Category Archives: Land Use & Transportation
Draft Portland Plan subject of public hearings in November
Planning and Sustainability Commission to hear public testimony about long-range plan for the city
Portland, OR. — Now that the Portland Plan – Proposed Draft is available for public review, the Planning and Sustainability Commission (PSC) will be holding public hearings in November to receive public testimony. Comments from the public will help the commissioners prepare their recommendation to City Council in early 2012.
The Portland Plan sets a 25-year direction for Portland’s future and includes a five-year action plan to address equity, job growth, education and a healthy environment. The commission wants to hear public comments on the equity framework, the integrated strategies and the citywide measures of success in the draft Portland Plan.
To accommodate community members and reach a broader audience, two of the three hearings will be held offsite — one in North Portland at Jefferson High School and the other in East Portland at Parkrose High School. The third hearing will be held at the PSC’s usual meeting place in downtown Portland.
Portland Plan Hearings (public comments welcome)
Tuesday, November 8
5:30 – 9 p.m.
Jefferson High School
5210 N Kerby Avenue
Tuesday, November 15
5:30 – 9 p.m.
Parkrose High School
12003 NE Shaver Street
Tuesday, November 29
5:30 – 9 p.m.
1900 SW 4th Ave., Suite 2500A
Work Session and Recommendation (no testimony taken)
Tuesday, December 13
12:30 p.m.
1900 SW 4th Ave., Suite 2500A
To submit written comments by email: Send comments to psc@portlandoregon.gov with the subject line “Portland Plan testimony.”
To submit written comments by mail: Send a letter with your comments to the Planning and Sustainability Commission, 1900 SW 4th Ave., Portland, OR 97201-5380, Attn: Portland Plan testimony. For more information or if you have questions, please call 503-823-1303.
Comments on the Portland Plan – Proposed Draft will be taken until Nov. 30, 2011. After that, the PSC will present their recommendation to City Council in early 2012.
Tips for Commenting
When submitting testimony to the PSC (whether in person or in writing), please share the following:
What part of the plan are you testifying about?
What are the reasons you like something or would like to change something? Facts that support your reasons are always a good idea.
How does the proposal affect you or your organization?
Because of the anticipated volume of testifiers, comments will be limited to 3 minutes per person.
About the Planning and Sustainability Commission
The Planning and Sustainability Commission is a volunteer group that advises City Council on Portland’s long-range goals, policies and programs for land use, planning and sustainability.
About the Portland Plan
The Portland Plan is a long-range plan designed to make Portland prosperous, healthy and equitable between now and 2035. For more information, go to www.pdxplan.com
Staff will make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. Please notify us no fewer than five (5) business days prior to the event by phone at 503-823-7700, by the TTY line at 503-823-6868, or by the Oregon Relay Service at 1-800-735-2900.
Cully Main Street/Local Street Plans Project Open House to share and seek input
Come give your vision for the neighborhood
Portland, OR. — Community members are invited to an open house to learn about the Cully Main Street and Local Street Plans project, give their feedback on the information collected so far and share their ideas about where the project should go from here.
Spanish language interpretation, on-site childcare and light refreshments will be provided free of charge. The open house also features a raffle with door prizes!
Staff have integrated community input with research about the Cully neighborhood to describe existing conditions in the future main street area and for the local street system. With this information, the City and the community can start to understand what it will take to develop a thriving neighborhood main street and a safe, accessible local street system to serve the Cully community.
What: Open House for the Cully Main Street and Local Street Plans Project
When: Thursday, October 27th, 5 – 8 p.m.
Where: Rigler School, 5401 NE Prescott St
Who: The Cully Community, City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, Portland Bureau of Transportation
The Cully Main Street and Local Street Plans Project is a year-long effort to create opportunities for neighborhood-serving retail and
services in the heart of Cully, and attractive and safe routes for getting around the neighborhood. The project comes on the heels of other efforts in
Cully, including the Cully-Concordia Community Assessment and Action Plan, the Cully Blvd Green Street, and the Cully-Concordia Early Childhood Needs Assessment.
Staff will make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. Please notify us no fewer than five (5) business days prior to the event by phone at 503-823-7700, by the TTY line at 503-823-6868, or by the Oregon Relay Service at 1-800-735-2900.
About the Cully Main Street and Local Street Plans Project
The Cully Main Street and Local Street Plans Project is a one-year effort to increase opportunities to allow more neighborhood-serving commercial development in the heart of Cully, including shops, restaurants and other amenities and services. The project will also help foster safe and attractive routes for residents to walk, roll or bike to local destinations. The local street plan will identify opportunities for future street connections. It will also consider new designs and funding strategies for improving substandard streets based on community priorities for enhancing local circulation. The project will conclude with a report that includes zoning recommendations for the Cully Boulevard Main Street area and a local street plan. Both will be presented to the Portland Planning and Sustainability Commission and the Portland City Council at public hearings in Spring 2012 for final action.
T-Mobile Cell Tower Community Meeting, October 26th, 7:00 – 8:30pm
All are invited to a community meeting at The Little Church, 5138 NE 23rd Ave., October 26th, 7:00 – 8:30pm. In an effort to satisfy a City requirement, T-Mobile is having a meeting prior to renewing a permit to install a Cell Tower facility at NE 31st and Prescott St. The Alameda Neighborhood Association urges our neighbors to attend the meeting and express their opinion on cell towers in residential neighborhoods.
Adams nominates freight access, East Portland sidewalks and safety, and bike share projects for regional federal funding
Metro targets transportation projects that improve freight movement and encourage use of active transportation – walking, bicycling and access to transit – Read more by downloading the press release.
Register Today: Caring for Portland’s Heritage Trees Workshop
Heritage trees are designated as such due to their age, size,historical association, or horticultural value. You will assist Urban Forestry by learning the skills needed to inspect heritage trees to ensure that they receive timely inspections and maintenance.
Please RSVP by contacting Autumn Montegna, Urban Forest Outreach Coordinator, at 503-701-7622 or autumn.montegna@portlandoregon.gov or click here.
What: Caring for Portland’s Heritage Trees
When: June 11, 2011 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Where: Sabin Community Cooking Room in Whole Foods, NE 15th Ave. & NE Fremont St.
The workshop will begin at 9:00 a.m. at the Sabin Community Cooking room in Whole Foods (NE 15th Ave. & Fremont St.). We will have a quick introduction and pass out tree assessment kits while enjoying coffee, tea, and snacks. We will then break and reconvene four blocks away at NE 15th Ave. and Knott St.
This portion of the workshop will include a tour of Irvington’s heritage trees while learning inspection techniques from Lou Phemister, city arborist.
Community Check-In: Alberta Main Street Progress Report
As Alberta Main Street approaches the end of year one, it’s time to check in. A team of experts will be in Portland June 21 – 23 in what the National Main Street program calls a Resource Team Visit. The visit will conclude with a public presentation on Thursday, June 23, 2011.
The Resource Team will conduct a series of focus groups and interviews, listening to community stakeholder’s comments on the program’s progress. The team has two jobs:
- Work to develop general and specific recommendations for action in a written report. The team’s report will take approximately 8 weeks to complete and is designed to help us develop a 12-24 month implementation strategy.
- Make a candid assessment of the opportunities and issues affecting the Alberta Main Street program through an intensive listening process while in the community.
On Thursday June 23 at 6:30PM, the resource team will preview their findings at a public presentation. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend!
Thursday June 23; 6:30 – 8:15 PM
St. Andrew Catholic Church – Community Center – Oscar Romero Room
806 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR 97211
RSVP appreciated: info@albertamainst.org or (503) 683-3252.
Report Illegal Dumping!
Metro’s RID Patrol tackles the problem of illegal dumping in multiple ways: cleaning up dump sites, investigating evidence found at the dump sites, issuing citations to the guilty parties, investigating haulers that are illegally dumping and working with law enforcement agencies and communities that need education and help to reduce dumping in their neighborhood.
Alert the RID Patrol Watch and report illegal dumpers. Write down license plates and other identifying information. You can report online or by calling Metro Recycling Information at 503-234-3000. Report illegal dumping online
http://www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=641
14 reasons we need to re-think the Columbia River Crossing
Tell Salem: We Need To Re-Think The Columbia River Crossing
Oregon’s Legislature is being asked to endorse the Columbia River Crossing — the most expensive public works project in the state’s history.
The project’s initial costs to Oregon are estimated at $450 million, but that’s not the half of it: The state will be on the hook for any cost overruns or shortfalls in funding from any other source. All three of ODOT’s biggest current projects — US 20, the Newberg-Dundee bypass, and the Grand Avenue Viaduct — are all more than 100 percent over their original budgets, and an overrun on the CRC would be devastating to the state.
- Too expensive: The Columbia River Crossing is a gigantic project and we can’t afford it; bridge construction represents only 10-20 percent of the total project cost.
- Smaller solutions work: Most of the traffic over the bridge is local and can be fixed with smaller, less expensive solutions.
- It will go over budget: ODOT is two times over budget on three of its largest projects, studies of mega-projects like the CRC over the past 70 years have found 90% of them go over budget.
- Our one big request: If this memorandum passes, the Columbia River Crossing will be our number one request to the Federal Government for funds, superseding all of Oregon’s other priorities.
- It locks us in: If the Federal Government comes through, the Legislature will now be on the hook for filling in any budget shortfalls that happen in the future (hint: it will).
- Fixing the bridge is cheap: Demolishing the bridge costs the same as retrofitting the bridge to be seismically safe.
- There are worse bridges: The Oregon Department of Transportation has identified 29 structurally unsafe interstate bridges in Oregon, the I-5 bridge ISN’T on that list (but the Marquam bridge is)
- A bridge for Washingtonian: The bridge mostly benefits commuters in Washington’s Clark County, but Oregonians will foot most of the cost.
- Not a bridge for Oregonians: And while the Columbia River Crossing wouldn’t benefit the whole state, the whole state will pay.
- Tolling causes chaos: Unless I-205 is tolled, traffic would flood over to that freeway crossing.
- Spreading Sprawl: The Columbia River Crossing would ignite Vancouver sprawl. Indeed, Clark County developers will benefit from avoiding Oregon’s income tax and urban growth boundary.
- Light rail is uncertain: There’s no commitment from Vancouver/Clark County to build light rail.
- Why not look at other answers? There has been no meaningful discussion by planners of alternatives like a freight lane, retro-fitting, or other alternatives that exist.
- Communities don’t want it: The Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods, which represents 12 neighborhood associations, has taken a position against the bridge.
Open House for design input for Alberta Court Crossing on 42nd Avenue
We’re holding 2 Open Houses in the Witham & Dickey Conference Room to present the progress in design planning for the Village Building Convergence Alberta Crossing Intersection project (NE 42nd Ave & Alberta Count). You can attend one or both meetings, as they are intended to give you 2 options for the best date that works for you:
Witham & Dickey Conference Room
4824 NE 42nd Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97218
Saturday, March 26 at 10:30am to noon.
Monday, March 28 at 3:15pm to 5 PM.
It’s essential that the project have considerable input from all of you as neighborhood and community stakeholders, and so your presence at one of these meetings is greatly valued. We want to develop a “master plan” that illustrates the long-term development goal for the intersection.
The design elements discussed include:
- Seating area space on the four corners, with an coordinated design theme, shelter cover and landscaping where possible.
- A structure design that incorporates metal and wood, and fits the architectural style of the corner buildings.
- NE corner (US Bank corner) designed as tribute “Weather Station” seating area in honor of Eddie Morgan.
- Wall murals on the north side of the Spare Room and south side of Doggy Business, with a design theme that links the two, and creates a visual flow between the two.
- Painted sidewalks on the four corners of the intersection
- Coordinated lighting on the four corners, that could also accommodate cross-street banners
Additional design elements for further enhancement and consideration:
- Changes to the surface of the west wall of the Witham and Dickey buildingDe-paving of the concrete in front of Wilshire Dental
- “Kiosk” created on the south side of the Doggie Business (in the closed-off doorway)
Priority sequence of development:
- Creation of a Master Plan design for the corner, including structure and landscaping design, wall mural design and sidewalk corner painting design.
- Wall murals (as a part of the VBC)
- Painting of the sidewalk corners—if the City requirements can be met in time for the VBC
- One corner landscaping and structure—to reflect the Master Plan.
Much discussion has already happened around design concepts. We hope to be able to give you examples of some of these concepts at the Open House.