NAYA family
begins journey
north with
canoe blessing in
Willamette Park
– Page 8
Hillsdale
celebrates summer
season with book
sale and blueberry
pancakes
– Page 5
THE COUNTRY STORE
Two new businesses
open on the east end
of Multnomah Village
– Page 3
The Southwest Portland Post
Volume No. 24 Issue No. 9
www.swportlandpost.com
Portland, Oregon
Complimentary
July 2016
Residential infill project causes uproar at Multnomah open house
By Erik Vidstrand
The Southwest Portland Post
The Portland Bureau of Planning
and Sustainability held an open house
on June 15 at the Multnomah Arts
Center to unveil a residential infill
project which will be part of the city’s
comprehensive plan.
Even with little notice given, over
200 community members and leaders
Scale of houses would be limited under the proposed residential infill rules. Rooflines
would be lowered and setbacks would be made consistent with adjacent homes.
(Post photo by Erik Vidstrand)
packed the auditorium to hear the
city’s proposal. Many residents have
been distressed with demolitions of
older homes, housing affordability,
and changing the character of the
neighborhood with out of place house
designs.
Earlier in the day, the Portland
city council approved the 2035
Comprehensive Plan including the
controversial amendment P-45. This
amendment enables and encourages
development of “middle housing”
which includes multi-unit or clustered
residential buildings.
These buildings provide relatively
smaller, less expensive units, and a
scale transition between the core of
the mixed-use center and surrounding
single-family areas.
Zoning changes would allow this
type of development within a quarter-
mile of centers, corridors and transit
stations. The Multnomah Village
business district is proposed to be
designated a “center.”
The evening started out as any
typical open house. Staff stood along
easels with maps, photos, and statistics.
Residents mingled with staff. City
commissioner Steve Novick was in
attendance as was a TV news station.
A brief presentation then took place.
“Many of you are here for various
reasons,” began project manager
Sandra Wood. “Some of you may
b e t h i n k i n g a b o u t re m o d e l i n g ,
downsizing, or upset at McMansions
being erected next to small bungalows.”
Wood, and her colleague Morgan
Tracy, shared various proposed
standards of single-dwellings. The
rules will address scale of house,
middle-housing (alternative housing
types) as well as the development of
lots in R2.5, R5, R7 and higher zones.
Home size regulations would be
reduced from the current maximum
of 6,700 square feet down to 2,500
square feet.
“Square footage would be limited
proportionally to lot size,” explained
Tracy. “Rooflines would be lowered
and front setbacks could be reduced
to match neighboring homes.”
(Continued on Page 3)
Bridge, boardwalk and nature trail to be built at April Hill Park
By Jack Rubinger
The Southwest Portland Post
A mix of local residents, officials,
teachers, students and kids gathered
together on a typical Portland late
spring day — alternately sunny and
rainy — at April Hill Park on June 10
to celebrate a new trail which will bring
safe access to the park’s wetlands.
The well-orchestrated ceremony
included comments from Maplewood
Elementary School principal Jill Bailey,
project manager Lisa Tyler, and Portland
city commissioner Amanda Fritz — all
celebrating nature in the neighborhood.
Jordan Mercier from the Confederated
Tribes of the Grand Ronde spoke
eloquently about the importance of
wetlands in tribal culture and everyday
life.
“I first saw this area in 1996,” said
neighborhood activist Jill Gaddis who
was dressed for the occasion in a quilted
vest and boots.
“There’s incredible birdlife, plants
and flowers like the monkey flower
which is rarely seen in city parks. Right
now, the trails are too steep and difficult
for visitors to navigate,” said Gaddis.
According to Gaddis, hiking on the
trails as they are now compacts the
soil which drains the wetland, so the
solution will be a long boardwalk and
viewing platform across the wetlands.
Longtime neighborhood resident
and master of ceremonies Bill Rector
honored Gaddis with a few rhyming
lines, “There once was a lady named
Jill, queen of Park April Hill. And the
swamp is a beaut, but don’t step on a
newt which will give her a license to
kill.”
This project has been unfolding for
many years and money has been raised
through movies in the park and other
neighborhood events, including a series
of fundraisers between May 2013 and
January 2014.
According to Commissioner Amanda
Fritz, money to pay for the park project
came from more than $300,000 from
Systems Development Charges paid
by developers and allocated by the
Portland commissioner — in addition
to the fundraisers.
For kids, the park is a haven to get
up close and personal with robins, the
melodic Pacific Chorus frog, sword ferns,
dragonflies, big leaf maples, Douglas
squirrels, Douglas firs, butterflies,
Steller’s jays, mushrooms, vine maples,
skunk cabbages, chickadees, and
Oregon grape.
While the delicious
cookies, officials-with-shovel
photo opportunities and
speeches helped recognize
and support all those who’ve
put time and energy into
the park, the best part of the
day, for this reporter, was a
hike through the park led by
Gaddis.
Several kids and parents
broke off to join Gaddis on
the hike. Some kids splashed
around the creek, while
others cautiously stayed on
dry ground.
The planned nature trail
leads to a boardwalk which
leads to a bridge that crosses
Woods Creek. The trail will
wind up at Southwest 58th
Avenue. Pink ribbons tied
to assorted small trees and
shrubs indicated the locations Bill Rector “toasts” neighborhood activist Jill Gaddis
with a short poem at the April Hill Park groundbreaking
of trails and crossings.
Gaddis explained that the ceremony on June 10. (Post photo by Jack Rubinger)
project will hopefully be
done by the end of October with a
Hill Park, contact Jen Seamans, SWINI
ribbon cutting ceremony. Construction
watershed resource manager at
will begin in mid-July.
watershed@swni.org or Jill Gaddis at
For more information about April
AprilHillPark@swni.org.
This could be a banner month for your business
Yes you can...buy a 4-color banner ad on the front page of the
Southwest Portland Post. Call Don Snedecor at 503-244-6933
or email ads@multnomahpost.com for details.
Deadline for August is July 20.