IRVINGTON COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION BOARD MEETING – January 8, 2015
Meeting in the library at Irvington Elementary School on NE Brazee Street
Board Members Present: Tom Mertes, Jeff Jones, Nathan Corser, Jim Barta, Pam Lindholm-Levy, Brian Schaeperkoetter, Barb Christopher, William Archer, Peter O’Neil, Dean Gisvold, Aaron Stuckey, Steven Cole, Nathan Christensen, Tiffanie Shakespeare, Susan Hathaway-Marxer, Michela McMahon and Jason Messer.
Board Members Absent: Christine Cours-Mitchell, Bev Burn, and Kysa Alport.
Visitors: Nikki Johnston, Jim Heuer, Bill & Evie Hausman, David Austin, Erin Yanice, Deven Shollenberger, Alexandra Giddings, Keith Testerman, Mandy Barberree and Alex Celeste Carroccio (the last six from Blackwater Brew Pub going in at NE 8th and Broadway), and Sarah Long (re NE 7th & Thompson)
President Steven Cole called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm. A quorum of board members was present. There were no minutes available to approve from the last meeting (December 4, 2014) so it was stated that they would be available prior to the February meeting and approved then.
No Portland Police Officer present. Steven asked if there was anything going on in the neighborhood that people had questions about, and Susan requested that we get a report from the Police Bureau representative about the incident on NE 16th and Brazee that occurred in October.
HISTORIC DISTRICT (HD) CHALLENGE: A group calling itself the Alameda-Irvington Overlap Committee (A-IOC) has filed a petition to delist 24 blocks in the northeast section of the Irvington Historic District from the federally approved Historic District (HD). The Alameda Neighborhood Association became reactivated when the Portland School Board proposed changing the boundaries for attendance at Alameda School and a group of the neighborhood people has now moved on to challenge the boundaries of the HD.
The group wants to be associated with Alameda, not Irvington, and is conducting surveys in the area proposed to be delisted. They are also handing out pamphlets, explaining that the area they want out of the HD is the area bordered by Fremont on the North, 27th on the East, 21st on the West and Knott Street on the South.
The Committee has scheduled a community meeting for 7:00 pm on January 14 at Fremont Methodist Church. They are looking to generate support from people who own property in the overlap area to support their case for delisting.
The Landmarks Commission will meet and discuss the matter on February 9th at 1:30 pm. It is expected that the A-IOC will testify at the meeting and request that the 24 blocks they’ve identified be delisted from the HD. The Landmarks Commission is advisory to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHIPO), which will be meeting February 20. If that group decides further action is necessary, it will issue a recommendation to the National Park Service, Dept. of the Interior, as the issue is governed by federal law.
The ICA has retained Kirk Ranzetta to advise the Board regarding the petition, at an initial cost of $3,000. His initial review has indicated that the A-IOC’s petition (a 340 page document) has a number of errors and factual representation is missing. Several ICA board members stated that the ICA needs to reach out to people within the identified 24-block area because of hard feelings about the information being disseminated.
If the Landmarks Commission rejects the petition, there could be political and public relation aspects. If their decision is issued to reinforce the HD, the ICA could use the decision as an opportunity to again discuss the often-heard questions about front of house design and window changes, which are believed to be confusing for many HD residents.
Steve will not be attending the January 14 meeting called about the potential delisting of 24 blocks from the Historic District (HD) because he will be attending a meeting of the Broadway-Weidler Coalition on that evening. Jim Heuer, Barb Christopher and Mr. and Mrs. Hausman plan to attend the January 14 meeting and Board members are encouraged to attend as well.
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