Don’t
forget to vote!
Tuesday, Nov.
8 is Election
Day
Want to ring
the historic
Garden Home
bell? Find
out more in
“Community
Life” – Page 5
Habitat for
Humanity to
purchase church
property for new
development
– Page 4
Carol
McCarthy hands
the gavel to
newly-elected
Multnomah chair
Martie Sucec
– Page 7
The Southwest Portland Post
Volume No. 25 Issue No. 1
www.swportlandpost.com
Portland, Oregon
Complimentary
November 2016
City fines property owner $21,600 but
allows giant cedar trees to be cut down
By KC Cowan
The Southwest Portland Post
As Portland’s building boom
continues, neighborhoods continue to
see big changes, and not everyone is
happy about it.
A notice from the city arborist went
up on at 4014 SW Marigold St. in
October announcing the pending
removal of a clump giant cedar trees.
The notice is required to be posted,
since the combined trunk of the trees
is greater than 36 inches.
The five cedars soar high into the
sky. According to the City notice, it is a
cluster of five cedar trees with a 72-inch
base. The notification posting went up
Oct. 10 and will stay up until Nov. 24.
Kicki Masthem lives across the street
from the property and loves the cedars.
She can see them daily from her side
and back yard. Her neighbors also love
the big old trees, she said.
“They’re just going to scrape the
entire lot to take down the one home
and put up two new homes,” Masthem
said. “It doesn’t even seem to matter
how old and beautiful the tree is.”
Masthem said she also worries that
the new construction won’t fit into the
neighborhood. That section of Marigold
Street mostly consists of one-story
cottages. Masthem worries that the new
houses will be modern monstrosities
and look out of place.
Not that the current structure is a
delight to look at. Masthem says it
has been a rental for many years with
tenants she described as “sketchy” at
best. It now stands empty.
The contact listed on the tree removal
notice is Nathan Arnold, who can be
reached at Fasterpermits.com. But
the owner is Michael T. Fisk, who
lives on Southwest 28th Avenue. The
house, 1,206 square feet with one
full bathroom, has a market value of
(Continued on Page 6)
Kicki Masthem stands in her garden across the street from the cedar trees due to be cut
down. (Post photo by KC Cowan)
City focuses on development of sidewalks, bike paths and stormwater system
Members of three Southwest committees sit down together to meet with staff of the city
bureaus of Environmental Services and Transportation. (Post photo by Erik Vidstrand)
STREET AND
STORMWATER SUMMIT
By Erik Vidstrand
The Southwest Portland Post
The coalition of Southwest
neighborhoods held a Street and
Stormwater Summit on Sept. 29.
Watershed, transportation, and land
use committees sat side by side with city
staff in a roundtable format.
The purpose, as explained by
facilitator Marianne Fitzgerald, was
to create open and on-going dialogue
between neighborhood representatives
and city staff.
“This focuses around the needs and
opportunities of the transportation
and stormwater systems in southwest
Portland,” Fitzgerald said in opening
remarks.
Dawn Uchiyama, the new assistant
director for the Bureau of Environmental
Services, spoke on the collaboration and
coordination.
“We’re building off the success
of the recent Tryon-Stephens Creek
Headwaters Neighborhood Street
Plan,” she explained. “The summit
is a first step toward developing a
stormwater system plan.
“This will include funding of the
much-needed stormwater conveyance
infrastructure,” Uchiyama said, “as
well as sidewalks and bike paths on
key streets.”
Both environmental and
transportation bureaus have signed a
charter to begin working more closely
together.
“The summit will provide an
opportunity for members of the three
[Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc.]
committees and others,” Fitzgerald
added. “We will directly speak with key
city staff about what works and how
future projects could be improved.”
Past projects were discussed at length
and the city admitted to mistakes and is
applying lessons learned. Projects along
Multnomah Boulevard, Stephenson
and Hamilton streets featured
miscommunication about swale issues
and street shoulder problems.
Photos of the crumbling asphalt on
narrow street shoulders were passed
around and studied. Fixes were
suggested from experts in the room.
Denver Igarta, from the Transportation
Bureau, said extensions were added
to repair shoulders near Bridlemile
Elementary School but experts in
the audience said that asphalt is not
sustainable.
“We need standards and criteria for
creating shoulders,” said John Gibbon.
“We also want to initiative a pre-and-
post-project audit.”
But another member said if an audit is
done results needs to be communicated
out.
Other complaints were brought up
like Multnomah Boulevard bike tracks,
the bioswales, and parking.
“We’re not going to have all the
answers tonight,” said Dan Layden
of the Transportation Bureau. “We’ve
identified 41 items [for consideration],
prioritized eight, and completed five
including Stephens-Tryon Headwaters,”
Layden stated.
“Up until 2011, priority was pretty
focused on the big sewer project so
sewage didn’t seep into the Willamette,”
he said. “We have heard you loud and
clear.”
Large organization charts were posted
on the chalkboard. Environmental
Services has 560 employees,
Transportation has 750 employees.
“A year of communicating with the
community about the headwaters
project has produced better outcomes,”
Igarta commented.
The charts indicate a bigger layer
of bureaucracy with finance and
communication committees reporting
to a project coordination team directly
under a leadership team.
“Coordination of a charter and
improving assets and coordination with
high quality investments are our main
concern,” Uchiyama added.
Why are two commissioners involved
in this?
“We have very large bureaus for
one person to oversee,” Uchiyama
answered. “Commissioners Fish and
(Continued on Page 6)
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The Southwest Portland Post
4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509
Portland, OR 97206