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About The Southwest Portland Post. (Portland, Oregon) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2012)
April 2012 NEWS South Waterfront Greenway Plan approved by Design Commission By Lee Perlman The Southwest Portland Post Wi t h t h e osprey roost issue solved, at least in con- cept, the Port- land Design Comm i ssi o n approved the Portland Bu- reau of Parks Osprey family nest a n d R e c r e - on the west bank of ation’s South the Willamette River Wa t e r f r o n t at South Waterfront. G r e e n w a y (Photo courtesy of Master Plan Paul Johnson) last month. The Greenway Plan contains $9.5 million worth of trails, recreation im- provements and habitat for a swath of waterfront 1.2 miles long and 100 feet wide along the west bank of the Wil- lamette River. However, lack of a dock in the Greenway Plan resulted in a less than unanimous vote. At a previous meeting a major stum- bling block turned out to be the Bu- reau’s plans for the relocation of a nesting site occupied in season by an osprey over the last five years. Greenway construction will require the Park Bureau to relocate the nest. The Park Bureau proposed an alternative site on a “dolphin,” an upright piling, but neighbors said it was too far away from the bird’s chosen site. These neighbors, with the assistance of the South Waterfront Dog Club, have constructed a pole 40 feet tall and weighing eight tons as a site. Last month, Park Bureau staff said they would leave the osprey nest where it is this year. Next year partisans will move the pole to a nearby private prop- erty, and the bird will choose between this and the Park Bureau’s proposed site. This seemed to please interested neighbors. Another issue was a proposed light watercraft dock, long a part of the project. Park Bureau staff said they had encountered resistance from the Na- tional Marine Fisheries Service, which safeguards endangered fish species and sees the pilings for a dock as a hiding place for young fish predators. Park Bureau staffer Liz Moorhead said the Office of Healthy Working Riv- ers is preparing a comprehensive look at the city’s docks, due for completion in 2013. The Park Bureau remains committed to providing a dock, Moorhead said, but for now they were “decoupling” it from the project and proceeding. Commission member Ben Kaiser expressed disappointment about this decision. “At one point this was the driving force for the whole project,” he said. “Because of fear of some agency, we’re disconnecting ourselves from the river. Who knows when it will happen? There were just three boats on the river yesterday, and there could be hundreds.” Kaiser ultimately cast the sole vote against approval of the Greenway Plan. Commission chair Gwen Millius cau- tioned against “letting the perfect get in the way of the good. Getting people closer to the river is an undeniable good. This is not our last opportunity. I just can’t see holding up the whole project because of the dock.” The Southwest Portland Post • 5 Fulton Park Community Center advocates lobby City Council Advocates for the Fulton Park Community Center, which the Portland Bureau of Parks and Recreation has offered for closure if the City Council asks for budget cuts of six percent or more, made their point at a budget hearing last month. More than 150 people attended a City-sponsored public Budget Forum at Cleveland High School, and conspicuous among Fulton Park Community Center may be spared from them were people wearing proposed budget cuts by Portland Parks and Recre- red attire, which for the ation. (Photo courtesy of Isabel Souza) evening at least connoted advocacy for retaining Park facilities. Portland Mayor Sam Adams con- Most of these people were Fulton ducted much of the meeting, and three Park Community Center advocates, of the other four City Council members but a few were southeasterners protest- attended; Commissioner Dan Saltzman ing the proposed closure of Buckman was on a trip to Egypt. Pool, also on the Park Bureau’s list of Commissioner Nick Fish told The Post potential cuts. that he was impressed by the support In an on-site poll conducted with elec- for Parks programs, but noted that an tronic devices, the top priority for gen- earlier demographic quiz indicated that eral fund spending of those present was those at the Forum were not at all rep- parks and recreation, followed in order resentative of the City as a whole. “It’s of support by public safety-related pro- a snapshot in time,” he said. grams, public utilities, transportation Commissioner Amanda Fritz wore and community development. red in a conscious show of support for In another poll those present were Fulton Park Community Center. Not- asked to prioritize their top safety con- ing that its closure is estimated to save cerns; the results in order were traffic $75,000 she said, “I’m sure we could safety followed closely by drug dealing, come up with that money somewhere.” thefts from vehicles, gang activity, and burglary. – Lee Perlman
