Paul Berg
2007-08-17 13:57:56 UTC
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News article from The (Portland) Oregonian - August 17, 2007
A kinder, gentler infill?
What started as an appeal before the Portland City Council on Thursday
on a narrow land-use issue became a second chance for a developer and
neighbors to work out differences.
The City Council's message: Urban density is the price of protecting
forests and farmland. But jamming it down neighbors' throats isn't good
policy.
In this case, the developer agreed.
"I'm always committed to full citizen participation," said Ken
Sandblast, the developer's consultant.
Developer Jeremy Osterholm proposes 19 two-story rowhouses on a vacant
rectangular parcel between Southeast 74th and 76th avenues south of
Powell Boulevard in the Foster-Powell neighborhood. Zoning allows as
many as 25 units.
Earlier in the process, Osterholm met with residents from surrounding
single-story homes alarmed that a veritable village could grow in their
big backyards. They reached some understanding but not an agreement.
Then a land-use hearings officer denied Osterholm's proposal June 29.
The problem: The project creates a new stretch of Southeast 75th that
is, for now, a dead end. But the proposal included no turnaround for
emergency vehicles.
Osterholm appealed to the City Council, arguing that the street is only
temporarily a dead end; at some point, 75th will be extended, so
requirements for dead ends shouldn't apply.
Nonetheless, Osterholm and Sandblast came to Thursday's hearing
proposing a 70-foot-wide turnaround.
Much discussion focused on the fact that 70 feet works for a garbage
truck but not a firetruck, which needs 90 feet. The Portland Fire Bureau
signed off on the project though because Osterholm added sprinkler
systems in most of the homes, conceivably buying firefighters time if
navigating the street proved difficult.
Some 20 neighbors showed up. They argued for a larger turnaround and
losing a few rowhouses to make room and avoid pushing the houses closer
to neighbors' backyards.
Neighbor Constance Crain, a former heavy-equipment operator, announced
that she would communicate her opposition to the project through
interpretive dance. She didn't. But she got the council's attention.
"Something that's bad for the neighborhood is not good for the city,"
she said.
Commissioner Randy Leonard said he would make a motion that, while he
didn't say it outright, would uphold the hearings officer's denial and
force the developer into an expensive appeals process. But he'd hold off
if the developer would meet again with neighbors. Both sides agreed and
will return to the City Council on Sept. 13.
Neighbor Joe Shapiro said the hearing showed that livability -- not just
whether a project meets the zoning code -- is the issue. "I thought it
was very positive," he said.
Leonard said he learned early in his tenure how much Portlanders hate
infill. So he tries to encourage communication and creativity between
neighbors and developers.
"I try to walk that fine line between preserving density and doing it in
a way that people are OK with," he said.
`
News article from The (Portland) Oregonian - August 17, 2007
A kinder, gentler infill?
What started as an appeal before the Portland City Council on Thursday
on a narrow land-use issue became a second chance for a developer and
neighbors to work out differences.
The City Council's message: Urban density is the price of protecting
forests and farmland. But jamming it down neighbors' throats isn't good
policy.
In this case, the developer agreed.
"I'm always committed to full citizen participation," said Ken
Sandblast, the developer's consultant.
Developer Jeremy Osterholm proposes 19 two-story rowhouses on a vacant
rectangular parcel between Southeast 74th and 76th avenues south of
Powell Boulevard in the Foster-Powell neighborhood. Zoning allows as
many as 25 units.
Earlier in the process, Osterholm met with residents from surrounding
single-story homes alarmed that a veritable village could grow in their
big backyards. They reached some understanding but not an agreement.
Then a land-use hearings officer denied Osterholm's proposal June 29.
The problem: The project creates a new stretch of Southeast 75th that
is, for now, a dead end. But the proposal included no turnaround for
emergency vehicles.
Osterholm appealed to the City Council, arguing that the street is only
temporarily a dead end; at some point, 75th will be extended, so
requirements for dead ends shouldn't apply.
Nonetheless, Osterholm and Sandblast came to Thursday's hearing
proposing a 70-foot-wide turnaround.
Much discussion focused on the fact that 70 feet works for a garbage
truck but not a firetruck, which needs 90 feet. The Portland Fire Bureau
signed off on the project though because Osterholm added sprinkler
systems in most of the homes, conceivably buying firefighters time if
navigating the street proved difficult.
Some 20 neighbors showed up. They argued for a larger turnaround and
losing a few rowhouses to make room and avoid pushing the houses closer
to neighbors' backyards.
Neighbor Constance Crain, a former heavy-equipment operator, announced
that she would communicate her opposition to the project through
interpretive dance. She didn't. But she got the council's attention.
"Something that's bad for the neighborhood is not good for the city,"
she said.
Commissioner Randy Leonard said he would make a motion that, while he
didn't say it outright, would uphold the hearings officer's denial and
force the developer into an expensive appeals process. But he'd hold off
if the developer would meet again with neighbors. Both sides agreed and
will return to the City Council on Sept. 13.
Neighbor Joe Shapiro said the hearing showed that livability -- not just
whether a project meets the zoning code -- is the issue. "I thought it
was very positive," he said.
Leonard said he learned early in his tenure how much Portlanders hate
infill. So he tries to encourage communication and creativity between
neighbors and developers.
"I try to walk that fine line between preserving density and doing it in
a way that people are OK with," he said.
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