1. Correction!! Board Meeting Date

The RCPNA Board Meeting Scheduled for Tues Nov. 15th (not Nov. 1st).  At the Oct. 25th General Membership meeting Chairwoman Tamara DeRidder mistakenly announced the wrong date for the Board’s November meeting.  The adopted schedule identifies Tues. Nov. 15th as the next Board meeting date.

2. Residential Infill Project Update

Residential Infill Project scheduled for Portland City Council starting at 2:00 pm Thurs. Nov. 9th and 16th. The Concept Report to the City Council was recently published by Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) after they processed comments from the initial proposal in June. On Oct. 20th our Land Use & Transportation Committee (LU & TC) reviewed the new Concept Report and has made recommendations to be heard at the Nov. 15th Board meeting.  These Board recommendations are to be forwarded to the City Council for their Nov. 16th hearing.

Key Changes in the Concept Report and LU & TC recommendations include:

• “Concept 1. Limit the size of houses while maintaining flexibility.”  Support & recommend a 3,000 square foot house size limit.
• “Concept 2. Lower the house roof line.” Support & recommend using the average of the ground’s high and low points for bottom point of measurement.
• “Concept 4. Allow more housing types in select areas and limit their scale to the size of the house allowed.”  Support & recommend allowing “Single residential dwelling” to this list.
• “Concept 5. Establish a Housing Opportunity Overlay Zone in select areas.”  Support subject to reducing overlay from 1/4 mile (5-block area) to 1,000 feet (3-block area) as a “pilot program”.  This overlay is proposed to extend from centers, corridors with frequent bus service, and high capacity transit.
• “Concept 7 <new section>. Provide flexibility for retaining existing houses.” Support with the deletion of ‘parking exemptions’ as an incentive for higher density.
• “Concept 8. Rezone historically narrow lots to R2.5 in select areas.”  Support subject to limit area to the amended Overlay area of 1,000 foot (3 block area)
• “Concept 9. Citywide improvements to the R2.5 zone.” Support retaining primary structure and single dwelling construction.
• “Concept 10. Revise parking rules for houses on narrow lots.” Oppose.  Support retaining off-street parking requirements.

The LU & TC Transmittal Memorandum on this topic provides further details & compares responses to the Board August recommendations.

3. 2045 Comprehensive Plan 
Portland Early Implementation Package for the 2045 Comprehensive Plan final City Council hearing Nov. 17th at 2:00 pm.  Revised recommendations, based on previous testimony, are to be published prior to this hearing. This package impacts RCPNA with proposed rezoning of 60th Ave. Station area properties, Transportation Systems Plan proposes a bikeway on NE Sandy Blvd.(impacts parking and travel lanes), and fails to address the need for ‘adequate parking'< See Letter>.  The letter by Chairwoman Tamara DeRidder on the latter was supported by the LU & TC Oct. 20th and is being forwarded to the Nov. 15th Board meeting.

4. November 10th Deadline for Articles and Discount Ad Space
Due to the holiday season we have moved the deadline for our January RCPNA Newsletter up to Nov. 10th. Have something you want to write about for the neighborhood? We want to hear from you!! Please contact our Newsletter Editor Suzanne at editor@rcpna.com for more information.

Also our Annual Advertising Discount will be ending on Nov 10th as well. This is card-sized adds in each of our four newsletters from only $100 (a great deal!).  Interested? Please contact our Local Business Committee Chairwoman Deborah Field at deborah@paperjampdx.com

The Rose City Food Park  (5235 NE Sandy Blvd) is  having a fun evening of trick-or-treating this Halloween, Oct 31th from 4pm-7pm.

Costumes encouraged!

More change planned for Sandy at 50th Ave. Right across the street from the large Taco Time development, the Rheinlander German restaurant will be closing and the iconic building will be torn down in early 2017.  The Hollywood Star reports on the plans for the property, which include a two-story building that will house a branch of The Portland Clinic.

You can count this website editor among those who will miss the character of the Rheinlander building and restaurant. If you enjoy classic German fare, be sure to get your last sauerbraten and schnitzel before they close at the end of the year.

Click below to view a copy of the RCPNA testimony to the City Council regarding the Transportation System Plan Stage 2.

The Rose City Park Land Use & Transportation Committee recommended a parallel route to NE Halsey for the City Bikeway designation.  But, no such vote was taken regarding the NE Sandy Blvd designation as the same.

Instead the Committee unanimously agreed to support on-street parking for businesses, engaging the businesses if there are any proposed streetscape changes, and requiring an impact study be done that includes travel modes and impact on residential and commercial properties if a bike lane is proposed for NE Sandy Blvd.

In addition, in a unanimous vote, the Committee supported language to include ‘health impact due to air quality’ to the definition of City Bikeway.  This was done since there is now empirical scientific evidence that there are negative long-term and short-term impacts to bicyclists who travel on freight corridor arterial streets, rather than less traveled residential streets.

CLICK HERE TO REVIEW THE FULL LETTER

Portland Together is pleased to announce a presentation and conversation with Nore Winter titled
Compatibility Matters: Lessons from around the Country on Compatible Infill.

The event is scheduled for October 17, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at the Main Event Room (142/144) at the White Stag Block, University of Oregon PDX Campus. Admission is free, but advance registration is recommended. Registration is being handled by the Architectural Heritage Center. For more information about the event and Portland Together, see http://www.portlandtogether.org

Mr. Winter will spend about an hour discussing his experiences and that of other experts in helping fast growing cities plan for growth while protecting their resources of existing single family housing. His comments will provide some new approaches that challenge the current recommendations by the Mayor’s Residential Infill Project (RIP) as they relate to moderating the size and scale of new construction in our traditional neighborhoods.

After his presentation, a responder panel consisting of Morgan Tracey and Brandon Spencer-Hartle from the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, Sara Cantine from the RIP Stakeholder Advisory Committee, and others to be selected shortly will address questions to Nore to explore how his experience may shed light on Portland’s current challenges. The last 30 minutes of the event will be devoted to Q&A from the audience.

Portland Together is a project of United Neighborhoods for Reform and the Portland Coalition for Historic Resources with sponsorship and logistical support from the Architectural Heritage Center and Restore Oregon. Costs of the event have been underwritten by the sponsoring organizations and generous individual donors concerned about our treasured Portland neighborhoods. We appreciate the support of the University of Oregon Historic Preservation Department in helping arrange for the venue.

Attendance is encouraged for:

Those interested in preserving Portland’s stock of existing moderately priced housing
Those concerned about mega-houses replacing smaller homes one-for-one
Those looking for better infill ideas from around the country
Decision-makers in local government and neighborhood coalitions and associations
Faculty and students of architecture, urban design, and historic preservation
Those interested in exploring additional strategies for increasing the supply of affordable housing in Portland

Our very own Chair, Tamara DeRidder, was interviewed and communicated the concerns neighbors have about the lack of parking spots being planned for the development. Click the image to view the full report.

The Hollywood Star recently had a report on the development as well, which included a rendering of the envisioned six story building.

Soon to be delivered to your doorstep, the latest issue of the Rose City Park Review has been published. Get the online version by clicking below.

October 2016 Newsletter