November 2015
NEWS
The Southwest Portland Post • 3
Multnomah Village neighbors fight for corridor at mixed-use forum
PORTLAND
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
By Erik Vidstrand
The Southwest Portland Post
Southwest residents and leaders attended
the city’s mixed-use zone forum on Oct. 14 at
Wilson High School. The zoning component
is part of the larger Portland Comprehensive
Plan 2035.
The first public hearing for the
comprehensive plan is scheduled for Nov.
19 at 3 p.m. at City Hall (City Council
chambers).
Multnomah Village and is slated to be
reclassified as a neighborhood center despite
repeated requests from the Multnomah
Neighborhood Association and Southwest
Neighborhoods, Inc. that it remain a
neighborhood corridor.
Multnomah chair Carol McCarthy
explained that this new classification will
allow four-story buildings (up to 55 feet) in
the central core of the village.
“It is also likely that buildings could go
(as high as) five stories,” McCarthy said,
“depending on what point their allowable
heights are measured.”
The commercial storefront designation is
being eliminated and the city is addressing
new zoning restrictions with regards to
height and style of buildings.
Barry Manning, senior planner for the
Bureau of Planning and Sustainability,
fielded questions and complaints at the
recent forum. Manning reminded people
that zoning rules were last drafted in 1995.
“Our bureau is addressing population
growth for the next 20 years,” Manning
explained. “Some of these rules
accommodated old bulky buildings that
resemble Tillamook cheese blocks with
limited use.”
The city will make height exceptions for
developers who utilize green building and
landscaping designs or add public gathering
spaces and plazas. Bonus points are awarded
for developments that include affordable
housing and commercial space.
“These projects can have higher stories like
the proposed Neighborhood House project,”
McCarthy explained. The local charity is
proposing a four-story development on
Southwest Moss Street and 35th Avenue.
McCarthy requested that CS be changed
to CM1(d) overlay. This design designation
promotes the conservation, enhancement,
and continued vitality of areas like
Multnomah Village with special scenic,
architectural, or cultural value.
This designation requires a design review
with community standards that ensure
certain types of infill development will be
compatible with the neighborhood and
enhance the area.
But according to the most recent draft
of the comprehensive plan, Multnomah
Village is designated CM2 (commercial
mixed-use) which allows for medium-scale
development in neighborhood centers and
corridors.
Manning was asked about a group who
walked through Multnomah Village in June
2014. The planning bureau conducted seven
different community walks throughout
the city then. One of these walkabouts
was in Multnomah Village. It included
neighborhood and business association
leaders, city staff, and several consultants.
Mary Elizabeth Symes
July 30, 1930 – September 5, 2015
London, England born, Mary Elizabeth
Symes passed away on September 5,
2015. Mary opened her door to life
on July 30, 1930 full of love and joy
to parents George and Rosina Mary
Richardson. Growing up in the heart of
London proper with her brother, George
and her sister, Rose, the family survived
the London bombings of Hitler in World
War II. Young Mary became a child of
Operation Pied Piper with the removal
of London children from their homes to
the English countryside.
A War Bride to US Army Air Force
Native Marvin Symes, she made her way
across the Pond on the S.S. America to
be married in New York’s “Little Church
Around the Corner” and to write a new
chapter of her life story in the small town
of Multnomah, Oregon.
Far away from the streets and sounds
of London and the Isles, Mary and husband Marvin became a family of four with the
birth of two daughters, Mary and Maureen. Multnomah quickly embraced “the Brit”
and she worked in grocery for her adult years while taking care of home and family.
She was a strong worker and friend to the Feuz’s John’s Market, first on Main Street
Multnomah and then in the new store on Multnomah Boulevard.
Mary’s true love was working in her gorgeous garden and having her dog close to
her side. Always a true Brit, Mary was known as “the Queen” lovingly to friends and
neighbors. Her beauty, strength and love of life will be truly missed by all her knew her
as family and as a delightful friend.
Mary is survived by her sister Rose Greenaway in London, England; daughters
Mary and Maureen; grandchildren Cody, Colt, Cree, Megan, Heather and Angela
along with great grandchildren Breanna, Brandon, Madison and Chase; and London,
England family nieces Angela, JoAnne and Patricia, and nephew Colin Richardson.
Family is asking any Donations in Memory to Mary Symes be made to Disabled
American Veterans (dav.org) or Portland Meals on Wheels.
Beloved Wife, Mother, Auntee, Nana and Friend …
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields
and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Empty lots like this one in Multnomah Village are being eyed by city planners for infill development.
(Post photo by Erik Vidstrand)
He explained that questions were
proposed to the group about available
spaces for potential development. He
clarified that there were no developers
among the group.
Some neighborhood leaders had heard a
comment that a Walmart-type store could
be brought to the area near the post office
which could have about five-acres available
for development. When asked about this,
Manning said nothing had been proposed
or suggested.
“We are still fine-tuning the comprehensive
plan to meet the growing needs of each
community,” Manning clarified. “Available
land is considered opportunity sites.”
Manning explained that large sites, like
near the post office, could have large retailers,
general use, or mixed-use development.
Long-time Multnomah resident Ken
Hittle attended both the forum and the
neighborhood meeting the night before.
He had two main concerns: keeping the
building height to three stories and not
changing the look of the village.
Hittle has recently become more active
with neighborhood activities especially once
he heard the city was thinking of turning
the Jerome Sears Armory into a women’s
homeless shelter.
“Affordable housing is a priority,” a
participant shouted, “but what is the process
the city uses to evaluate our comments?”
Manning said that if comments are
inconsistent with the draft policy, then they
would not consider it. The comprehensive
plan is based on future growth and future
resident figures.
“You are proposing suburbia in our
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