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About The Southwest Portland Post. (Portland, Oregon) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2017)
Community Advisory Committee ponders light rail alignment, station issues – Page 3 Blind walker asks motorists to be more aware of their surroundings – Page 5 EarthTalk: If Neil Gorsuch is confirmed as Supreme Court justice, how will that affect our environment? – Page 2 The Southwest Portland Post Volume No. 25 Issue No. 6 www.swportlandpost.com Portland, Oregon Complimentary April 2017 New subdivision would have dramatic impact on Hayhurst neighborhood By Jack Rubinger The Southwest Portland Post A March 8 land use hearing was attended by more than 50 friends and families from the Hayhurst area to discuss a proposed development that would have a dramatic impact on the neighborhood. Speakers included Susan King, Brynna Hurwitz, and Randi Sachs. Everett Custom Homes is the developer. The hearing was conducted because it’s required for a Type III development. This is controversial because the property has a 15 percent slope to be filled with 18 feet of dirt in a potential landslide zone and there are protected wetlands there. Neighbors, many of who have lived in the area for 20-plus years, aren’t happy. “Our Southwest neighborhoods continue to battle greedy developers,” said one neighbor. “With so many folks moving to Portland and the urban growth boundary, developers are swallowing up any old lots they can find within city limits and building large homes on them, with little consideration for the environment or the community.” According to the same neighbor, this development, on Southwest 48th Avenue, proposes 11 homes on one lot, all out of price range for the neighborhood. It proposes paving what is now a “safe route to school” for Hayhurst Elementary School children and removing more than 90 trees. More than 320 people have signed a petition protesting the development. The area near Pendleton Woods is former dairy land. It is rural and filled with trees, seeps and springs. There is a gravel road and Southwest 48th Avenue is an unimproved street with no sidewalks, many potholes and an intersection with Cameron Street with low visibility. It’s also a “safe route to school” so there are lots of pedestrians on 48th Avenue from Cameron through the site to Iowa Street, where Hayhurst Elementary School stands. (Continued on Page 7) A picture of the proposed Pendleton Woods development in Hayhurst. (Photo courtesy of Randi Sachs) New city renter ordinance provides assistance for evicted tenants MULTNOMAH NOTEBOOK By Erik Vidstrand The Southwest Portland Post The March 14 meeting of the Multnomah Neighborhood Association was full of detailed reports from each of the various committees. Parks are looking at a 5 percent budget cut, local transportation issues continue to progress, and safety remains a top priority for the area. When they were finished, vice chair Leslie Hammond discussed the “Portland Renter Additional Protections” ordinance. It was approved recently by the city council and became effective Feb. 2. “The ordinance covers a few protections for tenants,” Hammond said. “Landlords may terminate a rental agreement without a cause with a written notice no less than 90 days before the termination date designated in the lease.” Hammond explained that the landlord must pay the evicted tenant “relocation assistance” in various sums depending on the size of the unit. “For example, $2,900 must be paid for single-room occupancy, $3,300 for a one-bedroom dwelling, or $4,200 for a two-bedroom.” Several exemptions apply: week-to- week tenancies; landlords who only have one rental unit; rentals within the landlord’s principal residence; or long- term rentals of the principal residence of not more than three years. Reducing homelessness and increasing affordable housing were the number one priorities on both of the council’s agendas. Residential infill project discussed Land use co-chair Houston Markley mentioned a Jan. 26 Portland Tribune article about affordable home lobbying efforts by various groups. “We need to end the exclusionary gated communities without gates in Portland,” Madeline Kovacs, the program director for Portland for Everyone, was quoted. “Kovacs was referring in particular to various neighborhoods fighting infill housing projects, including Multnomah,” Markley explained. “Portland for Everyone is a land-use watchdog organization that works to restrict the urban growth boundaries where new development can occur,” Jim Peterson, the land use co-chair said. Kovacs is planning to spend the coming year working to ensure the residential infill project concept plan, approved by city council last year, allowing new multifamily housing projects in existing single-family neighborhoods. According to United Neighborhoods for Reform, the Residential Infill Project Stakeholder Advisory Committee was appointed by city staff. “UNR is a grass roots neighborhoods organization,” wrote Barbara Strunk, the group’s representative on the committee. “UNR group was created because of concerns about the number of demolitions of viable, relatively affordable houses and replacement with much larger, very expensive houses,” Strunk wrote to The Post. (Continued on Page 6) Subscribe to The Post and help us keep the presses rolling! Form on Page 2. The Southwest Portland Post 4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509 Portland, OR 97206 One of eight projects in and around Southwest Carson Street and 46th Avenue. According to Houston Markley, the crumbling street is becoming worse with the number of construction trucks coming and going since last year. (Post photo by Erik Vidstrand)