 103rd Avenue to create a public plaza between the newest phase and the Phase II senior residence.
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| Russellville III Graphic |
| Graphic provided by MCM Architects |
This was the third time the Design Commission had reviewed the plans. The first time, during an informal Design Advisory session, commission members gave decidedly negative reactions to the plans and expressed disappointment that the development team was not building a larger structure as the code allows. At a second session on July 19, the body as a whole was far more positive. The outlook was aided by the testimony of Hazelwood Neighborhood Association volunteer Linda Robinson. She said the association supported the gabled roof proposed by the development team and that it was appropriate for Gateway to make a transition in stages from its current suburban character to a more urban form.
At the July hearing, commission members indicated that they felt the biggest unresolved issue was the Southeast 102nd Avenue streetscape. This time both commission Chair Lloyd Lindley and member Jeff Stuhr said that they were satisfied with the plans for this. Lindley told architect Loy Rusch, “I think you’ve addressed all of our concerns satisfactorily.” Stuhr, who had never liked the gabled roof, cast the sole dissenting vote.
“This is a tough project for a number of reasons,” commission member Gwen Millius told Rusch. “There are different uses, you’re trying to integrate with other phases in a neighborhood that’s going through transition, and the area around you includes both traditional and some very bad contemporary architecture. You’ve taken this project a long way.”
Innovative Housing tweaks affordable project design
The nonprofit Innovative Housing, Inc. is taking longer than anticipated to break ground on a proposed 58-unit affordable housing project slated for Northeast Broadway east of 82nd Avenue. According to spokesperson Julie Garver, the development team is looking at building a smaller retaining wall on the east of the project, which would make construction faster and cheaper, and making the west façade less of a blank wall. These changes require the team to revisit city design approval and move the start of construction back from an anticipated August start to sometime in September or early October, Garver said.
Parkrose seeks 105th speed bumps
When the city approved a new design for Cascade Station, it called for a series of traffic mitigation measures to be performed either in advance of development or at an appropriate time in the future.
Parkrose Neighborhood Association Chair Marcy Emerson-Peters feels that with the opening of the Ikea store last month, the time for one of these measures has come. She has been seeking the installation of speed bumps and a new turn lane on Northeast 105th Avenue north of Sandy Boulevard to accommodate the traffic bound for the store.
Liberty visits Gateway PAC
Metro councilor Robert Liberty thinks that Gateway is an important area, if for no other reason than as a regional center it represents the alternative to the urban sprawl he so detests. Last month the Gateway Urban Renewal Program Advisory Committee spent its meeting in a discussion with Liberty.
One problem the PAC is experiencing is that Metro, no matter how sympathetic its governing board may feel toward the area, controls few of the resources Gateway most needs. One resource it does have is funding, through the Urban Greenspaces program, to acquire more land for future parks, and it was Liberty who prevailed upon his colleagues to reserve some of these funds, called the Local Share, for local jurisdictions to acquire land for urban parks East Portland needs so badly.
Parks considers parkland criteria
Using Metro’s Local Share, described above, the Portland Parks & Recreation is looking to acquire land in the Argay, Cully and Centennial neighborhoods for new parks. Based on the results of two community meetings, the bureau’s Systems Development Charge Acquisitions Manager Riley Whitcomb is working on criteria to determine what would make good parkland.
Whitcomb said the bureau does have its eyes on private properties, but he was reluctant to say for the record what those properties are, for fear of driving up the price. He did share the criteria developed so far:
1.The parcel should be at least four acres.
2. It should be within the boundary of the neighborhood in question, or at least close to it, with “no obstacles that would limit pedestrian access,” such as a freeway or impassible terrain.
3. There should be “no obstacles to development.” For instance, an environmental overlay would limit the development of ball fields and other facilities.
4. It should be “vacant or under-utilized. We don’t want to buy a going concern. We wouldn’t want K-Mart” (on Northeast 122nd Avenue near Sandy Boulevard).
5. It should have some street frontage and, ideally, service from public transit.
6. It must be available for sale. “We’re not into property condemnation,” Whitcomb said.
Whitcomb conceded that he is unlikely to find any property that fits all these criteria perfectly. “We realize that this is opportunity driven, that with any given property we may be able to satisfy only 60 percent of the criteria,” he said. “We know we’ll never find the perfect candidate.”
The bureau has hired a real estate firm to “do a scan of the properties available — we may not know them all,” Whitcomb said. “We hope to have the results by mid to late September. We’ve already made some approaches, but we’ve found nothing positive yet. We’d like to buy the properties by July 2008.”
The Cully neighborhood knows the property it would like to see purchased — the southern part of the Colwood Golf Course between Marine Drive and the Columbia Slough. The owners are in the process of rezoning it from open space to industrial to match the land around it, and Cully residents fear it will be redeveloped. Whitcomb is skeptical.
“It remains to be seen if it fits the criteria,” he said. “It seems to be outside the neighborhood boundary, and we want something that people can walk to safely. The owners are probably willing to sell, but it’s probably very expensive. I can see why people would be interested, but it may be more of a city priority than a site for a neighborhood park.”
In Argay the Garre family has been farming a parcel of land east of Northeast 122nd Avenue, some of which the family owns, but most of which is owned by the city in nonadjacent parcels. Whitcomb did not make explicit statements but said the city land would be more useable if adjacent properties were acquired.
Big Box site goes to hearing
A neighborhood-developer battle on Northeast 82nd Avenue, in a suspended state for several months, is now moving toward a major confrontation.
Smart Centres of Canada wants to develop a 10-acre former landfill on Northeast 82nd Avenue at Siskiyou Street, across from Madison High School. The land is zoned for industrial use, and commercial activity is limited to a total of 60,000 square feet. Smart Centres is seeking a conditional use permit for a total of 240,000 square feet, including 190,000 in a single structure. The company also wants a surface lot with 900 parking spaces. After filing its application, it asked the city to put the matter on hold for several months. In late July, that hold was lifted.
City Hearings Officer Gregory Frank will hold a public hearing on the issue beginning at 9 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 1 at 1900 S.W. Fourth Ave. Although most such hearings take two to three hours, Frank has reserved the entire day, and Oct. 3 if necessary, to take public testimony — with good reason.
The Madison South and Roseway neighborhood associations have launched a major campaign to defeat the proposal. They have accumulated a list of 1,400 supporters within the two neighborhoods, and the lawns are dotted with hundreds of “Save Madison South” and “Save Roseway” lawn signs. Twice they have picketed on 82nd Avenue, the last time in conjunction with a National Night Out picnic at Glenhaven Park on Aug. 7. Through a variety of fundraising activities, they have acquired a war chest of several thousand dollars and have used it to retain attorney Ken Helm and the traffic-consulting firm Greenlight Engineering. Finally, they are urging their supporters to write letters to planner Sylvia Cate, who is charged with making a recommendation on the case, and to testify at the hearing.
Why all the fuss?
Madison South leaders are convinced that a Wal-Mart outlet will occupy the proposed building. Smart Centres spokespeople insist that no tenant has been signed for the space, but Madison South leaders say that Wal-Mart has been the anchor tenant in two thirds of the company’s developments. Regardless, they say, any big box outlet at that site would generate traffic that would overload an already crowded, dangerous street directly across from a school, and draw business away from local merchants.
Smart Centres, in its turn, has hired land use attorney Steve Pfeiffer and traffic consultant Kittelson and Associates. It has also reportedly done outreach to some business associations and church groups in search of local support.
The case is a Type III land use review, providing the highest level of public review. Frank’s decision can be appealed to the Portland City Council — the neighborhood associations can do so without paying a fee — and most observers feel that one side or the other will appeal no matter what the decision is.
Crowds come to National Night Out parties
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| At Glenhaven Park, Madison South and Roseway residents protest and picnic during last month’s National Night Out celebration. |
| MEMO PHOTO: LEE PERLMAN |
The Parkrose Neighborhood Association jumped the gun slightly, holding its outing on Saturday afternoon, Aug. 4, at Senn’s Dairy Park. About 60 or 70 people came for all or part of the afternoon to enjoy the park and feast on food provided by local merchants, including Burgerville.
Wilkes’s celebration on the traditional date drew 300 people. Door prizes included potted plants, chalk, coloring books and crayons.
Carol Williams of Parkrose Heights said the neighborhood’s turnout was down this year but still respectable at 150 people. Stevie Weavie the Clown provided entertainment, and representatives of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance showed up to speak about possible transportation improvements. Applebee’s Restaurant donated a $50 gift certificate for which the neighborhood association will hold a drawing from among those who show up for their September meeting.
The Argay and Mill Park neighborhood associations also had events to mark the night.
Wilkes Natural Area dedication
There will be an official dedication of the Wilkes Natural Area at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 22 at Northeast 154th Avenue south of Sandy Boulevard. Through the efforts of the Wilkes Neighborhood Association, the parcel was acquired by the Portland Bureau of Parks and Recreation, and will be kept in a natural state. Call Wilkes Neighborhood Association Chair Ross Monn for more details at 503-261-1010.
Spirit of Portland nominations due
The Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement is accepting nominations for the 2007 Spirit of Portland Awards. The awards honor people, businesses and groups that make special contributions to the livability of the city. Categories include Humanitarian Effort, Community Harmony, Small Business, Large Business, Community Crime Prevention, Non-Profit Organization, Outstanding Partnership, City Employee Volunteer and the catchall Independent Spirit. Nominations are due by Oct. 26. For more information call 503-823-3997 or visit www.portlandonline.com/oni/ and click on Getting Involved.
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