August 2016
NEWS
The Southwest Portland Post • 3
Neighborhood to appeal comp plan amendment that allows residential infill
By Erik Vidstrand
The Southwest Portland Post
Multnomah neighborhood
association leaders have hired a lawyer
to appeal a Portland Comprehensive
Plan amendment (P-45) which allows
residential infill projects with middle
housing. The unnamed attorney has
been successful in other similar cases,
according to chair Carol McCarthy.
“The plan is to write an objection to
the comp plan,” McCarthy announced
at the July 12 association meeting.
“There are several issues that need
to be addressed by the city before
the Oregon Department of Land
Conservation and Development
approves the plan.”
Jim Peterson, land use chair, said
the association will appeal three
items: requesting neighborhood
associations to be inserted back in
the comp plan, truth in zoning, and
changing the neighborhood “center”
designation to a neighborhood
“corridor.”
McCarthy said that the 2035
C o m p re h e n s i v e P l a n d o e s n o t
adequately recognize the importance
of neighborhood associations and
coalitions on issues affecting the
community.
“These are democratic organizations
at their finest,” McCarthy said. “The
city would rather promote special
interest groups that are different from
those of Portland’s residents.”
The second objective proposes
truth in zoning. This means that only
single-family residential dwellings
a re p e r m i t t e d i n s i n g l e - f a m i l y
residential zones.
“If the state allows this (Policy 5.6)
to be included in the comp plan,”
McCarthy explained, “there will be
no truth in zoning.”
The final objective is to return
Multnomah Village to a corridor.
Spring Garden Park
(Continued from Page 1)
site from his front yard. He was so upset
that he, and his wife, Cathy Frost, came
to the July Multnomah Neighborhood
Association to voice their concerns.
“The online discussion does not have
any mention of the amphitheater,”
Boltz told the association.
Friends of Spring Garden Park
re p re s e n t a t i v e s a t t h e m e e t i n g
explained that teenagers were involved
in the planning of the park and that the
committee wanted a place for them to
hang out.
Boltz said that boulders were
proposed for that purpose. “Suddenly,”
Boltz responded, “a 400- square-foot
paved amphitheater is proposed with
plans to allow amplified music.”
Hannah Davidson, a member of
the project advisory committee, said
“The inclusion of an amphitheater in
Spring Garden Park turns a very small
neighborhood park into a regional,
destination park.”
According to Davidson, “There is no
documented community support for
an amphitheater or any other hard or
softscape development for the lower
part of the park.”
Mark Ross, a spokesman for the
park bureau, said, “Planning for the
park was completed in February 2016.
At that time, the advisory committee
approved, by consensus, the final plan
for the park.”
“ B e i n g a c e n t e r, ” P e t e r s o n
commented, “will allow ‘middle
housing’ essentially everywhere
in Multnomah a quarter mile from
the neighborhood center. This will
allow more infill projects and more
demolitions.”
Long time Multnomah resident
Frank Barbour is already being
affected by these issues. He came to
the July meeting specifically to share
photos and a list of grievances about
an infill project right next to his home.
“Actually two infill projects are on
either side of my house,” Barbour
said.
On the east side of his property,
a 2,500-square-foot house is being
developed on a tiny flag lot. To the
west is a proposed project of three
row houses which is still gathering
permits.
“ O r i g i n a l l y, ” B a r b o u r s a i d ,
“neighbors were notified that the flag
lot was going to have a tiny mother-
in-law’s suite with at least a ten-foot
setback from the adjacent property.
“What is being built is not what
we were told,” said Barbour. “What
we thought was going to be a quaint,
little cottage has turned into a
McMansion.”
According to Barbour, the Bureau
of Developmental Services gave
the builder a variance for major
modifications and a new setback of
three feet and never notified him.
“What makes us most irate,”
Barbour exclaimed, “is that the city
does not communicate with us and
the developer does not abide by best
practices.”
As Barbour spoke, he passed around
photos of the construction.
McCarthy thanked Barbour and
warned that this could just be the
beginning of destroying the village’s
charm. She said a website is in the
works that basically says, “Don’t
Rezone Us.”
The committee agreed to replace
concrete with a pervious surface. Ross
said that after that meeting, a follow-
up email was sent to this group with
no response.
“On the contrary,” Davidson said,
“there is considerable community
support against any built environment
in the lower park area. The PAC agreed
to a series of boulders to be in this
area.”
“ We h e a r y o u r c o n c e r n s
about increased noise, traffic and
p e d e s t r i a n s , ” s a i d H u n Ta i n g ,
community engagement coordinator
for the park bureau. “We are mindful in
our design to mitigate those conditions
where we can.
“At the same time,” Taing continued,
“we are also obligated to build a park
that is inclusive of all ages to enjoy. We
anticipate that most of the noise that
emanates from the park will come from
the playground area.”
Ross defended the planned park
improvements. “The Project Advisory
Committee feels strongly that we
had a solid, extensive and inclusive
process with an outcome which is
satisfactory to the vast majority of park
stakeholders. It’s unfortunate that a
small group of neighbors are not in
support of this program element for
the park.”
National Night Out festivities,
including pie and music, will be held
at Spring Garden Park on Tuesday,
Aug. 2, from 6—8 p.m.
A new flag lot development is just feet from the neighbor's property.
(Photo courtesy of Julie Barbour)
Peterson added that the association
is printing up signs to inform the
neighborhood of the impending
changes.
“We found out about all of this
because we are watching,” McCarthy
concluded. “We do not think other
neighborhood associations are aware
of these changes even now.”
For more information and
documents, please visit http://swni.
org/multnomah.
Lead Found in Drinking Water
and grade. Staff will be asked to
provide their school district employee
identification.
Portland Public Schools retained the
law firm of Stoll Berne to investigate
and report on current systems,
procedures and protocols regarding
water testing.
The Stoll Berne report said that
infrastructure and maintenance has
been a lower priority than direct
educational services due to budget
constraints.
Lead in water has not been viewed
by the Portland Public Schools board
or administration as a significant
issue.
The Portland school district lacks
clear policies or protocols in place for
testing for lead in drinking water or
keeping track of which sources have
or for remediation of sources that
tested, the report said.
The school district does not have
a clear reporting system internally
for water issues and does not have
systems in place to communicate
with parents, the public or the media
relating to those issues, the report said.
Finally, PPS Superintendant Carol
Smith, who has been criticized
by several newspapers about her
handling of the presence of lead
in the water in several schools,
announced her retirement on July 18,
a year earlier than she had originally
planned.
In a written statement, Smith said,
“I have provided the school board
with a memo of recommendations
to address the health and safety
of our schools, as well as systems
and operational concerns we have
identified over the last few weeks that
align with many of the issues outlined
in the report.”
(Continued from Page 1)
Officials at Portland Public Schools
have recently tested for lead in
the water in all PPS buildings,
including Bridlemile, Gray, Jackson,
Maplewood, Hayhurst, Stephenson,
Rieke, and Capitol Hill schools which
all feed into Wilson High School.
“So far we have found evidence
of lead in about 30 schools and are
awaiting results for the remaining
schools. Our immediate reaction is
to ensure that students have safe
water to drink. We have arranged to
deliver (bottled drinking) water to all
of the schools in PPS this summer and
throughout the next school year,” said
Yousef Awwad, chief financial officer
of Portland Public Schools.
The Portland school district
contracted with TRC Solutions to
conduct district-wide water testing
in all PPS buildings this summer.
Testing is now complete and the
school district is awaiting results from
the state-certified labs.
For those with health concerns,
there are a few lead screening options
available to students and staff at no
cost.
Onsite lead level screenings are
being conducted on Saturdays and
Sundays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
during the summer at Blanchard
Education Service Center, 501 N.
Dixon St. Go to pps.kadalyst.com to
reserve your slot or call 503-916-3122.
Kadalyst Health Partners will
perform the finger prick test and
results will be available while you
wait. A physician will privately advise
anyone with an elevated lead level.
Families will be asked to provide
the name of the student(s), school