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LEE PERLMAN
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
Editor’s note: The following is a brief roundup of stories from veteran Mid-County beat reporter Lee Perlman. Finally, Columbia Knoll Terrace on the Old Shriners Hospital property opens in June.
In the compendium of news items he recounts how the city is set to deal with Measure 37 claims, and the first test case may be in the Argay neighborhood, and how the city gives permission for big box retail at CascadeStation, saying it will generate no more traffic than the original plan. Not everyone is reassured. The Gateway Urban Renewal District is contributing $5 million toward a regional light rail line ... is it worth it?
Measure 37 procedures in place
The Portland City Council last month approved regulations for the processing of Ballot Measure 37 claims. Such claims should soon be before Council, with an East Portland case high on the list.
Measure 37, approved by voters statewide last year, holds that if a property owner proposes to use his land in a way that is forbidden by local regulations, and those regulations were enacted after he or his family purchased the land, the local jurisdiction must either waive the regulations in question or pay the property owner for the loss of land value. Each jurisdiction in the state has devised a different procedure for dealing with the issue.
In Portland’s case, the claimant must fill out an application that documents ownership of the land and shows how he or she was denied the right to use it. After review by staff, cases that meet the criteria will be decided by Council in public hearings following notification to nearby residents, property owners and the local neighborhood association.
For the first ten claims submitted there will be no fees. For all subsequent claims the initial fee will be $250. If the Council finds that a claim is “without merit” or “malicious,” Council has the option of charging the claimant for the city’s processing costs. Of the first ten claims, four concerned property in East Portland. One, land owned by Ruth Pruit on Northeast Whitaker Way, is likely to be one of the first cases heard, according to Hannah Kuhn of Mayor Tom Potter’s office. A new claim involving 4.5 acres on Northeast Rocky Butte Road, involving an environmental protection overlay, includes a request for $1,675,000, the highest yet received in Portland, Kuhn says.
Also approved is an alternate avenue proposed by Portland City Commissioner Sam Adams under which claimants could negotiate with the city, with the aim of seeking a solution beneficial to both sides. The procedure for this alternative is still being developed, Kuhn says.
CascadeStation changes move forward
The Portland City Council has approved new zoning regulations for CascadeStation, the proposed 120-acre development east of Portland International Airport, that would allow big box retail in three locations. Meanwhile, the Portland Development Commission is close to concluding a development agreement with the Trammel Crow and Bechtel corporations.
Staffer Michael O’Connell told the PDC commission last month that based on citizen concerns, the agreement will include eight traffic mitigation measures.
Linda Robinson of Hazelwood Neighborhood Association told the commission that connections between Interstate 205 and Airport Way are “already stressed,” and may not be able to absorb the traffic volume that CascadeStation may impose. “I originally thought it would be transit-oriented, and it isn’t very,” she said.
O’Connell responded that the new development plans, which call for less office and more retail than originally proposed, will generate “no more traffic than the original.” Steve Wells of Trammel Crow said it would in fact be 12 percent less. The original plans caused former Planning Commission president Rick Michaelson to characterize the project as “a suburban development with urban features.”
Unmoved, Robinson said, “It’s a concern now, and it will be a bigger one.”
Light rail
Last year the Gateway Urban Renewal District was assessed $5 million as its share of the cost of a new light rail line from Clackamas Town Center to Downtown Portland. Last month some members of the Opportunity Gateway Program Advisory Committee openly questioned whether the district would get its money’s worth from the new facility, which is slated to have a station on Southeast Main Street.
Columbia Knoll open for business
The first of the Terrace at Columbia Knoll buildings is set to open in June, according to marketing director Ginny McCarthy.
The Terrace is an affordable family housing development in a series of small multi-family structures on the slopes of the old Shriner Hospital on Northeast Sandy Blvd. at 82nd Avenue. Parent company Shelter resources is also accepting "pre-applications for the Heights, a senior establishment at the top of the hill, set to open by year's end.
For more information call 503-255-5100.
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