Concordia Neighborhood Association | Portland, Oregon

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From the Board – What would YOU do with the CU property?

Posted on June 8, 2021 by Web Manager Posted in Concordia News

By Peter Keller | CNA Chair

I hope you enjoyed Mother’s Day like I did and were able to spend time with extended (vaccinated) family without masks. It’s only a matter of time, I hope, before we can start meeting together for various events in public again, such as our monthly CNA board meetings.

May was a busy meeting for the CNA board. We approved two letters to send to the mayor and Portland city commissioners.

One asks the city to provide more time and resources for public input into the new Design Overlay Zone Amendments (DOZA) standards being proposed. Garlynn Woodsong wrote about the proposed DOZA standards in his column last month. Our letter is here.

The second letter we agreed to sign on behalf of CNA was presented to us in the May meeting by James Ofsink, of the Police Accountability Network. It asks the mayor and city council to consider several changes to the contract that the council is currently negotiating with the Portland Police Association. You can see it at UniteOregon.org/policing.

The other major item discussed in the meeting was the public auction of the Concordia University (CU) campus and facilities at 1 p.m. Tuesday, June 29, at the Multnomah County Courthouse, 1200 S.W. 1st Avenue.

We decided to take an informal poll of the neighborhood to find out what neighbors would like to see the 24-acre site used for in the future.

As of press time, CNA has learned neither any definitive word on potential buyers, nor any wouldbe buyer’s plans for the CU property.

The city’s Planning and Zoning Code for “Campus Institutional Zones” – in which the campus is located – governs what uses are permitted. Language in the code points out, “The zones are for institutions such as medical centers … and colleges that have been developed as campuses, and for other uses that are compatible with surrounding neighborhoods.”

Any buyer who intends to put the property to a different use would be required to seek a zone change. That process assures neighbors’ input at both the Portland Bureau of Development Services and the Portland City Council.

In the meantime, the CNA Board of Directors wants to hear from you about what use(s) of the campus you’d like to see. Knowing the preferences of the majority of neighborhood participants, if only informally, will help CNA lobby the city government and whomever the new owner becomes.

So, before June 15, visit the CNA poll at ConcordiaPDX.org/CUPoll and offer your opinion. CNews and the CNA Facebook page will report the findings (and hopefully the identity of the new owner).

Native Portlander Peter Keller has lived in Concordia since 1997. He runs a small marketing agency with partner Max, out of their home studio. He loves exploring outdoors with and without his dogs.

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Concordia Neighborhood Association will abstain from publishing anything that could be construed as libel.

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