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Publisher's note: Welcome to Perlman's Potpourri for September, a roundup of news items from the Gateway and Parkrose neighborhoods of mid-Multnomah County from veteran Beat Reporter Lee Perlman.
Coming up: Construction slated to begin on Sandy Boulevard in the Argay neighborhood is postponed - maybe until next year.
The transportation subcommittee of the East Portland Action Plan took to MAX platforms last month gauging 400 riders' reactions to the service they receive.
National Night Out was held last month with 25 gatherings held east of 82nd Avenue.
Ventura Park was the site for three free concerts in August brought to you by Portland Parks & Recreation Bureau and the Hazelwood Neighborhood Association.
After debate and process, the Citywide Tree Project had its new tree regulations approved by the Portland Planning Commission. It now heads to City Council for approval this winter.
Also in Perlman's Potpourri, the grand opening of the new Gateway Center for Domestic Violence Services on North East 102nd Avenue is set for September 8.
Finally, Spirit of Portland Award nominations closed this month with 85 nominations.
First, to the news about the postponement of sorely needed Sandy Boulevard traffic improvements …
LEE PERLMAN
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
Sandy Boulevard improvement project pushed back to late 2011
The Oregon Department of Transportation's improvement program for Northeast Sandy Boulevard, reported in last month's Memo Pad, are still in the works, but the construction timeline has been pushed back to late 2011 and perhaps not until 2012.
“There's some property acquisition involved, and that usually takes longer,” PDOT Project Leader Brett Richards told the Memo. When completed, the project could add all or some of the following to Sandy between Northeast 122nd and 141st avenues: a left turn median lane, two bike lanes, a six-foot sidewalk on the south side, and upgraded signals at 122nd and 138th avenues.
MAXaction gets a reaction
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| As part of the East Portland Action Plan, about two dozen volunteers interviewed 400 MAX Blue Line riders about what they would like to see improved. MAXaction volunteers are, from left, Mike Vander Veen, Tom Lewis, Gabrielle Lewis, Darlene Lewis, Brittany Keeling, Mollie Ruskin, Sam Keeling, Daisy Quionez, Katy Smith, Todd Diskin, Katherine Westmoreland, Lydia Au, Jefferson Smith, Joseph Chan, Joe Smith, Joanna Chan, Sgt. John Scruggs, Fawn Aberson, Dan Brown, and Kim Breckel. COURTESY MIKE VANDER VEEN |
Over the course of four hours - 7 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. - about two dozen volunteers interviewed people standing on five east Portland MAX Light Rail platforms. According to East Portland Neighborhood Office Outreach Coordinator Mike Vander Veen, the volunteers interviewed more than 600 riders, and of these more than 500 provided contact information and expressed some interest in ongoing involvement.
The surveyors asked three questions: “Name something you like about MAX.” “Name something about MAX you'd like to see improved.” The third question was multiple choice and MAX users were asked to pick one or more answers. “Previous hot topics have included local issues, the community, safety, the environment and business. How would you like to improve the MAX station area and the nearby area: keep it clean, boost community involvement, keep it safe, make it green, or promote business?”
The action plan is the first step in making improvements to the stations themselves and/or the area around them. “People want to make the stations be a more welcoming gateway to the community, and make them more a part of the community,” Vander Veen says. As to just how that is done, he says, “Local residents and stakeholders are driving the process, while the larger partners are providing support.”
For instance, he says, TriMet was extremely supportive of the project. In particular, he says, they insisted that the surveys be inclusive. “They said we had to interview everyone, not just some people based on some criteria,” Vander Veen says. At the same time, he stressed, “It was not their event.”
The project is building on past studies, including the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability's East Side Station Area Planning Project of a few years ago, in which city planners looked at possible rezoning and traffic improvements to achieve the level of activities MAX stations are intended to encourage. For logistical and budgetary reasons this was put on hold. Anyway, as Vander Veen points out, it didn't deal with the stations themselves “because the Planning Bureau doesn't control TriMet.”
The EPAP volunteers will analyze the data they've collected and then decide on one or more projects to pursue. It could be directed toward a given geographic area or a common issue such as safety.
In addition to TriMet, Vander Veen gave credit to the Lifegate Baptist Church for providing free meeting space and Flossin Media for help with communications.
People turn out for National Night Out
National Night Out, the night when people are encouraged to “take back the night” with communities parties after dark, received good attendance from east Portland this year. According to Crime Prevention Specialist Teri Poppino, there were 25 such gatherings, big and small, east of 82nd Avenue and south of the Banfield Freeway this year. The Parkrose Heights Neighborhood Association's annual gathering in Knott Park, traditionally one of the biggest, drew nearly 500 people, according to organizer Stephanie Viegas.
Free concerts bring crowds
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Tree laws head for Council
In late July the Portland Planning Commission approved the Citywide Tree Project. The vote was six to zero. Project Manager Roberta Jortner says a new draft of the recommendations will be available in August (through www.portlandonline.com/bps/trees) and will receive action by City Council in late November or early December.
Critics say that current regulations governing trees, shared by several city bureaus, are confusing, inconsistent, contradictory, and poorly regulated. The project sets out regulations for the planting, cutting and pruning of trees on all public and private land. The emphasis is on preserving trees, especially large ones, and replacing them if they are cut.
One of the most controversial features of the project is regulating the cutting of trees in private yards. The final version does not require owners to pay fees, exempts trees that are dead, diseased or “dangerous,” or within ten feet of an existing house, from any regulation, and otherwise requires owners to plant a tree if they cut one. Also exempt are any trees less than 20 inches in diameter; staff's original draft only exempted trees 12 inches thick or less. Commission member Chris Smith was unhappy with this substitution. On the other hand, City Forester David McAllister testified that the Urban Forestry Commission had “angst” about any regulation of backyard trees.
More widely accepted features are a universal tree manual containing all regulations and a 24-hour hotline for questions and the reporting of violations.
The cost of implementing the recommendations will be about $217,000 Jortner told the Mid-county Memo, while operations will cost $630,000 a year. Most of this latter cost will be recovered by “modest” additional fees to developers ranging from $50 to $100. Tree preservation plans, now required as part of land division processes, will be needed for conditional uses and design reviews as well.
Some builders have complained that the fees and regulations will retard development. They suggest that the city simply subsidize tree planting on private property. Jortner replies that her proposals will result in ten times the increased tree canopy that an equal sum of money spent on tree planting would create.
Domestic Violence Center grand opening date set for Sept. 8
The Multnomah County Domestic Violence Center opened last month on East Burnside Street at 103rd Avenue and will have its public grand opening from 1 to 4 p.m. Sept. 8. Multnomah County Chair Jeff Cogan, City Commissioner Dan Saltzman and Congressman Earl Blumenauer are among those expected.
The Center, located in the old Children's Receiving Center space, will have resources from different agencies for victims of domestic violence, including counseling; resources to help locate a temporary shelter, and a mechanism to obtain restraining orders - all from the safety of the building.
Spirit nominations received
The Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement received about 85 nominations for Spirit of Portland Awards, according to ONI's Neighborhood Resource Center Manager Brian Hoop. The awards are given annually to individuals, groups and businesses that contribute to the city's livability. A citizen jury will be convened and select the winners this month, Hoop says. This year the awards will be given in a ceremony at 7 p.m. Nov. 8 at the Double Tree Hotel, 1000 N.E. Multnomah St., in the Lloyd District on the MAX light rail blue, red and green lines.
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