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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 2002)
October 09, 2002 Page A 8 Miracles Social Club Fights to Stay Open co n tin u ed fr o m F ront netw orking opportunities and ed u cation fo r people w ho are trying to learn how to live again." The success has been p henom enal, she said. As m em bership num bers rise, fees have dropped from $55, to $25 and finally to $5. F or Friday night dances. M iracles usually has a turnout betw een 200 and 300 m em bers and for special events, like fashion show s, som e tim es m ore than 500 people show up. NEIGHBORHOOD RESPONSE Som e neighbors, like B am ell W ilson w ho rents garage space across the street, are pleased to be in such a close proxim ity to the M iracles Club. “I’ve seen som e o f these people before, out there in the streets look ing like zom bies,” W ilson said. "T h ey ’re not lo o k in ’ like zom bies anym ore, they’re lookin’goodw ith g o o d jo b s and nice cars. I’m really im pressed.” O th er n eig h b o rs are no t so happy. N ancy Johnson, the presiding president o f the K ing N eig h b o r hood A ssociation, said people call her at 2 a.m . and 3 a.m. to co m p lain about noise, loitering and cars rac ing dow n side streets after M iracles C lub events. A nother neighbor, w ho declined to give her nam e, said since she m oved into the neighborhood t wo- and-a-half years ago M iracles C lub m em bers often gather on the side w alk outside her bedroom w indow after dances. “T h ey ’ll be out there scream ing and it sounds like figh tin g ,” she said. “ 1 know m ostly they are ju st being social, but its really, really loud. I lose a lot o f sleep .” F our years ago, M arlys M ock and her husband, T om B enton said th e y fo u n d a fa n ta s tic h o u se around the co m er from M iracles. T he couple said they purchased the house w ith plans o f starting a fam ily. But w hen M iracles has dances, som etim es their drivew ay gets blocked and if the south door o f the building is open, M ock and B enton site problem s w ith w hat they call “unreasonably loud m u sic.” T h e couple said they once co n fronted children running around the neig h b o rh o o d at night and urinating on the sidew alks and w ere told their parents w ere inside the club. “ I d o n ’t care if I liv e in L ake O sw e g o o r n o rth P o rtla n d , a n e ig h b o rh o o d s h o u ld n 't be su b je c te d to re c u rrin g stre sse s b e c a u s e o f o n e o r g a n i z a ti o n .” M o ck said . “ S o m eth in g n eed s to be d o n e ab o u t the p a rk in g v io la tio n s, e x c e ssiv e n o ise an d u n su p erv ised ch ild ren . I su p p o rt w hat th ey d o at th e M ira c le s C lu b and w o u ld like to see som e m u tu al re sp ect fo r th e n e ig h b o rs. T h ese w as doing before, it may continue w ithout incurring fines or apply ing for a zoning variance. Rocky Polzin, land-use ch air m an for the King N eighborhood A ssociation, said the variance pro cess is long and difficult. He said it involves com m unity im pact state m ents and neighborhood support am ongst o th er m ore com plicated ZONING PROBLEMS CITY SUPPORT M iracles has in c u rre d fines o f u p w ard s o f $ 1 0 ,0 0 0 in the nam e o f the property ow ner. B ut thanks to c ity c o m m is s io n e r s D a n S altzm an and E ric Sten, and M ar g aret M ah o n ey , d ire c to r o f the PHOTO BY D avid P lechl / T he P ortland O bserver — Miracles Secretary Marvis Brown T he problem M iracles faces are tw o fo ld . N e ig h b o rh o o d c o m plaints aside, their building is zoned for residential rather than com m er cial use. Before M iracles moved in, the building w as occupied by an industrial w holesale business. This business operated w ithout v io lat ing zoning laws because o f a grand- fath erclau se, m eaning as long as a business continues to do w hat it dow s,” he said. "M iracles is in violation, so w hy d o n ’t they have to pay?” th a t th in g s h a v e b e e n b e tte r sin ce th e a g re e m e n t w as sig n ed in2(MX), but said th e re ’s ro o m for im provem ent. “75 to 200 people com e to these events and they only have six legal parking spaces,” N ancy Johnson said. “Even if they are not blocking our drivew ays, w here are all the neighbors going to park?” THE UNCERTAIN FUTURE M iracles C lub has not yet filed Bennett Williams a form al application for a condi- has a Polaroid * tional use perm it o r a zoning vari picture o f himself ance, but board m em bers are a l taken by photogra ready doing their best to increase pher Steve Slater com m unity aw areness about the inside the Miracles Club. Slater charges club and gather support. R aym ond D. C rutchley, an at $4 a shot and torney for H artfield and C rutchley donates the pro A ttorneys and L egan C onsultants, ceeds to the drug has v o lu n teered his assistan ce and alcohol free w ith the variance process. facility. Nobody had any experience with this business stuff, so we just moved in and started on our mission. are ju s t b asic fu n d a m e n ta ls o f b e in g p o lite .” neighborhood association at the tim e, said at first the neighborhood turned a blind eye and so did the city. T om C arter, a senior planner in the code developm ent section o f the City O ffice o f Planning and D evelopm ent R eview , explained that in general, the city does not do proactive investigations into zon ing issues and responds to them jj legal issues and is best handled by experienced legal counsel. W hen M iracles m oved in, the ow ner o f the building, Jack Gorman o f B eaverton, could have applied for a variance. He did n ’t. N either did M iracles. “W e w ere ju s t a bunch o f grass roots o rganizers,” M iracles Secre tary M arvis B row n said. “N obody had any experience w ith this b usi ness stuff, so w e ju st m oved in and started on our m ission.” Polzin, w ho w as president o f the on a com plaint and inquiry only basis. “W e ’re not out there patrolling, for exam ple,” C arter said. W hen M iracles’ property ow ner dug up a fuel tank and repaved the parking lot, Polzin discovered the w ork w as done w ithout a perm it. He issued a form al com plaint to the city. N eighbors d id n ’t understand w hy M iracles w as able to make changes w ithout going through the perm it process. Polzin understands frustrations with regards to zoning. He has accum ulated nearly $7,000 in fines for rem olding his nearby residence w ithout perm its. “There are people w ho have been in this neighborhood for 30 years w ho have to pay fines for bad steps or old paint and broken w in city o ffic e o f p la n n in g and d e v elo p m en t rev iew , the p arties have been allo w e d to ig n o re the bill p e n d in g a c o n d itio n a l use p erm it p ro cess. “W e understand w hat they are doing and believe in them ,” an assistant to Saltzm an said. S upport o f the neighborhood is also essential to the variance pro cess. M iracles has signed a G ood N eig h b o r A g reem en t w ith the n e ig h b o rh o o d a ss o c ia tio n , the N ortheast C oalition o f N eighbors and the city O ffice o f N eighbor hood Involvem ent. T h e a g re e m e n t s ta te s th a t M iracles will m onitor parking and u n su p e rv ise d c h ild re n aro u n d th e p re m ise s w ith a fo o t p atro l and k eep no ise dow n d u rin g s o cial ac tiv itie s. N e ig h b o rs agree B row n hopes the attorney can help the club com e to term s w ith the neighborhood, but she said it som etim es feels like going up against a brick wall. “All these people w ho are doing the com plaining now w ould have a lot m ore to com plain about if 300 m ore people w ere out on the street adding to the crim inal quotient in stead o f in our building^’ Brow n said. H er g re a te st fe a r is th a t if M iracles does get the variance, their landlord may turn around and sell the building out from under them . B row n sees all o f the new developm ent along M LK and w or ries that it may be ju s t a m atter o f tim e before M iracles has to find another location. “Ultimately, we may have to go,” she said. “ But these issues o f sub stance abuse, at risk youth and dom estic abuse - they will still be there.” David Plechl contributed to this story. Voter Participation Encouraged with ‘Vote for Children’ Face painting and gospel sing ing will a part o f the mix at a Vote for C hildren com m unity kick-off to be held Saturday, Oct. 12from 10a.m. to 6 p .m . atC hrist M em orial Church on 1552N . K illingsw orth. E v e n t o rg a n iz e rs h o p e the daylong event w ill help raise north and northeast P ortland v o ter reg istration by 5 percent. “W e h av e the p o w er to step up an d m ake a d iffe re n c e ,” said C lin to n N elso n , ac o m m u n ity o r g a n iz e r fo r the V o te fo r C h ild ren p ro g ra m . “ If w e w an t to see c h a n g e s in o u r n eig h b o rh o o d s, o u r sch o o ls and o u r c o m m u n i ties, w e have to g et o u t and vo te.” The Vote for Children program w orks under the prem ise that by teaching elementary schoolchildren about the dem ocratic process, more adults will be inclined to vote. Through participation in essay con tests, mock elections and neighbor hood canvassing efforts, kids learn the value o f their vote and pass that knowledge onto their parents. Last year, New Jersey-based Vote for Children noticed voterparticipa- tion had dropped significantly withi n Portland’s minority population. So comm unity volunteers targeted 14 north and northeast Portland el em entary schools and ended up signing on 24. All o f these schools received a stipend o f $500to pay for sample ballots, mock voter boxes and any additional costs incurred during the program. In January, all 24 schools that succeed at increasing voter par ticipation will receive an aw ard o f $5,000 to be used for field trips, outdoor learning adventures and other educational activities o f the school’s choice. “T hese children are our future and som ebody dropped the ball | in Portland],” N elson said. “W e ca n ’t afford to let that happen again. V otes do m atter. W e have the pow er to step up.” For m ore inform ation on the V ote for Children com m unity kick off, co n tac t C linton N elson at 5 0 3 .2 3 6 .4 9 4 9 e x t. 2 9 , e m a il cn elso n @ voteforchildren.org or v is it th e w e b s ite at w w w .voteforchildren.org. T r a J n t i o n o f E x c e l . Jlen.ce W est C oast B lack P ublishers A ssociation A wards of M erit ♦ General Excellence A w ard - 1st Place ♦ Best News Story - 1st Place ♦ Best Special Issue - 1st Place ♦ Best Black History - 1st Place ♦ Best Entertainment - 2nd Place ♦ Best Sports - 3 rd Place 'Ponttaact Oitenuen, For the highest Standard of Journalism and Publishing, 2001-2002
