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The St. Johns Review * #15 - JULY 24, 2015 * Page 3
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Keep Ivy Island
New St. Johns development and future livability
Dear Editor,
I am writing today about the
mixed-use development planned
at the east entry to downtown St.
John’s and the associated road/traf-
fi c changes the city has attached to
this project. This seems a signifi -
cant undertaking that will greatly
alter many features of life in the
immediate area.
I want to express several caveats
at the outset.
I am not opposed to development
in St. Johns. When I moved here in
2006, I looked forward to the pros-
pect of more diverse businesses
and amenities in the community.
The movement in that direction
to date has been really promising:
I love being able to walk to Tre
Bone, Etcetera, City Farm, Ace
Hardware, Leisure, Barrel, Proper
Eats, and Affogatto (among oth-
ers,) and the announcement that a
New Seasons is on the horizon on
N. Lombard was welcome news.
Moreover, although I had uncer-
tainty about an apartment building
being erected next to the bridge, I
think the Marvel 29 turned out bet-
ter than one would have imagined.
Its design and ecological focus
make it a pleasing addition to the
community and all the residents
I’ve met are simply great people.
I would also be remiss if I did not
recognize that as the area is revi-
talized, my property value goes up,
a welcome relief having made my
fi rst home purchase right before
the recession fully hit. So I “get”
that there is gain on all fronts when
businesses and developers see our
part of town as viable. And lastly,
having had the opportunity to meet
the architect of the new project at
the most recent SJNA meeting, he
seems a very likable, well-inten-
tioned person. He noted he used
to live in the area and wanted to
be part of a project here, and his
existing buildings, Signal Station
and the building that houses The
Parlour, and until recently Breathe
Bodywork, are lovely additions
that fi t the community and are
scaled appropriately. All this said,
I believe there are features of this
new project deserving of attention
and review.
It is my understanding that three
existing buildings - Weir’s Cy-
clery/Huk Lab, the Finnish church,
and the Hookah bar will be torn
down to make way for a four sto-
ry, 100+ unit apartment building
with retail space on the ground
level. The building will offer 80
underground parking spaces and
the garage entry/exit will be cre-
ated on N. Charleston adjacent to
the library parking lot and across
from James John School. In addi-
tion, at the city’s request in accor-
dance with the St. John’s/Lombard
Plan, the slip curve lane that allows
drivers to head into the downtown
corridor, and “ivy island’ that hosts
the area marquee, will be removed;
new curb space will be created in
their place for a plaza; and a right
turn into downtown with a signal
will be installed, making Lom-
bard fully two-way into and out
of downtown. This is about as big
a change as I could imagine for
this iconic entry to our downtown
stretch.
I happen to like our atypical,
curved entry that adjoins love-
ly shaded green space that com-
munity members worked hard to
create. It seems a shame to trade
this for a straight entry point that
will look identical to every other
commercial area in the city. Fur-
ther, as someone who lives on
Charleston and exits it daily across
Lombard by car and/or foot, I have
not found it to be as dangerous an
intersection as many claim, espe-
cially now that the awnings on the
Weir/Huk Lab building are gone.
Visibility is no worse than at many
other intersections in the city and
I have personally never witnessed
a driver speeding into downtown;
indeed I think the curve discourag-
es that.
I do however have serious con-
cern about the increasing pres-
sures on traffi c and parking that
this project will likely create.
As anyone who travels Ivanhoe,
Richmond, Lombard, German-
town Rd., or the bridge on a daily
basis surely knows, we are get-
ting a bit crowded in these parts
at rush hour. The traffi c light at
the corner of McMenamin’s has
made for daily back-ups in both
directions and as pedestrians have
found, they are not necessarily
safer. When more than 100 new
residents live between Richmond
and Charleston at Lombard, won’t
traffi c be monumentally worse?
Where are the overfl ow of their
cars that don’t fi t in the 80 allotted
spaces going to go? Where will the
teachers at James John park? How
will parents and buses drop off and
pick up students? How will library
patrons be affected? These ques-
tions don’t seem to be redressed in
the planning for this new structure.
And unlike Marvel 29 which sits
right next to the bridge, the resi-
dents of this new structure will be
placing signifi cant load on travel
in the heart of downtown.
Having spoken with city planners
and based on the architect’s own
explanation at the neighborhood
meeting, I now understand that
the building itself fi ts city code for
our area and therefore does not re-
quire public hearing or community
input. Whether we feel a building
of this size fi ts the scale and ‘small
town’ feel of our area is therefore
irrelevant. And truth be told, I’d
much rather have someone with
ties to the community design the
project than some hired gun who
has no stake in the outcome, save
the gain to his or her bank account.
However, the proposed chang-
es to the roadway require the city
to vacate parcels of their land to
the developer, and this apparently
means this portion of the project
will come before City Council for
review. It seems this is an oppor-
tunity for residents to have their
voices heard by those in a position
to infl uence project outcome. I
hope the St. Johns Neighborhood
Assn. or St. Johns Main Street can
research when the project will be
heard by City Council and let all
of us know in advance. I also hope
PBOT (Portland Bureau of Trans-
portation) will complete a traffi c
study of our area and determine
what mitigation needs to be done
to accommodate the anticipated
strain on our local roads. As a resi-
dential and business area with few
entry points, increased occupancy
means increased traffi c headache
and decreased livability. And as
development in the Mississip-
pi area proves, there is assuredly
a tipping point for quality of life
when too many people and vehi-
cles are crowded into too small a
space.
I am glad more people are fi nd-
ing out that St. Johns is a great
community. I am glad that more
small businesses want to plant
their stake here and that more de-
velopers believe our area is worth
investing in. And I want to have
some say in how the changes in
my community happen and how
my quality of life is affected.
When I shared with the architect
that I hoped the sweet mural on the
side of the Weir’s/Huk Lab build-
ing could be saved as part of this
project, he affi rmed my interest
and struck me as wholly genuine
in so doing. I was grateful for his
response. I don’t want to be seen
as an obstacle to progress but I do
want my neighbors and communi-
ty members to be informed about
the forthcoming changes to our
area in the hopes that our voices,
diverse as they may be, can be
heard.
Sincerely,
Kristine Munholland
North Charleston
Dear Editor,
I would like to write about
the current plan to develop the
Charleston St/ Ivy Island lot. For
those who are not familiar, the plan
is for the city to vacate the Lom-
bard slip lane and Ivy Island, to
raze Ivy Island and to build a sharp
right turn signal into St Johns.
Where Lombard and Ivy Island
are currently located, the develop-
er plans to build apartments and
an underground garage. The St
Johns Neighborhood association
is poised to approve this project.
The authority for this project is the
2001 St Johns/ Lombard Plan. In
the plan there were other propos-
als, one of which did not destroy
Ivy Island and kept the Lombard
slip lane.
I think a project that changes
the face of St Johns so radically
should have more community in-
put and consensus. I don’t think
any of us really want another
traffi c light and its congestion, or
to see Ivy Island razed. What we
do want is for Lombard and the
Lombard/Charleston corner to be
safe and pedestrian friendly. This
can be done more elegantly than
by destroying and changing ev-
erything. Let’s keep what works,
and there’s a lot about the current
easy, friendly, iconic, and lovely
entrance to our business district
that works. The reason why this
is a dangerous and pedestrian un-
friendly corner is the blind Lom-
bard curve. It’s blind because of
the Huk Building. If you moved
that building four feet, and with
the extra feet built a fl ower planter
and tree buffer, no more Lombard
blind curve, Charleston/Lombard
corner becomes safe, it’s pedes-
trian friendly, we keep Ivy Island
and we don’t get a right turn sig-
nal that nobody wants.
The Huk Building is slated for
demolition and the sight lines
for new construction have yet to
be designed. They could be de-
signed to make this safe.
John Teply
Atelier Gallery
7315 N Alta Ave
Portland, OR 97203
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