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LEE PERLMAN
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
Welcome to Perlman’s Potpourri for April. I’m Tim Curran, publisher of the Mid-county Memo, with a selection of highlights from across the Gateway and Parkrose neighborhoods of mid-Multnomah County from veteran Beat Reporter Lee Perlman.
Coming up, what happens when TriMet announces bus service and MAX line route cuts in Mid-county? East Portland activists produce their own public hearing.
Gateway Green has a friend indeed in über activist Linda Robinson as she begins the process to create a public recreation space in the 35 acres between I-5 and I-84 freeways that would include bicycle and trail facilities.
Plus, in the attempt to develop a conceptual system of streetcar routes in east Portland, routes have been identified but so has a snag: bicycle tires and rail lines don’t mix particularly well. More study is called for in this area.
Also in the Potpourri, Perlman reprises a developer’s struggle in receiving Portland Design Commission approval for his four-story office building development next to I-205 freeway.
In a follow-up to a previous Potpourri item, Perlman reports that on orders from Mayor Sam Adams, the Portland Bureau of Transportation has halted construction of a 300-foot pedestrian fence across 82nd Avenue, which would have prevented transit riders from bolting across the busy street and creating traffic hazards.
And, falling in line with the mayor’s dictum, the Office of Neighborhood Involvement’s budget cuts retain the neighborhood grant program earmarks; yet propose cutting graffiti abatement by 50 percent.
But first, to the cuts in bus service ...
TriMet proposes cuts
To deal with declining revenues, including a drop in collected payroll taxes, TriMet staff have recommended the cancellation of some bus routes, the reduction of service on other routes as well as on MAX light rail trains, and the modification of Fareless Square.
Reduced service is proposed for, among others, Line 12 Sandy, Line 15 Belmont, Line 19 Glisan, Line 22 Parkrose and Line 27 Market/Main. Service on Line 20 Burnside/Stark would be discontinued between Southeast 106th Avenue and Stark Street and West Burnside Street and 19th Avenue. In addition, MAX service would be reduced to one train per line every 30 minutes during non-peak times, as opposed to every 15 minutes.
TriMet planners say they targeted low-performing lines for service cuts or elimination. They say they have tried to avoid cuts that interfere with the public’s ability to get to work, that impact significant numbers of transit-dependent people, and don’t have alternative routes available.
To allow for public input, they scheduled three public hearings, each from 6 to 8 p.m. They are April 6 at Wilson High School, 1151 S.W. Vermont St.; April 7 at the Portland Building, 1220 S.W. Fifth Ave., and April 8 in Clackamas County.
Woodland Park Neighborhood Association Chair Alesia Reese is dissatisfied with both the proposed cuts and the opportunities to discuss them. As the Memo went to press, Reese had scheduled a forum of her own for March 26 at the East Portland Neighborhood Office, 1017 N.E. 117th Ave., at 6:30 p.m. She claims there are issues of equity of service for different parts of town. She also disputes TriMet’s claims that there are alternatives for the services they cut; for instance, Line 15 would cease running between Gateway and Parkrose/Sumner Transit Stations, leaving parts of Northeast 102nd Avenue with no bus service at all. In addition, cancellation of early and late service on some lines could affect late-shift workers’ ability to reach their jobs.
Gateway Green moves forward
Meanwhile, activist Linda Robinson and others made forward progress on creating Gateway Green.
Robinson, developer and Gateway property owner Ted Gilbert and others are seeking to make the 35-acre space between the I-5 and I-84 freeways a public recreation space that would include bicycle and trail facilities. In pursuit of this, in February they held a design charrette (group design) attended by 30 bike enthusiasts to plan for these facilities. The results can be viewed at an open house from 7 to 8:30 p.m. April 14 at the Gateway Elks Lodge, 711 N.E. 100th St.
Of course, before these or any other plans can be implemented, the Oregon Department of Transportation, which owns the property, has to approve. Gilbert and Robinson have been conferring with ODOT officials and discussing with them how to address the Federal Highway Administration, which must also sign off on the plans. Robinson told the Gateway Urban Renewal Program Advisory Committee last month that ODOT officials remain receptive, saying the plan has raised no obstacles that can’t be overcome.
In other park news, a new skate park has opened at Ed Benedict Park, Southeast 100th Ave. and Powell Blvd., an official grand opening will occur later this spring.
Future streetcar, bike routes considered
The Streetcar Systems Plan, an attempt to develop a conceptual system of streetcar routes for future development, has identified several candidates for further study. Among these are Northeast Sandy Boulevard from Hollywood eastward to 112th Avenue, Southeast Foster Road from 50th to 122nd avenues, 122nd Avenue from Northeast Halsey Street to Southeast Foster Road, Southeast Stark and Washington streets from 76th to 122nd avenues, and the “Gateway Loop” between Portland Adventist Hospital and the Gateway Transit Center via 99th and 102nd avenues.
At a recent meeting of the Portland Planning Commission, some members gave enthusiastic support to the plans for a streetcar system, while others raised a few concerns. Among the latter was commission member Amy Cortese, an avid bicyclist who pointed out that bikes and streetcars are logically bound for the same destinations, yet should not share the same routes because streetcar tracks are hazardous to ride upon.
Partly for this reason, a series of public open houses in May will deal simultaneously with the streetcar plan and an update of the city’s Bicycle Master Plan. The session for Mid-county will be from 4 to 7 p.m. on May 6 at David Douglas High School, 1500 S.E. 130th Ave.
82nd fence on hold
“Something there is that does not love a wall,” Robert Frost wrote, and that something, or someone, appears to have gotten the ear of Mayor Sam Adams.
On orders from Adams, who oversees this bureau, the Portland Bureau of Transportation is putting a hold on plans for a 300-foot pedestrian barrier along Northeast 82nd Avenue near the MAX light rail station until alternatives can be investigated. The fence is intended to discourage jaywalking on the avenue, mostly by transit riders making connections between the buses and trains. The transportation bureau and police representatives say the situation is dangerous, and the Madison South Neighborhood Association and 82nd Avenue Business Association support their position. The Montavilla Community Association opposes it, as do some transit advocates, who contend the fence would unreasonably inconvenience transit riders for the convenience of motorists.
Schatz development stalled
Developer Bob Schatz’s four-story office building proposed for 123 S.E. 97th Ave. seems to be stalled. Schatz must obtain design approval for the structure, and both planner Chris Beanes and the Portland Design Commission have said changes are needed. Since the commission hearing in January, Schatz has scheduled and then canceled three follow-up sessions, apparently due to his inability to come up with a satisfactory new proposal.
The main issue was Schatz’s desire to place a giant black metal O on the side of the building to “give it an identity” and attract attention. The commission didn’t say he couldn’t do this, but said it de-emphasized an already obscure main entrance. Their intent, they say, is not to derail new development in this area, but to push it to be well designed.
ONI calls for Right Budget
The Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement, the parent agency of the East Portland Neighborhood Office, is asking for City Council’s approval of what it calls the Right Budget, one that only cuts a total of 10 percent from its expenditures.
In the face of declining revenues, Mayor Sam Adams has all city bureaus submitting cut packages reflecting budget reductions of 2.5 and 5 percent from their current expenditures. The problem for ONI is that for several years its budget has been supplemented by one-time-only funding, appropriations made with no assurance that they will be repeated. The popular Neighborhood Grant Program falls into this category. Such funds are generally the first to be cut in any budget reduction exercise, and if this were to happen, ONI’s cuts would amount to 16 to 18 percent of current funding. This would not only mean elimination of the grants program, but reduced funding for EPNO and other neighborhood offices, which would certainly necessitate pay cuts to staff and decreased hours of operation.
The Right Budget, prepared by ONI Director Amalia Alarcon de Morris in consultation with Commissioner Amanda Fritz, would cut the grants program but retain it. The proposal would also retain funding for outreach efforts to under-represented communities. It would cut coalition offices’ budgets by 2.5 percent, the Neighborhood Crime Prevention and Neighborhood Mediation programs by 5 percent each, and the Graffiti Abatement Program by 50 percent.
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