Happy
Independence
Day!
SELLWOOD BRIDGE
Macadam Bay
houseboats to use
new driveway next to
Freeman Motors
Southwest Portland’s Independent Neighborhood Newspaper
Volume No. 20, Issue No. 9
www.swportlandpost.com
Portland, Oregon
– Page 3
Complimentary
July 2012
Sunday Parkways combines with Terwilliger Centennial for grand event July 22
By Lee Perlman
The Southwest Portland Post
July 22 is not only Southwest Port-
land’s first experience with Sunday
Parkways, but Sunday Parkways first
experience with Southwest. It has been,
and will be, a learning experience for
both.
From 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., a rough-
ly circular route is declared off limits to
motor vehicles for five hours, allowing
bicyclists and pedestrians a unique
SAFETY ROCKS These three were among the six winners of PGE’s “Color Me
Safe” contest held this spring. Rachel Demary (left) attends Maplewood Elementary
School in Southwest Portland. The other third graders are Monique Rabago (center)
and Maria Sanger (right). The third graders got to ride the float "Safety Rocks" in
the Rose Festival’s Starlight parade on June 2. (Photo courtesy of PGE)
chance to experience the community.
The route is usually on local streets
but, this time, Friends of Terwilliger
won out in their efforts to incorporate
the event into their centennial celebra-
tion.
However, since The Post last wrote
about this event in April, there have
been some new developments. Both
neighborhood and City of Portland
planners thought the Charthouse Res-
taurant, 5700 SW Terwilliger Blvd (at
the Eagle Point overlook) was closed
on Sunday.
In fact, they later learned, the Chart-
house is open for Sunday brunch and
its patrons need auto access. Thus there
will be a detour involving Southwest
Cheltenham and Chestnut streets and
Westover Drive.
The route will also take in parts of
other major streets. It is a departure,
organizer Linda Ginenthal of the Port-
land Bureau of Transportation told The
Post, but “the people in Hillsdale and
Multnomah Village were so enthusias-
tic, we decided to go with it.”
Another innovation: for pedestrians,
a spur route will go off the pavement.
Organizers will encourage pedestrians
to take Trail 3, a two-mile journey from
Hillsdale Town Center to Gabriel Park,
introducing southwest’s famed trail
network to “a whole new audience of
folks,” Ginenthal said.
Along the way, participants will find
events and attractions. For instance, in
Gabriel Park the Portland Bureau of
Parks will provide a climbing wall for
youngsters, and Kaiser Permanente will
have a vintage photo booth.
There will be a Community Market
Place for businesses and agencies to
show and tell at Maplewood School, for
whom this is also a 100 th anniversary.
There will be music and food giveaways
at Food Front Market in Hillsdale.
In Multnomah Village, Annie Bloom’s
Books will have a sale, and Lovin’
Spoonful Pies will have a booth on
Southwest Capitol Highway to show
off their wares.
PBOT has always worked with com-
munity groups on this event, but never
to the extent that they are sharing re-
sponsibility with Friends of Terwilliger.
Friends of Terwilliger will manage
events on Terwilliger Parkway between
the Charthouse and the Southwest Sam
Jackson Road intersection at Duniway
Park. At Duniway Park there will be
(Continued on Page 6)
Soil at Corbett home to get
contamination testing
Having discovered high lead levels
at one Corbett neighborhood home, the
Oregon Department of Environmental
Quality (DEQ) will test the soils of its
neighbors this summer.
DEQ’s Scott Manzano told the South
Portland Neighborhood Association
last month that his agency’s attention
was called to the property at 236 S.W.
Flower St. when it was mentioned in
an article in USA Today dealing with
former Brownfield sites in 14 states.
A single-family house has occupied
the site since 1976, he said, but from
1910 to 1965 Multnomah Metals oper-
ated a smelter on the property.
Between 2002 and 2003, DEQ col-
lected soil samples on the property, and
found lead levels up to 12 times greater
than the maximum levels acceptable for
residential property. According to Man-
zano, there were also traces of arsenic,
barium and cadmium.
In response to the press coverage,
Manzano said, DEQ has tested soils on
eight other nearby properties.
On two lots immediately adjacent to
the former smelter site, the lead levels
were lower, but still in excess of accept-
able residential levels, he said. On six
others – all to the south, the lead levels
were acceptable, Manzano said.
DEQ now proposes to do additional
testing on other properties within two
blocks of the site, and especially to the
north of it. Access is an issue, Manzano
said.
The agency has the legal authority to
demand access for testing, and would
exercise it if “there was a site where we
had reason to believe there is a really
bad pollution problem, but we respect
private property rights.”
Manzano quickly added, “The feed-
back from the neighbors is that they’re
concerned and want to help.”
One neighbor, Aimee Hester, asked if
the contamination might make the fruit
of fruit trees unsafe.
DEQ’s Barbara Zeal replied that there
was little danger, especially from the
(Continued on Page 7)
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The Southwest Portland Post
4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509
Portland, OR 97206
Illustration courtesy of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects LLP
Seven-story housing project approved
on west side of Ross Island Bridge
In a rare coup, a new seven story,
mixed use tower in the South Water-
front won approval from the Portland
Design Commission at its first hearing.
The project, by Jonathan Ledesma’s
Project Ecological Development, rep-
resents the first redevelopment of the
industrial holdings of the Zidell Com-
pany, which owns 33 acres on the north
end of the South Waterfront.
It is located on three irregularly
shaped parcels totaling 18,000 square
feet on Southwest Moody Avenue at
Grover Street, just south of the Ross
Island Bridge. It will be predominantly
residential, with 118 units ranging in
size from studios to two-bedroom,
but will include two restaurants at the
ground floor as well as an open “porch”
at the northeast corner.
The building will have no off-site
parking. Spokesperson Kathleen Maz-
zocco said that a building so close to
both the Portland Streetcar and the new
Portland to Milwaukie light rail line
should be “transit-oriented.” However,
she said, “We do realize that some ten-
ants will have cars,” and noted that in
the short term, at least, Zidell’s property
will offer ample parking opportunities.
However, planner Mark Walhood,
who had recommended approval of the
project in his staff report to the Com-
mission, told The Post that such parking
plans may be problematic. There is a
statutory limit on the number of spaces
in surface parking lots allowed in the
South Waterfront, he said, and this cap
has already been exceeded.
Commission members praised the
project as a “gateway” and “anchor” to
the newly developing neighborhood in
a difficult development site. Contrary
to normal practice, they did not ask the
development team to make any changes
or refinements.
– Lee Perlman