2 • The Southwest Portland Post
EDITORIAL
The Southwest Portland Post
4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509
Portland, OR 97206
Fax: (866) 727-5336
email: editor@multnomahpost.com
Multnomah neighbors
oppose sale of Freeman
Water Tank property
We are writing to you as con-
cerned residents in regards to the
recent “sale” of the Freeman Water
Tank on Southwest 42nd Avenue in
Multnomah.
The sale of this property includes,
not only the water tank itself, but
also the land behind it (a total of
.72 acres), which is home to a large
number of animals and wildlife,
including (but not limited to) wood-
peckers, coyotes, raccoons, song
birds, humming birds, owls, and
deer.
It is also close to Woods Park,
which is owned by Portland Parks.
Currently, “Friends of Woods Park”
(a subcommittee of Crestwood
Neighborhood Association) is work-
ing on new acquisitions to permit a
trail system into the larger portion of
Woods Park. It is our hope that the
current property in which the water
tank is located on could be used for
this endeavor.
Our neighborhood doesn’t believe
that this property was sold accord-
ing to the rules and ordinances for
the City of Portland.
Per Ordinance Number 183952
(passed on June 23, 2013), it was
determined that “the public inter-
est would be best served by selling
each [surplused Water Bureau]
property at the fair market value”
and directed that these properties
“be sold on the open market for the
best price, terms and conditions in
accordance with City codes”.
This is not the case in this instance.
The Water Tank Property on South-
west 42nd Avenue and Freeman
Street was sold to a developer – who
plans to build three large homes on
this property - for a sale price of
$140,000, which is far below what
“fair market value” would be for
this area.
In addition to this, no notification
was provided to the neighborhood,
or to the neighbors close by this land
that there was an interested party
that was looking to purchase and
develop this area.
As residents of this area, our
family would love for this area to
become protected, so that it can be
added to the existing Woods Park
area and used by others as a con-
necting area to Woods Park.
This area is one that has so much
beauty and nature in it, that we want
to protect and share it with others,
not have it destroyed by developers
for their own financial gain.
To have the ability to have our son
(and other children in the neighbor-
November 2013
hood as well as future generations)
be able to grow up with the oppor-
tunity to learn about the importance
and value of this kind of nature and
wildlife that is so close to them is so
important to us.
We want to keep public lands
public, and not have [this property]
exploited by developers for their
own financial gains.
We want to thank you for your
time in reading this letter and hope
that it can be shared with the com-
munity of Portland to help build
awareness as to the importance of
protecting the land and wildlife
around us.
As a neighborhood, we will con-
tinue to fight to save this land, and
truly hope that you can help to sup-
port us in this endeavor.
Karen McKibbin, Joshua Dow,
and Tiernan McDow
Multnomah
City ignored spirit of the law
with Freeman Water Tank
property sale
[Portland Water Bureau Com-
missioner] Nick Fish responded
to neighborhood concerns about
the sale of the Freeman water tank,
saying that he had “followed all
relevant policies.” Please forgive
me if I am less than impressed with
his excuses.
He said that his “top priority” is
clean, safe water and stormwater
services. True, but insufficient. His
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well
be
…
and well informed
6256 SW Capitol Hwy.
Susan Ferreira, LMT #13618
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Celebrating
total priorities include acting in the
best interest of the citizens of Port-
land. This he did not do.
It sounds to me like he is nitpick-
ing the letter of the law in order to
justify ignoring the spirit of the law.
Public notification and public
hearings and public process are not
new concepts in Portland. Certainly
they predate 2010 by a long shot.
The sale of the Freeman water
tank land, better to be known as the
Woods Park Expansion, was carried
out in an apparently deceitful way,
with “notifications” having been
made in ways that would almost
certainly go unnoticed by the af-
fected neighbors.
He also did not act in the best
interest of the citizens of Portland
in terms of the sale price he agreed
to. $140,000 is an egregious price for
that [0.72 acre] piece of land. In no
way did he consider the real market
value when approving this sale.
Portland deserves better than this.
If he is, as he claims, “keenly
aware of the value of green space
in creating livable neighborhoods,”
he would get busy unwinding this
sale and restore the green space to
the citizens of Portland.
I urge him to reconsider his posi-
tion and do what is right in this case:
restore this land to public property.
503-246-3324
GardenHome
Portland,Oregon97223
Byappointmentonly
503-244-7582 • email: hdrx@pcez.com
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