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| Update given on 102nd, 122nd Avenue projects Editor’s note: For your reading pleasure we present Perlman’s potpourri - a round up of news items about the neighborhoods of Mid-Multnomah County from veteran Beat Reporter Lee Perlman. Perlman attends many meetings and reports back on important issues and concerns affecting the Parkrose and Gateway neighborhoods. This month, communities pursue plans for child safety on the streets at Russell Academy. The 122nd Avenue Project goes back for another round with the Portland Planning Commission, and the 102nd Avenue Project budget needs some trimming. Speaking of trimming, plans to cut down Douglas Fir trees near David Douglas High School didn’t go over well. Speaking of not going over well, the Weed and Seed applications submitted by the Hazelwood Neighborhood Association and others didn’t go over well with the feds. On a happier note, the Glenhaven Skatepark is proceeding satisfactorily, and so is the Hazelwood Hydro Park to be. Lee Perlman The Mid-County Memo Russell seeks school-related traffic controls In a less extensive and elaborate process than Prescott School is now undergoing (see the related article in this issue, page ), the Russell Neighborhood Association is seeking some pedestrian-related traffic controls near its neighborhood school. With the help of the Russell Neighborhood Association, school parents complained about parking congestion, high speeds and unsafe pedestrian conditions near the school at 2700 N.E. Russell St. Last month Greg Raisman of the Portland Office of Transportation told the Russell Neighborhood Association that the city planned to install new “no parking” zones at the Northeast 127th Avenue intersections with Northeast Russell and Brazee streets, and to lengthen an existing zone at Brazee. This, he said, should improve visibility and allow vehicles to turn safely. The city will also install a new crosswalk across 127th Avenue at Brazee Street. Finally, he is also working with local residents to install speed bumps on Northeast Morris Court, and possibly 132nd Avenue, using the city’s new subsidized purchase program (see Prescott School story on page 1). Raisman said he would first notify nearby property owners. When Russell Co-president Tim Sepich asked if this meant he would ask their permission, Raisman said, “There are cases where, if there’s opposition, you don’t do it, but for the safety of kids we usually do it.” He added, “Not having tall vehicles near the intersections really makes a difference” in allowing drivers to see children. Raisman resisted the suggestion that more parking be removed to allow smoother traffic flow in the area. “When you say smoother, you mean faster,” he said. This is not something that should be encouraged near a school. He said the city would not install new crosswalks unless they had a commitment that adults would supervise the crosswalks. The city could not sell the community a reader board (a device that shows passing motorists how fast they’re going), but might be able to place one nearby temporarily. Michael Wall, a resident of Northeast Siskiyou Street, said he thought Western Chiropractic College students use Morris Court as a shortcut and might shift to his street if speed bumps were installed. Raisman said the devices have not caused traffic to divert to other streets when used elsewhere. Russell Co-chair Bonny McKnight told Wall, regarding his comment about chiropractic college students, “We can’t assume that. Enrollment has been down, but the traffic statistics remain the same.” Raisman said that a relatively small increase in vehicle speed could make a big difference in whether the vehicle hits a pedestrian, and whether the result is an injury or a fatality. He also said that when cars hit children, it is usually within three blocks of a school during non-school hours. “No law will make more difference than our decision as a culture that we don’t want more child fatalities,” he said. “This room is full of leaders that can talk to their neighbors.” The leaders can also talk to the city. Raisman told those present, “I’d be surprised if you didn’t see (the new traffic controls) in three to six months.” After being questioned by McKnight, he corrected this to three to six weeks. McKnight suggested neighbors wait until the improvements are made, then see if more action needs to be taken. Russell Academy Principal Jeff Rose said that the city had previously promised traffic safety improvements “to no fruition.” When he told this to McKnight, he said, she replied, “I think I can help with that.” At a subsequent meeting with PDOT officials, “There was not a lot of disagreement about what needed to happen,” but McKnight had pressed for a definite timeline. “It was a really collaborative process,” Rose said. “I really appreciate it.” 122nd Project goes back to council The 122nd Avenue Project, due to go before city council last month, instead went back to the Portland Planning Commission for perhaps more than routine changes. The project is an attempt to reconcile city regulations governing development near transit stations such as the 122nd Avenue MAX stop, and the needs of car dealers such as Ron Tonkin. The project’s recommendations would relax some of the regulations slightly near designated “nodes” at East Burnside, Northeast Glisan and Southeast Stark streets, while making bigger concessions, especially with regard to outside display and storage, between these nodes. The nodes were originally proposed to extend 200 feet from the Glisan and Stark intersections and 300 feet from Burnside. However, at the urging of the Hazelwood Neighborhood Association and the concurrence of the Planning Commission, they were redrawn to conform to property lines, greatly expanding the area covered. Project Manager Barry Manning later decided to meet with the commission one last time to make sure they concurred on this and other details. During the earlier hearings commission, member Larry Hilderbrand repeatedly complained that the city was being too hard on the dealers, whose businesses he said characterized the district and were an important element of it. Other commission members pointed out that the regulations either relaxed the existing rules or left them in place, and that there was a reason for the city to “set the bar high” for new development if it wanted the area to change in accord with city policy. Last month the commission heard a briefing on a Planning Bureau project called Regulatory Rethink, a critique of the zoning code and other regulations. San Francisco Zoning expert Michael Dyett told the commission that he would give the Portland code a “B plus or A minus” compared to other cities, but that it could stand improvement; in particular, he felt, it was too complex and had too many elements. In discussing east Portland, Dyett thought that this area in particular needed and deserved more work to make the rules serve the area they operate in. Regarding 122nd Avenue specifically, he questioned whether the Station Area Design Overlay was necessary, and that it was perhaps best just to tweak the base zones. He also said of the car dealers, “They serve an important function. Give them a break.” Hilderbrand vigorously nodded his head. Would this lead to a re-examination of the project recommendations thus far? On April 25 the Planning Commission unanimously approved the 122nd Avenue Improvement Project with a minor change proposed by Manning. It rejected requests for a gas station by Safeway and for regulatory changes by Brad Tonkin. It will be heard by City Council in late May or June, Manning said. >>continued |
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