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Although retaining open space zoning for Colwood was unanimously supported by the Council in a tentative vote on 9/17, keeping Colwood Green is not a sure thing. Some fuel for the rezoning fire was recently provided by the Oregonian and Portland Tribune editorial boards. Both penned editorials that call the Council’s 9/17 decision to keep Colwood green into question.

At their core, these editorials assume that all assertions of economic development made by proponents to rezone the area should be taken at face value and not be subjected to any critical review or challenge. Further, both editorials imply that the decisions of the both the Hearings Officer and the Council are primarily based on politics. It is hard imagine from where these conclusions are drawn.

The Hearings Officer is not an elected official and his review of the evidence is required to be impartial. The Council decision on Comprehensive Plan Amendments is quasi-judicial in nature and must be based on the evidence; and it isn’t too hard to come up with examples where the Council has soundly rejected the preference of neighborhoods in its decisions.

The fact of the matter is that both decisions were clearly reflective of the available evidence; the case to rezone Colwood does not hold up to close scrutiny.

Formal rebuttals to these editorials have been submitted to the Oregonian and Tribune. Any decision to publish them in whole or in part is up to the editors of those papers.

In light of this, we are posting both rebuttals here so that they are available for public review and consideration:

keep-colwood-green-response-to-tribune.pdf

keep-colwood-green-response-to-oregonian.pdf

As you may know, CNA has been involved in a critical local land use issue: preventing the rezoning of Colwood Golf Course from open space to industrial. There are many reasons to ensure that Colwood does not become an industrial area. One of the biggest is that Colwood is the one of the last areas on the Columbia Slough that has not been contaminated or abused by industrial development.

If you would like an example of our history of industrial development along the Columbia Slough, just take a look at Johnson Lake. The Oregonian just did a story on the latest plan to clean-up the lake. Johnson Lake is part of the Columbia Slough system. For decades the lake was a recreational retreat for Portland residents. The lake boasted a beach house to serve the public and a dance hall. People swam, fished, and enjoy the serenity of this special area.

The Owens-Illinois Glass Factory set up shop on the land adjacent to the lake in the 1950’s. They soon began dumping industrial waste into Johnson Lake, much of it containing PCBs (a known carcinogen). Needless to say, Johnson Lake has not been open to swimming for the past 50 years and fish caught in the lake is unsafe for human consumption.

Colwood has been zoned open space as long as it has been in the city and was zoned agricultural before that. It makes no sense to open of Colwood to industrial development and risk repeating the past. Let’s learn from the past for a change. Let’s Keep Colwood Green!

Send in your testimony to Keep Colwood Green today!

UPDATE: The location below has been corrected. The meeting will be held from 7 PM to 9 PM at Grace Presbyterian Church, 6025 NE Prescott.

The proposal to rezone Colwood Golf Course from open space to industrial will be considered by the Portland City Council on September 17th. To prepare for the hearing, the Keep Colwood Green Coalition will be meeting 7:00pm – 9:00pm on Thursday, September 4th, at Grace Presbyterian Church, 6025 NE Prescott, Portland. The meeting is open to anyone who supports the mission of keeping Colwood zoned as open space.

Why should anyone are about a golf course being rezoned? Because Colwood is one of the last parts of the environmentally sensitive and diverse Columbia Slough area that has not been lost to industrial development and abuse. As noted by the Hearings Officer, “… the Colwood site open space is unique, is a practically irreplaceable asset.” Our region cannot afford to lose a single inch of open space in this unique natural area.

The area surrounding Colwood is extremely deficient in parkland, natural areas, and other open space. The Cully neighborhood access rate is 2,780 people per park acre, compared with a citywide average of 40 people per park acre. Additionally, the transition from open space and habitat area to industrial use would have a pronounced effect on local health. North and Northeast Portland already suffer from the long-term effects of existing and historic industrial uses in the area. New air and water pollution sources in this are would have a pronounced impact on the health of local residents as well as local wildlife.

What should happen to Colwood? How about a new regional park? Seriously. Creating a Colwood Regional Park would dramatically enhance the livability of the Portland area. Funding sources for a Colwood park include Metro’s Natural Areas Bond and the Portland City’s parks system development charges. It is important to note that both of these funding sources may only be used for park and open space acquisition. Use of these funds would not affect the funding of other pressing needs in Portland or the region.

What could a Colwood Regional Park be? With 140 acres, the better question is “What do YOU want it to be?” A canoe launch and interpretive trails like at Smith and Bybee lake, a learning farm like on Sauvie Island, new bike and pedestrian access to the Columbia Slough trail, more play fields and playground space, a state of the art driving range. These are just some of the possible amenities for a Colwood Regional Park. But the door closes to everything that Colwood could be, if it is rezoned to industrial.

Any Questions? Contact Bill Barber at Central Northeast Neighbors – 503-823-2883, billb@cnncoalition.org, or Tony Fuentes, Concordia Neighborhood Association, 971-570-6930, milagros@milagrosboutique.com

The next Colwood strategy meeting is Tuesday, August 12th from 7pm to 8:30pm at Central Northeast Neighbors, 4415 NE 87th Avenue. Please join us!

Colwood is scheduled to go before City Council on Wednesday, September 17th. To ensure success at the Council we need to make new connections, maintain connections, and reconnect where needed with individuals and organizations who support keeping Colwood green. We need a critical mass of testimony and support being provided to the Mayor and Commissioners. If you support keeping Colwood green, be sure to contact them!

What’s new?

• The Port of Portland has tabled its plans for a third runway for the foreseeable future. This removes much of the Port’s drive for supporting the rezoning.
• The Sierra Club has taken an official stand opposing the rezoning. They join a long list of organizations and individuals opposed to the rezoning of Colwood.
• The City of Portland continues to meet with the land owners to discussion purchasing Colwood as a permanent public space. Despite what some proponents of the rezone have stated publicly, the City has always had and continues to express a strong interest in this property.

Any questions? Contact Bill Barber at Central Northeast Neighbors – 503-823-2883, billb@cnncoalition.org, or Tony Fuentes, Co-Chair, Concordia Neighborhood Association, 971-570-6930.

We recently reported on an upcoming hearing related to the re-zoning of Colwood Golf Course. The hearing date has been changed to September 17.

As we’ve reported previously, the current property owners of the Colwood National Golf Course want to rezone 116 acres of the site from Open Space (OS) to General Industrial 2 (IG2). On May 15, 2008, Greg Frank, BDS Hearings Officer, made a recommendation to deny the applicants’ requested zone change. However the proposal must go to the Portland City Council for final determination.

The location of this open space is along the Columbia and Whitaker sloughs. These areas are sensitive wildlife areas that include fragile riparian zones and important buffers to these zones. A significant amount of riparian habitat in this area has already been lost. Losing even more of this habitat is not supported by the Comprehensive Plan’s goals for the local environment, Metro’s goal for the area, or local neighborhood plans.

The transition of this open space and habitat area to industrial use would also have a pronounced effect on local health. North and Northeast Portland already suffer from the long-term effects of environmental injustice resulting from existing and historic industrial uses in the area. The significant impact of new air and water pollution sources on the health of local residents in addition to the effects on local wildlife should not be discounted.

The CNA passed a formal resolution in opposition to the rezoning in March and remains strongly opposed to the rezoning of Colwood. CNA opposition is powerful, but we also need to participate as individuals to make our voices heard.

The Portland City Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on September 17, 2008, 6 pm at 1221 SW 4th, prior to making a final recommendation. You can show your support to Keep Colwood Green by speaking at the hearing or submitting written testimony to the Council before September 17th. Write to Portland Council Council, 1221 SW 4th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204 or Fax: 503-823-3588.

You can find more information, including email contact info for all the Portland Council members, at keepcolwoodgreen.com.