CAREERS Special Edition
Page 6
August 15, 2018
Fighting Displacement
C ontinued from P age 3
“I’m a disabled 58 year old man who
depends on electricity to charge my wheel-
chair, my nebulizer, which is a breathing
treatment, and a CPAP machine. Being
homeless with not electricity is going
to cause me to die,” resident Eddie Kirk
Jones, who is wheelchair bound, told the
Portland Observer.
Jones has a neurological condition that
mimics Lou Gerick’s disease—he shakes
and has immobility in the right side of his
body.
Jones and his wife of 27 years live off
a $750 per month income, he said, and
has paid over $30,000 at the park over the
years for the mobile home he owns.
Other residents at Cedar Shade, which
has 76 units, echoed Jones’ fears.
“It’s going to be a disaster…I don’t
know where I would go,” said Martina
Martinez, 53, who is a caretaker original-
ly from Mexico and has been living in the
park for over five years. She pays $450 per
month and lives with a roommate.
“In the first place, we’d just be left with-
out a home. Right now, we have a stable,
safe place to live. This is place where we
can afford it and we like living in this
area,” added Griselda Garza, who also has
four children and two grandchildren that
live at the park. She’s been living at the
park for two years.
Proponents say the ordinance is de-
signed to not be a financial detriment to
park owners, some of whom have cited lost
potential income as one reason they’re op-
posed to it.
“I don’t think we’re trying to hamper the
park owners. Some of these parks current-
ly have non-conforming zoning on them.
And so we’re changing that to make them
conforming , make them an allowed use in
the zone that they have, which will make it
easier for them to re-invest in their parks,”
Tom Armstrong, supervising planner for
the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability,
the city’s agency that researched and draft-
ed the proposal, told the Portland Observer.
Park owners whose property does not
comply with current zoning would have
to go through a “non-conforming situation
review” in order to be allowed to make im-
provements or do developments on their
site, Armstrong explained.
The re-zoning also offers an increased
density of the park, which allows for more
tenants. Park owners will also be able to
transfer unused development rights from
one of their parks to another site, or sell it.
The proposal would create a new resi-
dential dwelling zone to allow 22 units per
acre and is expected to bolster allowable
units in current parks by up to 33 percent.
Research has shown that park owners
will have continued economic benefit after
the re-zoning goes into effect, Mary Kyle
McCurdy, the deputy director and staff at-
torney of 1,000 Friends of Oregon, a state-
wide land use non-profit that helped devel-
op the proposal after Living Cully reached
out to them, told the Portland Observer.
She added that a city study of mobile
manufactured home parks in their current
state showed that they are currently gener-
ating income for park owners. The parks’
existing value, as well as the re-zoning
benefits of allowed higher tenant density
and transferable development rights should
help mitigate claims against the city that
park owners are getting short-changed,
McCurdy added.
In spite of these measures, attorney John
Dilorenzo, who lobbies for landlords for
David Wright Attorneys, told the Portland
Photo by d anny P eterson /t he P ortland o bserver
Cameron Herrington, anti-displacement coordinator for the non-profit Living Cully
neighborhood group, speaks with a Cedar Shade Mobile Home Park resident about
plans to help keep the park and others in the city from being re-developed, protect-
ing existing low-income housing.
Observer that, should the re-zoning pass, stresses the initiative should be a high pri-
park owners will still file claims against the ority in city plagued by, what is for many,
city. If park owners can prove the re-zon- unattainably high housing prices.
ing resulted in a loss of potential income,
“For us, it comes down to a political
they could make a claim under a state law, question of ‘what’s our priority?’ Is it pre-
called Measure 49, which allows individ- serving the homes of 3,000 families that
uals to either receive compensation from can’t afford anywhere else to live? Or is
the city or have the new zoning ordinance it defending the interest of a couple doz-
waived for their property.
en wealthy folks who’ve been collecting
Armstrong said it’s hard to predict what rent for years from those 3,000 families?
will result from those claims being filed.
And under the new zoning code they can
“The Measure 49 claims process is com- continue to do that and will continue to do
plex, and it’s a on a case-by-case basis. We that.”
expect some claims, but it’s unclear how
The City Council hearing and vote on
those claims will result in the long run.”
the proposed new zoning code is scheduled
Herrington said he’s not surprised many for Aug. 22 at 2 p.m. at City Hall, down-
park owners oppose the rezoning, but town.
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PORTLAND METRO SCHEDULED PRESENTATIONS AND SURVEYS
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potential benefactors, the community…
08/20/18 Portland Community College – SE Campus 11:30am – 1:00pm
2305 SE 82nd Ave Portland Room Capacity 22
08/21/18 Urban League of Portland
11:45am-1:30pm
10 N Russell St Portland, OR Conference Room
08/23/18 St. Johns Portland Library
1:15pm – 3:00pm
7510 N Charleston Ave Portland, OR Rm Capacity 22
08/28/18 Central Portland Library (Downtown)
801 SW 10th Ave Rm Capacity 120
12:45pm-3:00pm
08/30/18 Central City Concern (OTRC)
11:45am-2:30pm
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Pending Locations, Dates and Times: North Portland Library (512 N
Killingsworth St); Rockwood Library (17917 SE Stark St); Northwest Portland
Library (2300 NW Thurman St)
Meet the AAI Team D. Bora Harris, MPA, Diversity Consultant and Kelvin Hall,
Doctoral Candidate, Community Advocate….REFRESHMENTS AND PRIZES