4 • The Southwest Portland Post
NEWS
NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
By Lee Perlman
The Southwest Portland Post
Umpqua Bank invites vote on
neighborhood improvements
“When we go into a new market,”
Umpqua Bank spokesperson Becca Bo-
land told The Post, “we want to become
part of the community, and the best way
to do that is to sponsor a project that
improves the neighborhood.” Thus,
under the bank’s Build Your Block
program, the new branch at 7837 SW
Capitol Hwy invited the community to
suggest projects.
From 25 proposals submitted they
have narrowed the list to three: decora-
tive benches along Southwest Capitol
Highway; a nature playground at
Spring Garden Park; or a community
mural on the wall of the Multnomah
Arts Center at Southwest 34 th Avenue
and Moss Street.
Who makes the final decision? You do.
Come into Umpqua Bank’s Multnomah
Village branch between now and May
27 and cast your ballot for your favorite
project. You can cast multiple ballots,
but only one per day.
Burlingame Fred Meyer closes for
renovation
The Burlingame Fred Meyer store
will close May 1 for a long-planned
makeover. Real Estate and Develop-
ment Group Vice President Bob Currey-
Wilson told The Post the company is
planning to expand the Burlingame
store by 15,000 square feet.
A former Burger King and a portion
of the parking structure will be convert-
ed into new truck loading docks, there
will be an expanded food section, and
other departments will be upgraded.
“Essentially, it will be a whole new
store,” Currey-Wilson said.
Aesthetically, there will be more di-
rect sunlight in the store with additional
glazing and new skylights, he said. The
The iconic "Burlingame Fred Meyer" sign on Barbur Boulevard will remain. (Post
file photo by Don Snedecor)
store will be repainted in earth tones, in
the manner of the Raleigh Hills branch.
However, the Burlingame store’s “icon-
ic” pylon sign and neon billboards will
be maintained.
The completed store should reopen
in mid-September, Currey-Wilson said.
Multnomah Neighborhood Associa-
tion chair Moses Ross said that the Fred
Meyer makeover is “a godsend, and the
timing is impeccable.”
South Portland jail proceeds
slowly
Lindquist Development LLC last
month moved – slowly – toward
winning approval for an addition to
their building at 4310 SW Macadam
Ave, which will serve as an office and
detention facility for the federal gov-
ernment’s Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) program.
In February, responding to an appeal
by the South Portland Neighborhood
Association, the Portland City Coun-
cil upheld an approval for the design
of the project by the Portland Design
Commission.
However, the City Council also de-
clared that holding facilities, compris-
ing 4,000 square feet of the expanded
65,000 square foot building, constituted
a detention facility, and would need to
obtain a Conditional Use permit under
a Type III procedure.
According to Douglas Hardy, the
City planner assigned to the case, the
Bureau of Development Services held a
pre-application conference, to acquaint
the development team with the require-
ments and issues they would have to
address, in March.
Last month the applicant submitted
a formal application for the permit, but
bureau staff deemed it “incomplete” for
failing to adequately address certain
requirements, Hardy said. Such rulings
are not uncommon during complex
land use reviews.
May 2011
In 1997 they were placed under the
direction of ONI, a City bureau, but
continued to work out of offices in the
communities they served.
Reynolds said that currently none
of the eight locations at which the 12
specialists work charge rent. “This
sounds like a great deal, but over time
it’s challenging. It’s unstable, and I only
get to talk with my whole staff twice a
week. Staying where we are is certainly
an option, and some people are uneasy
with the staff being so far from the com-
munities they’re supposed to serve.”
ONI is committed to maintaining the
same level of service, “but to anyone
wedded to the idea that you can just
drop in on a specialist on impulse, yes,
you’ll lose that,” Reynolds said.
At the moment, ONI is looking at
using the Penumbra Kelley Building,
former site of Southeast Precinct, at
4747 E. Burnside St., ONI executive
director Amalia Alarcon said. The City
is negotiating to buy the building from
Multnomah County.
The Southwest Portland Post
4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509
Portland, OR 97206
Fax: (866) 727-5336
email: news@multnomahpost.com
City may centralize crime
prevention staff
BES should pay fair share
The Portland Office of Neighborhood
Involvement is considering housing all
of its neighborhood crime prevention
specialists in a single location, program
manager Stephanie Reynolds said at a
recent meeting.
Crime prevention specialists work
with citizens on grass roots solutions
to crime and public safety problems,
such as block watch networks and foot
patrols.
When the program was first devel-
oped the specialists were under the
direction of the neighborhood coalitions
such as Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc.
(Continued from Page 2)
to shops and services nearby. The recent
Capitol Highway design serves as a
template for much-needed pedestrian
and bicycle infrastructure improve-
ments in SW Portland.
The only way we will be able to afford
these improvements is if the Bureau of
Environmental Services pays for the
needed storm water improvements
that are required when the sidewalks
and bike paths are built, and allows for
more flexibility in site-specific designs.
Patty Lee
Marianne Fitzgerald