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LEE PERLMAN
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
Editor's note: Welcome to Perlman's Potpourri, news items from across the Gateway and Parkrose neighborhoods of mid-Multnomah County from veteran Beat Reporter Lee Perlman.
Coming up, Sunday Parkways, a bicycle oriented event comes to Southeast Portland for the first time. Blocking off streets for five hours on Sunday, July 18, the event meanders along a 6-mile route going by three parks, one school and a wildlife refuge.
The Portland Center for Domestic Violence, housed in the former Children's Receiving Center at 102nd Avenue and East Burnside St. opens this month after extensive remodeling.
The Citywide Tree Project, a reorganization of the city's regulations on the planting, cutting and preservation of trees on private and public land is nearing the end of its review and has concluded trees on residential properties will officially come under their purview.
Also in this month's Potpourri, Perlman reports that the Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement is still accepting nominations for 2010 Spirit of Portland awards.
The Portland Bureau of Parks & Recreation offers free movies and live concerts at some Mid-county parks this summer. The schedule is below.
A team of four Portland State University graduate students presented a summary last month of their report on efforts to make Gateway an “eco-district.”
The Gateway Urban Renewal District will expand in July. If activist Linda Robinson has her way, it'll head east along Northeast Halsey Street to 122nd Avenue as opposed to other directions.
Finally, this year's National Night Out celebration is Monday, Aug. 3rd. NNO is a time when groups and individuals are encouraged to hold gatherings in parks and other public spaces after dark.
But first, let's get to (south)east Portland's first bicycle-centric, taxpayer-funded Sunday Parkways …
Sunday Parkways comes (south)east
Sunday Parkways, now in its third year, will come to east Portland for the first time on July 18 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. During the event, coordinated and mostly funded by the Portland Office of Transportation, motor vehicles are prohibited on a circular route along local streets, allowing bicyclists and pedestrians to tour and experience the neighborhood in a new way. The Southeast Portland route is 6 miles, arranged roughly along Southeast Bush and Harold streets, the Springwater Corridor, and 93rd, 100th and 115th avenues. It will touch on Ed Benedict, Bloomington and Lents parks, Earl Boyles School and come near the Beggars-Tick Wilderness Area.
During the event, public and private agencies and groups will be providing a variety of spectator or participatory activities in the park or along the way. Ed Benedict Park will host the biggest activity: the city's East Portland Expo, a government sponsored show-and-tell of city-directed citizen groups in the area, now in its second year. There will also be a performance by the Sprockettes, a women's dance-athletic team who perform synchronized activities with their bikes. The Northwest Trails Alliance will host a Bike Skills Course, at which young and old alike can attempt to ride on rails barely 4 inches wide.
At Bloomington Park, El Programma Espano will be holding a youth soccer tournament. For those not up to this level, the Net Trippers Soccer Club will hold a goal-shooting contest and give out treats.
At Lents Park, the Jumpin' Jackie Os will provide Double Dutch Jump Roping for children. Metro's Drive Less Save More program will give you the chance to have your picture taken amid cardboard scenic backdrops.
There will be several group bike rides, including one beginning at 9 a.m. at the Hollywood Bike Gallery, 5329 N.E. Sandy Blvd. Girly Bikes will lead a ride starting at 11 a.m. from Bloomington Park, and there will be a tour of homes starting at noon from Lents Park. The Rose City Roamers will lead walking tours.
To help make all this happen, unpaid volunteers are needed. Especially valuable are Intersection Superstars, who will man barricades at minor intersections and move them as needed to let local residents into or out of their homes. To sign up to volunteer or for more information, call 503-823-5266 or visit portlandsundayparkways.org.
Domestic violence center opens
The new Portland Center for Domestic Violence will hold its grand opening at 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 29, at the old Children's Receiving Center, East Burnside Street at 103rd Avenue. According to executive director Rebecca Strawn Morris, the facility, in the former Children's Receiving Center building, will not provide shelter for domestic violence victims, but will provide them with a “buffet” of services and information that they can make use of as they wish. This will include a mechanism to obtain a restraining order via a closed-circuit hookup to the Multnomah County Courthouse.
Tree regulations take root
The Portland Planning Commission is nearing the conclusion of its review of the Citywide Tree Project and has decided to carry tree regulations into private yards, but to do so with a light tread.
The project, under the direction of the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, is an overhaul of the city's regulations regarding the planting, pruning and cutting of trees on public and private property. Currently such regulations are scattered among several agencies and critics say they are confusing, sometimes contradictory, and poorly enforced.
A sensitive issue is the proposal to regulate trees on residential property and to require the planting of new trees or submitting payment to do so when cutting down trees more than 12 inches in diameter. (There are exemptions for trees that are dead, diseased or within 10 feet of a home.) The commission resisted a proposal to exempt single-family home sites from regulations, but they also rejected a proposal by commission member Chris Smith to lower the minimum size to 6 inches. Further, they decided not to conduct site inspections to verify applicants' information and not to charge fees at this time. Commission members said they feared “pushback” if the regulations become too heavy-handed in this area.
There was stronger support for public information measures, including a manual covering all aspects of tree planting and cutting, as well as a 24-hour information hotline.
Spirit nominations still open
The Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement is still accepting nominations for 2010 Spirit of Portland awards. Given annually since 1985, the awards honor individuals or groups that contribute to the city's livability. Categories are Small and Large Business, Business Association, Community Harmony, Community Policing and Public Safety, Emergency Preparedness, Emerging Community Leader, Public Employee of the Year, Humanitarian, Non-Profit Organization, Outstanding Partnership, Public Involvement, Youth Volunteer, the new Sandy Diedrich Award for environmental stewardship, Independent Spirit, and Neighborhood of the Year.
Nomination forms are available from the East Portland Neighborhood Office, 1017 N.E. 117th Ave., or at Brian.Hoop@portlandoregon.gov. A citizen committee under the direction of ONI will select the winners from the nominations received. The deadline for submitting nominations is August 16. For more information call 503-812-4519.
Parks offers free concerts, movies
Once again, the Portland Bureau of Parks & Recreation is offering free entertainment this summer - a series of free live concerts in Ventura Park, in cooperation with the Hazelwood Neighborhood Association, and free movies elsewhere.
The Ventura Park concert lineup this year will include Joni Harms on August 11; Aaron Meyer, August 18; and Conjunto Alegre, August 25. All performances will be 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The Burgerville Nomad and Portland Ice Cream will be on site selling their wares, but feel free to bring your own.
In some cases, the movies are preceded by live entertainment. The cinema schedule is as follows: July 17, “Transformers” at Ed Benedict Park. July 18, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” at Ed Benedict. July 24, “Avatar,” with the River City Band, at Wilkes Park. August 3, “Shorts,” with the River City Band, at Glenfair Park. August 4, “Shorts,” with the Sounds of Norman, at Gilbert Heights Park. August 13, “Deathbowl to Downtown” (a skateboarding documentary), with the Cat Jugglers, at Glenhaven Park. August 19, “Alice in Wonderland,” with the Sounds of Norman, at Parklane Park. August 24, “That's Entertainment,” with the Sounds of Rayvis, at the Ed Benedict Park Memory Garden. August 28, the “Tale of Despereaux,” with the River City Band, at Montavilla Park. September 2, “The Princess and the Frog,” with the Sounds of Rayvis, at Argay Park.
Finally, there's a “dive-in” movie, “Up,” August 25 at Montavilla Community Center Pool; bring a floating raft or inner tube. For all the rest, bring a lawn chair or blanket. Remember to be considerate of your neighbors while you enjoy the show.
Students complete eco-district report
A team of four Portland State University graduate students presented a summary last month of their report on efforts to make Gateway an “eco-district.”
Aaron Wilson offered the Gateway Urban Renewal District Program Advisory Committee several suggestions for possible ecology-related projects. Among these was making major streets, such as the Halsey-Weidler corridor, into a “walkable stormwater corridor,” with bio-swales to collect stormwater. Another, Wilson said, was to make the proposed Gateway Education Center a sustainable facility. Another suggestion was to engage in a districtwide weatherization drive, using economies of scale to purchase materials in bulk to offer at affordable rates to area businesses and homeowners. Wilson also suggested establishing a recycling and re-use facility, noting that Portland Adventist Medical Center, for instance, could make effective use of such a facility. He added later that, as with other ideas proposed in the report, this was conceptual and that the team had not made contact with the medical center about this potential.
Team member Dan Schauer said that whatever specific approach is chosen, management of it should be “ongoing and adaptable. You can use something that already exists or create a new body.”
Gateway PAC member Frieda Christopher said, “We should be looking at a business strategy with energy-saving in mind,” which Schauer suggested could also include saving money as an incentive to encourage involvement.
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| At the Gateway Urban Renewal PAC meeting held last month, Portland State University graduate student Aaron Wilson, part of a four-person team, presented a summary of their report on efforts to make Gateway an “eco-district.” MEMO PHOTO TIM CURRAN |
The Portland Development Commission should be looking at a possible expansion of the Gateway Urban Renewal District in July, PDC program manager Justin Douglas told the Gateway Urban Renewal District Program Advisory Committee last month. Douglas reiterated that possible expansion of the district, which now comprises 659 acres, could be eastward along Northeast Halsey Street to 122nd Avenue, eastward along Southeast Stark Street to 122nd, both with a connecting corridor on 122nd, and/or east along Stark Street to about 80th Avenue in the Montavilla neighborhood. At most, the district could expand by 120 net acres.
By state law, the city cannot have more than 15 percent of its total land area in active urban renewal districts at any one time and Portland is close to this limit. Several PAC members recalled that there is competition for expansion from other urban renewal districts. Douglas said that in terms of timing for consideration, “We're third in the queue,” behind the north-northeast area and parts of the central city west of the river. Competition from any of them is less important than Gateway having “a compelling reason to do this,” according to Douglas. “We could have some particular properties that are really blighted, or properties that need attention. PAC member Linda Robinson suggested that one such area could be the intersection of Northeast 122nd Avenue and Halsey Street.
National Night Out time to gather
National Night Out, held this year on Tuesday, Aug. 3, is a time when people are urged to gather with their neighbors and friends to participate in outdoor group activities such as block parties and cookouts in their neighborhoods, parks or other public spaces. NNO was established to promote neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships by encouraging neighbors to actively join together in their efforts to keep their neighborhoods safe.
The Parkrose Heights Neighborhood Association will hold its traditional NNO picnic from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Knott Park, offering hot dogs, music by Cheap Date and Eric Christopher, and a raffle. The Lions Club will be conducting free health tests. For children, the Reptile Man will entertain in costume, and face painting will be available, along with other activities.
For news of specific gatherings, consult the East Portland Neighborhood Office at 503-823-4550. If there isn't something happening in your neighborhood that appeals to you, consider having an event of your own. And don't forget to leave your porch light on all night to show your support for safe neighborhoods.
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