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About The Southwest Portland Post. (Portland, Oregon) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2011)
MULTNOMAH NOTEBOOK: SERVING Burlingame • Capitol Hill • Garden Home • Glen Cullen • Hillsdale • Multnomah Village • Raleigh Hills • South Portland • Vermont Hills • West Portland Traffic calming needed along Garden Home Road Southwest Portland’s Independent Neighborhood Newspaper Volume No. 20, Issue No. 2 www.swportlandpost.com First Friday in the Village Portland, Oregon Complimentary By Lee Perlman The Southwest Portland Post NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS By Lee Perlman The Southwest Portland Post Rebuilt Burlingame Fred Meyer offers more The “new and improved” Burlin- game Fred Meyer, closed since May, reopened in October following a $19 million renovation. The store at 7555 SW Barbur Blvd. has increased in size by 15,000 square feet, to 92,000 square feet overall, but manager Jack Molen- camp says much of this is storage space. What counts is what’s inside. The store now boasts bigger and better gourmet cheese, meat, seafood, natural foods, wine and dry grocery sections, and a dessert kiosk that’s “just beautiful,” Molencamp said. There are now elevators to the upper level parking. “We’ve dramatically increased the holding power of our frozen food dis- plays,” Molencamp said. The on-site eating area has more than doubled in As its first stage, City of Portland planners associated with the Barbur Concept Plan are looking at existing conditions on the boulevard. To gain additional public feedback, they have scheduled an open house from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. December 6 at Markham School, 10531 S.W. Capitol Hwy. The Plan’s emphasis will be on land uses along Southwest Barbur Bou- levard, and will determine what is appropriate there and what changes, including zone changes, are best calcu- lated to achieve them. The Barbur Plan is associated with a larger plan, the Southwest Corridor Study, which will look at potential new major travel facilities, including a pos- sible new light rail line. The project staff has compiled a report of existing conditions, and dis- cussed them with their citizen advisory committee last month. Although there are 20 different zon- ing classifications for the land adjacent to Barbur, the report found, four basic classifications predominate: multi- family and single family on the north end, with a small cluster of commercial at Southwest Hamilton Street, and general commercial and office South of Southwest Terwilliger Boulevard. This reflects the uses on the north end, although between Hamilton and Terwilliger on the west side is the area known as “the woods,” wooded hill- sides attached to either single family, open space or undeveloped land. In the north end there are historic and design overlays governing redevelopment. South of Terwilliger, Barbur is given over to commercial use. It includes the newly-refurbished Burlingame Fred Meyer and the soon-to-be rebuilt Safeway but, the staff report notes, is dominated by “1950s-style car-oriented restaurants” and Class B and C office (Continued on Page 3) size, and has a handy Sushi bar and an on-site Peet’s Coffee dispensary. They hold regular wine tastings. In addition to having more to sell, the store is also greener. Numerous new skylights have been installed, and are used for “daylight harvesting.” When there is bright sunshine outside, sen- sors dim the already energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs so that they don’t use more energy than necessary. Even the store’s exterior sign has been equipped with more energy-efficient lighting. And how do the customers like it? “They’re so glad to have the store back,” Molencamp said. “It’s the local neigh- borhoods that own this store, and I’m happy to fill that role.” Stromer pleads guilty to eleven counts of ‘theft by deception’ Reversing an earlier plea, former Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc. (SWNI) Operations Manager Virginia Stromer pleaded guilty to all of the 11 counts of Theft by Deception with which she had been charged. The thefts from SWNI, carried out over a period of seven years, Don’t forget to renew your subscription. Form on Page 2. The Southwest Portland Post 4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509 Portland, OR 97206 December 2011 Planners examine ‘High Crash’ corridor; Open house scheduled for December 6 at Markham School BARBUR CONCEPT PLAN The Columbia Basin Basketry Guild displayed exquisite baskets and demonstrated their craft on November 4 at the Multnomah Arts Center. Story and additional photos on Page 5. (Post photo by Polina Olsen) – Page 4 The newly rebuilt Burlingame Fred Meyer store from the north side. (Post photo by Don Snedecor) totaled more than $130,000. A sentenc- ing hearing has been set for January 20. Suspicions were first aroused on October 5, 2010 when a check bounced because of insufficient funds, and a quick check by SWNI Executive Direc- tor Sylvia Bogert uncovered other ir- regularities. She called Stromer at home and asked her to report to work early to discuss the issues. Stromer, who had served SWNI for 15 years, resigned the next day via e-mail. A nine-month investigation by De- tective Ken Sukumoto, of the Portland Police Bureau, led to the indictment in July 2011. Stromer surrendered to authorities, was released on her own recognizance, and initially pleaded “not guilty” to the charges. Trial dates were postponed twice at the request of Stromer’s attorney. After protracted negotiations, SWNI reached a settlement with its insurance carriers. The amount was confidential as a condition of the settlement. Interstate 5 ramps open, Multnomah Boulevard work continues On November 17, to the sound of (unheard) trumpets and applause, the Interstate 5 freeway access ramps to Southwest Multnomah Boulevard were re-opened, marking the completion of this phase of the Burlingame Sewer Project. To the chagrin of Multnomah Village merchants, the ramps had been closed since early October for the project. However, Portland Bureau of En- vironmental Services spokesperson Stephen Sykes told The Post, work will now commence on the north side of Multnomah between Southwest 22nd and 25th avenues. This work will be done at night, Sykes said, and during this time the ramp from south- bound Southwest Barbur Boulevard (Continued on Page 3)
