Minutes April 14th
Irvington Community Association
Meeting Minutes
April 14, 2016
Board Members present:
Steve Cole, William Archer, Peter O’Neil, Susan Hathaway-Marxer, Pam Lindholm-Levy, Jon Eaton, Nathan Corser, Michela McMahon, Tiffanie Shakespeare, Jason Messer, Jeff Jones
Neighbors and Guests:
Josh Prager, David Kabat, Bob Dobrich, Britt Allen, Wendy Jo Downing, Huck Bales, Anthony Rozic, Joan Reid, Chester Anderson, Cynthia Chase, Peter Fitzgerald, Antoine Dean, Jessica Bond, Ryan Hashhagen
President Steve Cole opens meeting at 7:08 PM.
March meeting minutes approved with correction of the spelling of Christine Coers-Mitchell’s name.
Agenda approved.
No Police report. No Portland Police Bureau representative present.
Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Discussion
Peter O’Neil informs the group that City Council has extended the waiver of System Development Charges (SDC) for ADUs another two years. The waiver can save a homeowner several thousand dollars in SDC. The waiver extension had been proposed as three years, but Council revised it to two years.
Peter O’Neil also informs the group that the Multnomah County Assessor has decided that when a homeowner builds an ADU on their property, the homeowner has changed the use of the property and the property is therefore re-assessed at the current full value of the entire property, not just the added value of the ADU. The re-assessment can increase a homeowner’s property tax by many thousands of dollars. Multnomah County had not been doing this in the past and now it is the only county in the state that does. The Oregon Department of Revenue is reviewing Multnomah County’s position and O’Neil proposes that the ICA write a letter to the Dept. of Revenue opposing the assessment program the County now uses. William Archer moves that O’Neil write the letter and email it to Board members for review before sending it to the state, Jason Messer seconds.
Motion passes with two abstaining, zero nays.
7th Avenue Greenway
Steve Cole updates the proposed 7th Avenue or 9th Avenue Greenway (formerly called a Bike Boulevard). 5500 cars travel between Knott and Broadway daily on 7th. Creating a Greenway with traffic diverters on 7th would reduce that to less than 1,000. In the past, 8th Avenue neighbors have expressed concerns that making 7th Avenue a Greenway will cause more cars to travel 8th Avenue. The 8th Avenue neighbors prefer a Greenway on 9th Avenue.
TSP Letter
Steve Cole asks the Board to ratify the TSP letter. Peter O’Neil moves to ratify the letter, Nathan Corser seconds. Susan Hathaway-Marxer objects to a line in the letter that says “major city traffic”.
Motion passes with two abstaining.
Irvington Farmers Market
Wendy Jo Downing is the new Executive Director of the Irvington Farmers Market. Brad Perkins is no longer involved. Downing informs the group that the Market wants to create a better, more positive community impact and return to a more neighborhood feel. There will be 24 all new vendors, rotating performing artists something like a community festival, they will accept EBT and will have a token program for those in need. The Market will be Sundays 9:30 to 2:30 and will re-launch June 5. It will run for 22 weeks. The Market is a non-profit that makes enough to cover expenses.
Zip Car
Chester Anderson of Zip Car tells the group of a new program in Irvington called My Own Zip Car. The program would assign a Zip Car to four individuals for certain hours of the day (rush hour, for example) so those four would have known access to the cars at those times. The idea is to provide Zip Cars for commuters. Anderson asks the ICA to spread the word and asks if anyone in the group would like to sign up. Anderson says a percentage of the proceeds from this program would be donated to the ICA.
Seismic Retrofitting
Jessica Bond of Enhabit (formerly Clean Energy Works) at NE 7th & Broadway tells the group that Enhabit does a free seismic assessment for homeowners. The assessment takes about 1 – 2 hours. Seismic upgrade retrofitting of a typical home can cost between $3,000 and $8,000. Enhabit has access to financing options. Enhabit has created a guide to earthquake preparedness available on their website at enhabit.org.
School Boundary Changes
Steve Cole reports that Irvington, Sabin, Boise-Humboldt and King Schools would feed to Tubman Middle School in the current proposed school board re-boundary plan. This means that many students would have to cross Martin Luther King Jr Blvd and Williams and Vancouver Streets to get to school. Irvington School funding would also go down with this plan. Cole reports that many parents oppose the plan.
Broadway Better Block
Ryan Hashagen a downtown business owner and Better Block representative tells the group of the plan to install temporary traffic control devices along NE Broadway from NE 24th Ave to NE 7th Ave in a demonstration and study of how Broadway may be revised to create a more walkable and business friendly commercial environment. The Better Block program is sponsored by the Broadway-Weidler Alliance (BWA) which is a coalition of neighborhood associations (including the ICA), local business associations and neighborhood advocacy groups formed to find ways to improve the usability of our major commercial area. PSU students will study the effects of the Broadway Better Block demonstration and report back to the BWA.
The street will be reduced to two traffic lanes during the demo. Looking at Broadway from south to north, the temporary configuration would be:
Sidewalk
Parking
Vehicle Lane
Vehicle Lane
Parking
Bike Lane
Curb Activation (e.g. tables and chairs, sale racks, activities)
Sidewalk
Better Block did a similar, three day demonstration along SW 3rd Ave. PBOT put in 14 cross walks and buffered bike lanes creating a much more accessible business district along 3rd Ave.
The BWA wants Broadway to become a destination and part of that goal is to create a more pedestrian friendly street. In the long term, traffic would be calmed, cross walks and bike lanes installed, usable sidewalk space would be increased.
The Better Block demonstration will be May 9 through May 15, 2016.
Susan Hathaway-Marxer moves and Michela McMahon seconds that the ICA donate $1500 to Better Block for this demo. Passes unanimously. The donation will be ratified at the next ICA meeting.
Capital Improvements
Nathan Corser reports on the Klickitat Mall. The plan is to contact owners along the mall to discuss improvements. Jason Messer has produced a document on the health of the trees and plantings to use as a base to plan upon. Dean Gisvold is reviewing legal documents that may enhance the ICA’s leadership position on the project.
Charitable Giving
Susan Hathaway-Marxer asks for volunteers to join the Charitable Giving Committee. It requires reading applications over a weekend to prepare for a meeting on the Monday prior to the regular ICA June Board Meeting. This year the Committee meeting will be June 6, 2016.
Irvington Clean Up
William Archer reports the clean up collection is scheduled for May, 7, 2016, 9:00 – 2:00 in the parking lot of the Holladay Church of God accessed from NE 21st. Need volunteers to set up, collect items, set up the Too Good to Throw Away pile, etc. The clean up will not accept yard debris, no regular trash, no construction debris like plaster and wood. The Irvington Community Association does not charge fees for collecting the items, but donations are encouraged. The clean up generates $700 - $900 for the ICA.
Irvington Historic Home Tour
Pam Lindholm Levy asks for volunteers for the Tour which is scheduled for May 15, 2016, 11:00 – 5:00. The tour needs home guides for these shifts: 10:45 to 2:00 and 1:45 to 5:00. People who volunteer can tour all the homes on the tour free. There are six homes on tour this year. More information and buy tickets at IrvingtonHomeTour.com
Broadway-Weidler Alliance Charrette
The BWA will be doing an informative charrette on one day of the Broadway Better Block demonstration. The charrette will be held at Grace Episcopal Church on Weidler and NE 17th, May 14, 2016, 10:00 – 1:00. There will be discussions and information on how to improve Broadway’s usability and accessibility to the neighborhoods. This will include break-out group sessions and a walking tour.
New Business
A neighbor suggests the ICA create some kind of major event to help the homeless in Portland. He’d like the ICA to investigate ways to help end the homeless crisis in Portland. The ICA should not walk away from the problem, but help create some kind of proactive plan. There was general agreement with the suggestion, but no action was taken.
Minutes taken by Peter O’Neil