Concordia Neighborhood Association | Portland, Oregon

Author Archives: Web Manager

Homelessness: Understanding this community crisis

Posted on by Posted in CNA, Concordia News

by Daniel Greenstadt

Some of your neighbors don’t have a home. There’s been a lot of talk recently in Portland, in the region and nationally regarding the challenges of people living on our streets. On the night of the most recent count in 2015, Multnomah County had 3,800 people sleeping on the streets, in shelters, or in temporary housing, and an estimated 12,000 people were doubled up, many in overcrowded and often unsafe conditions. Hundreds of children have no place to go.

According to the city’s new and deeply informative Homelessness Toolkit, over the past two years, there has been a 17% decline in chronic homelessness among individual adults; a decrease in unsheltered veterans; and a 27% reduction in the percentage of people experiencing homelessness for two or more years. However, the latest count found a 48% increase in the number of unsheltered African-Americans from two years ago. Due to differences in the definition of ͞homeless͟ between HUD and Multnomah County, it is still a work in progress to find more accurate numbers of homelessness among communities of color. Nevertheless, supplemental data indicates that levels of homelessness have increased in these communities, including, Native Americans, Latinos, and Asians.

Our city and our neighborhoods are facing some rather immediate policy and programmatic questions that are going to be answered with your tax dollars and with implications for your street. To learn more, to report concerns and to make sure that your voice is heard, visit the link above, email reportpdx@portlandoregon.gov or call the new hotline (503) 823-4000.

Daniel Greenstadt is a CNA Board Member

Trinity Tigers go undefeated, earn two championships

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Family

By Raven Pearce

When the basketball season first started, the lady Trinity Tigers were ecstatic.  They dreamed of having an undefeated season.  When the season ended, the Tigers had not only obtained their goal, but they won two different tournament championships.  The first was the Lutheran Elementary School Tournament hosted by Concordia University since 1962, and the second was the Metro Christian League championship.

The Metro Christian League is a tough league and the Tigers had remained undefeated going into the playoffs.  The first game of playoffs was against Tualatin Valley Junior Academy and did not present much of a challenge for the girls.  The next game was against City Christian, whom the Tigers had played before in a very close and competitive game.  The lady Tigers had to mentally prepare for a tough game, knowing the Lions were coming to get them.  Coach Dylana McGill prepared her team by saying, “It’s not about who wants to win this game, both teams want the same thing.  The difference is who wants it more.”

The Tigers became resolute that they were the ones who wanted it more.  With a combination of winning the jump ball, scoring the first point, and utilizing their trap press gold defense, the team fiercely fought and kept the lead through the game.  At the end of the game the score was 55-34 in favor of the lady Tigers.

Two days later the Tigers were in the Metro League Championship game against the Life Christian Lions at the Damascus Christian gymnasium.  Both teams entered the game undefeated.  The Trinity girls had played all season with only seven players and became intimidated by the size and stature of the Life Christian team.  The Tigers knew they were going to have to dig deep if they were going to come out victorious.

At the end of a brutal first quarter, the score was tied at 9.  The Tigers were able to gain a lead by halftime and in the last half of the game, exploded with a run of points scored off of fast breaks and savvy Euro-steps by the Tiger offense.  The Lion defense could not seem to keep up.  By the end of the game, the Trinity Lutheran Tigers had secured their undefeated season with a 56-27 win over the Life Christian Lions, naming them the Metro Christian League Champions.  This is the second girl’s team in Trinity history that has gone undefeated.

Raven Pearce is a 7th Grader at Trinity Lutheran  & Tiger Player.

Help Wanted: Jarret Grove Intersection Painting 2016!

Posted on by Posted in CNA, Concordia News, Volunteer Opportunities

By Joe Culhane

Hello good fine folks of Concordia! My name is Joe Culhane, I am one of the new board members of the CNA and had the pleasure of coordinating the first-ever street painting at the intersection of NE 28th Ave and NE Jarrett St this last year. It was one of over 40 street paintings that took place here in Portland through City Repair’s annual Village Building Convergence. It was a great success and many of you may have been there and participated in the project. We had well over 100 people come out to help make this beautiful street mural come to life! We called the sight Jarrett Grove and have started a Facebook page where you can see pictures and a time-lapse of the painting from last year as well.

This is intended to be an annual project and is a great way to get together and meet more of our neighbors and build a greater sense of community. While I was delighted and honored to lead this project last year the reality that is literally in my hands (on my chest sleeping actually) right now is my newborn son, and he has taken center stage in my life these days. His care and that of my whole family has become my highest priority as you may well imagine. This year’s VBC is from June 3rd-12th, the paintings all happen during these 9 days, usually on one of the two Saturdays during that stretch.

So, this is a call out to you good people of the Concordia Neighborhood to please step up in to a leadership role this year to help make sure this year is a success as well. What that means is helping set up a few preliminary meetings with the neighbors involved, go to a few VBC meetings, and also help organize a small fundraiser for supplies. We held one at Wilder last year and it was really fun and very successful, many of the local businesses contributed prizes and we had a raffle, tons of people showed up and it was great!

It takes a lot for me to admit when I’m overwhelmed and have too much on my plate but alas, that is exactly where I find myself at the moment. I’m afraid this year’s painting may not happen if one or more people don’t step up and take the reins so by all means, please do! I’ll be available to give direction and guidance where I can and will absolutely help in the painting day and preparation leading up but really that will be the extent of my time and energy I realistically will be able to offer.

Thank you to all who helped make this happen last year, we couldn’t have done it without you! It really is a great time, last year we had donuts, coffee donated from Extracto, pizza, lemonade and iced tea, delicious treats, face painting, music, laughter, and community goodness abounding! May this be another successful year and maybe turn out to be even better as well!

Thank you again! You can email me or text/call me at (503) 446-2925 for more details.

Joe Culhane is a CNA Board Member

Moss studies provide map of Portland’s toxic pollution

Posted on by Posted in Land Use & Transportation

Lately the news that for decades two Portland glass companies discharged the toxic chemicals cadmium, arsenic and chromium into the city’s air have filled the media with stories of citizen outrage. State, county and local governments and community groups have suddenly demanded action from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

Less talked about is that the same toxic chemicals found in Portland’s air eventually make it into its rivers, lakes and wetlands through the process known as atmospheric deposition (or rain) and become an ingredient in a toxic stew. Local waterways flow with legacy pollutants such as PCB’s and DDT from dirty industrial sites, emerging contaminants like pharmaceuticals and flame retardants, pesticides, and heavy metals like mercury and arsenic from coal fired power plants.

The Columbia Slough is one such locally-affected waterway. The Columbia Slough basin extends from Blue Lake and flows toward Kelly Point Park where it meets the confluence of Willamette and the Columbia River. The Concordia neighborhood is contained in the slough’s watershed.

Today the slough is cleaner than it has been for over a century. The biggest change came in 2000, when the city’s sewers stopped dumping raw sewage and untreated wastewater into the slough during heavy rain storms. Portland’s Department of Environmental Services works with Oregon DEQ to investigate and eliminate sources of fish contamination in the Columbia Slough. They also partner with The Columbia Slough Watershed Council on habitat restoration. There’s a fish consumption advisory, however, on the Columbia Slough and it’s been that way for years.

Pregnant women and children are especially vulnerable to the toxins in the slough’s resident fish. Many Portlanders know that local waters are polluted and they wouldn’t dare eat fish from the Columbia Slough. Other community members, warning or not, have little choice in the matter. The houseless and poor often supplement their diet by eating the most toxic of fish: carp, bass and catfish.

In 2012, Lorri Epstein the Water Quality Director at Columbia Riverkeeper, a non-profit dedicated to protecting the Columbia River, took a catfish from the slough to the lab. The results were stunning. The catfish contained PCBs 27,000 times the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limit for unrestricted consumption and flame retardants. A carp from nearby Vancouver Lake tested in 2014 contained PCBs 30 times the EPA limit, mercury 3.5 times the EPA limit, flame retardants and other heavy metals.

“Fish advisories are not the answer. We need to clean up the river and stop toxic pollution from entering our river so that people can eat fish without the fear of getting sick,” said Epstein.

The Portland city council passed a resolution in March 2016 to sue the Monsanto Company for contaminating Portland waterways with PCBs from the 1930-70’s. There are still multiple point sources of arsenic and lead near the Columbia Slough according to recent moss studies. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality used the studies to pinpoint the glass companies as sources of toxic air pollution. The moss studies could also provide the map the DEQ needs to locate the owners of toxic water sources in the Columbia Slough watershed.

CNA Land Use update

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Land Use & Transportation

By Garlynn Woodsong

It’s been another busy month of important land use and transportation issues affecting Concordia residents.

Proposed R5 to R2.5 Zoning change
Many neighbors talked with Nan Stark, NE District Liaison for the Bureau of Planning Services (BPS), March 16th at the Kennedy School Community Room about this “upzoning” that would allow properties between NE Killingsworth and Jarrett from NE 22nd to NE 33rd to be more easily sub-divided from the current one dwelling per 5,000 square foot lot into two 2,500 square foot lots. Though the CNA LUTC is on record opposing this change, BPS still believes it should be in the Comprehensive Plan.

Submit comments about these and other planned changes by testifying, in person or writing, for the Planning and Sustainability Commission Public Hearing at 12:30 pm April 12 and the City Council Hearing at 6 pm April 14. For more info, call 503) 823-7700 or visit www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/50531.

Residential Infill Project
The RIP Online Survey, that 7,200+ Portlanders responded to, reveals that protecting housing affordability, preserving neighborhood character, stopping demolitions of viable homes, and ensuring compatible density development are all top citizen priorities. Other key concerns are increased strains on parking, traffic, infrastructure, green & open spaces, and tree canopies. Finally, respondents want genuine input opportunities that result in positive changes to plans and specific code guidelines.

The “Bighouse Building”
Led by Jeff Hilber, a small team of dedicated neighborhood architect and development professionals is crafting cost-effective alternative design improvement suggestions to the 4-story, 30 apartment building planned for the “Bighouse”corner at NE 30th and Killingsworth that developer Brian Spencer, of 30th & K Properties LLC, agreed to consider when he presented preliminary design concepts at the February LUTC Meeting.

North Portland Highway Safety
In response to the tragic death of a bicyclist hit by a car in December, please “Ask ODOT” for “safe passage of all N. Portland Highway users, especially at the 33rd Ave. and 42nd St. crossings” by calling (888) 275-6368 or visiting www.oregon.gov/ODOT.

Concordia residents are always welcome at CNA LUTC Meetings, held at 7pm every third Wednesday in the Community Room in the SE corner of McMenamins Kennedy School. Click here to join the LUTC notification list; send your questions to landuse@concordiapdx.org.

Garlynn Woodsong is the Chair of the CNA Land Use & Transportation Committee.

Alberta Street’s “Operation Clean Sweep” April 23

Posted on by Posted in CNA, Concordia News, Events, Volunteer Opportunities

The sixth annual Alberta Earth Day Clean Up, presented by Pacific Power and organized by Alberta Main Street, takes place on April 23, 2016. Operation Clean Sweep 2016 provides an opportunity for friends and neighbors to getinvolved with their community.

Rain or shine, neighborhood volunteers will focus on cleaning up litter and removing graffiti along NE Alberta Street between MLK Jr. Boulevard and NE 33rd Avenue and finish with a post-cleanup celebration featuring food and prizes.

New this year, through a partnership with Pacific Power, volunteers and anyone that signs up for paperless billing will receive a $5.00 coupon valid for any purchase at participating Alberta Street businesses.

Volunteers are expected from all over Portland, from student groups and youth organizations, to neighbors and local businesses. Sara Wittenberg, Alberta Main Street executive director, promises another year of camaraderie.

The Golden Garbage Awards and post-cleanup festivities will take place immediately following the clean up with pizza for lunch, Salt & Straw Ice Cream, and a raffle featuring prizes from local businesses including a gift certificate good for 2 nights at Vacasa’s Hidden Villa Cottages at Cannon Beach!! The celebration will end around 1:30 p.m.

Volunteer check-in is at 10a.m. at Alberta Central (NE 18th and Alberta) and clean up starts at 10:30 a.m. Volunteers are asked to bring their own water bottle, gloves and any tools like screwdrivers, pliers and razor blade scrapers. Volunteers should pre-register online.

Alberta Main Street advances efforts to develop Alberta Street as a vibrant, creative, equitable, and sustainable commercial district serving residents and visitors to our community. Learn more about Alberta Main Street here.

OPINION: Will new development continue legacy of work in Concordia Neighborhood?

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Land Use & Transportation, Opinion

by Jon Engelsman

At first glance, the four-story apartment building slated for construction at NE 30th & Killingsworth feels like an all too familiar tale in Portland’s busy infill development market. But in the case of the 30th & K apartments, it’s the cast of characters involved and their existing relationships with the Concordia neighborhood that make it interesting.

In fact, the three key players involved with this new project have a well-established legacy here, specifically through their recent involvement in numerous expansions of nearby Concordia University campus.

Brian Spencer – The Developer
Brian Spencer is the owner of Ascend Holdings and newly formed 30th & K Properties LLC. He is also the owner of a former Best Buy in NE Portland now leased to Concordia University as their Columbia River Campus. Renovations of that campus expansion were built by…

Union Corner Construction- The Contractor
Union Corner Construction was signed on to build the new 30th & K apartments. The company is also the general contractor for recent Concordia University campus expansions, including the library and community stadium, as well as the university’s new law school and library in Boise, Idaho. All of these campus expansions were designed by…

Mackenzie – The Architect
Mackenzie is a long-standing Portland architectural firm that is the designer of the new NE 30th and Killingsworth apartment building. A preliminary drawing of the building was included in the March 2016 edition of the Concordia News. Of their previous work with Union Corner Construction and Concordia University, Mackenzie boasts designs that are LEED certified, “sensitive to the residential context,” and “respectful to the surrounding community.”

In light of this significant history with Concordia University, it begs the question of how these three parties came together for the new 30th & Killingsworth development and whether the university is somehow involved. Considering the university’s involvement in the new Concordia Student Housing, currently under construction only thirteen blocks away on 17th & Killingsworth, it’s not a stretch of the imagination to wonder what might be in store for the new 30th & K apartments.

And while there is no doubt that this development group has built an impressive legacy of work in our area, one thing is certain: the Concordia neighborhood hopes that those involved in the 30th & K apartments will build upon their legacy of work by creating something that meaningfully integrates with the community and becomes something that the neighborhood will point to with pride.

Joe Engelsman is a Concordia resident.

Kids, a dance and being good neighbors

Posted on by Posted in CNA, Concordia News, Schools

By Ali Novak CNA Board Member

Alliance High School requests, receives temporary adjustment to Good Neighbor Agreement with CNA

At the March 8th CNA board meeting, Concordia’s Alliance High School Meeks Professional Technical Campus principal Lorna Fast Buffalo Horse, presented our board with a proposal to allow modification of an existing Good Neighbor Agreement, dating to 2004.  The agreement, signed when Alliance took over the Meeks campus, prohibits school activities after 5pm. It also has restricted students from extended hours for social events or even tutoring.

The students of Alliance are seeking permission to host a prom on campus for about 75 students sometime in May. Attempts to find an alternate location have failed, due to high costs of venue rental.

Alliance High School is described in their executive summary as “an alternative educational experience for students who have not experienced success in traditional high school environments. The program seeks to provide academic, social-emotional, and professional-technical opportunities that motivate students to remain in school to learn the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to become a contributing member of society.” The curriculum mixes group and individualized instruction in the pursuit of relevant career-technical education.

The Alliance program includes an emphasis on social skills and community in the Alliance Meeks program, where students participate in a social-emotional “boot camp” for their first six weeks of enrollment. Students are encouraged to organize and champion themselves, with a Black Student Union, Hispanic Student Union, and Gay-Straight Alliance now represented on the campus. The request for a prom seems a natural step in developing the social experience for Alliance students, and was met with positive response from the CNA board.

The board approved an event to take place on a date to be determined in May, on either a Friday or Saturday, that will end at 10:30p.m. Clean-up and campus closure will be concluded by 11p.m. The board hopes that the positive relationship between Alliance with its neighbors can continue, and requested that Alliance communicate with its neighbors to present the proposed event, and bring any significant concerns to the board for consideration. The CNA Board will also consider expansion of the activity hours for future events based on the success of this new addition.

Part 2: The Alberta District and its bungalow grocery

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, History

Second of Three Parts: The life and times of a neighborhood store and its people

This is the second of a three-part series about the early days of the Alberta business district, written by Northeast Portland neighborhood historian Doug Decker. To read more of Doug’s research and writing—or to read the full text of the early news stories mentioned here—visit his blog.

By Doug Decker

A quick Alberta District History 101 refresher from Part 1, which ran last month: In 1910, the Alberta District feels a bit thrown together and rough-and-tumble. But investment and expansion are impressive. A strong sense of neighborhood identity is emerging thanks in part to early business owners, residents and real estate developers. People are arriving in the district from near and far because property is cheaper here than in other eastside neighborhoods and there’s a new streetcar that provides dependable service.

Plus, plans underway for a new Willamette River crossing that in 1913 would become the Broadway Bridge were changing the way people thought about living and working in Portland.

Built and Run by the Smyths
Enter Michael and Mary Jane Smyth, shopkeepers from Ireland who were running a mom-and-pop grocery near 79th and Southeast Stark (then known as Baseline Road). Michael was born in Ireland in 1842 and immigrated to the US in 1864. Mary Jane was born in 1850 and arrived in the US in 1875.

By 1910, the Smyths had run several small retail shops in Portland and at least one in eastern Oregon. The couple never had children and may have seen the Alberta District investment as setting themselves up for retirement. At ages 68 and 62, they were starting their new venture on the northwest corner of NE 27th and Going somewhat late in life.

The original plumbing permit for the building shows construction complete at the end of September 1910, three years before the curbs and sidewalks were installed by local contractor Geibisch and Joplin, and well before the streets were even paved. According to the Polk City Directory, the Smyths opened their business in 1911 as a men’s furnishings store. By 1914, the listing had changed to dry goods and the Smyths were living six doors to the north, with the residence side of the new building rented out.

Mary Jane died on October 12, 1917 and her funeral mass was held at St. Charles Catholic Church, which was then located near the corner of NE 33rd and Webster, two blocks south of today’s Concordia New Seasons (the parish church relocated to NE 42nd years later following a devastating fire and financial hardships). After Mary Jane died, Michael took a rented room in the neighborhood and continued to run the dry goods store on his own until 1921 when he sold it for $3,375. Michael died on February 20, 1922.

The Coulters Take Over: Alameda Park Grocery
William and Isabella Coulter, immigrants from England via Canada, bought the business from Michael Smyth, having seen it advertised in the March 2, 1921 edition of The Oregonian as a “very fine bungalow-grocery.” They had shopkeeping experience from several years in Missoula, Montana. It’s unclear if they gave the store its name, or if they adopted the name used by the Smyths, but there it is, listed in the 1928 Polk Directory as the Alameda Park Grocery.

This is unusual for a couple reasons: 27th and Going is near but not actually inside the Alameda Park plat; and, there was a much more prominent store on the southwest corner of 24th and Fremont known as Alameda Grocery. This must have been confusing, at least. No word about what that rivalry may have been like, but the 24th and Fremont business advertised widely with its name, and the bungalow grocery with its slight variation never shows up in any newspaper advertising or any other annual Polk Directory.

While the naming convention might have been confusing, we know it to be fact thanks to a photograph from David White, grandson of the Coulters, that clearly shows the name Alameda Grocery painted in big black letters on the side of the store.

William Coulter passed away in the mid 1920s, and Isabelle took over the business on her own, with help from daughter Agnes, until 1943. This 22-year period was probably the best era for this little building and its business: Isabelle ran a tight ship and took good care of the place.

Next up: After the Coulter years, as shopping patterns change and big grocery chains emerge, the bungalow grocery slides almost to oblivion before being rescued from the wrecking ball.

ADUs over the back fence?

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Land Use & Transportation

by Spencer Parsons

Take a look over your back fence. In addition to seeing your neighbors starting their Spring gardening, you may see them breaking ground on some new construction in their backyards. They may be building new accessory dwelling units (ADUs), some may even be building them inside their property line “setbacks”.

Generally, construction is restricted around a property’s boundaries by setbacks specified in zoning regulations, However, in December Portland revised its own Zoning Code regulations regarding ADUs, including relaxing height restrictions and setback requirements for new ADU construction. Homeowners in Portland are now allowed to build their ADUs within the five foot property line setback.

Portland Zoning Code Section 33.205 contains the updated ADU requirements. ADUs can be created by converting existing space in a home to separate living quarters, by finishing unfinished but existing space in the home (like in an attic or basement), by adding to an existing structure (like a detached garage) or by building a new structure.

Is an ADU the right Springtime/Summertime project for you? There are some considerations to weigh. Like all new construction, building a new ADU (or converting an existing structure into an ADU) will typically be subject to all applicable City permit fees, as well as system development charges (SDCs) that are levied by the Portland Parks, Environmental Services, Transportation, and Water Bureaus to offset the impact of the new development on the services provided by those City bureaus. However, some SDCs may be waived by the City for ADU projects if certain criteria are met and the project is submitted on or before July 31, 2016 and receives final inspection approval on or before June 30, 2017. If you are considering undertaking an ADU project, your first call needs to be the City for details on the SDC waivers.

Your next call may need to be to Multnomah County. The question of how new ADU construction may impact a homeowner’s property tax bill is still up in the air. The following disclaimer by the City of Portland, or similar versions, appear in multiple places all over the City’s web page:

Construction of an ADU could result in a significant increase in property taxes under Oregon tax law. So before you start an ADU project, it’s important to contact the Multnomah County assessor’s customer service line at 503-988-3326 or visit their website at for more information.

For some, the potential tax implications may be a deal-breaker for building a new ADU. For others, while it is something to watch it will not be enough to deter the addition of an ADU in the basement or backyard. Eventually, the dust will settle on the ADU property tax question. Whether that time will come before the SDC waiver window closes this July is still up in the air. Stay tuned…

Spencer Parsons is a land use attorney who lives in and practices law in the Concordia Neighborhood. He can be reached via email or phone (971) 279-2018.