Apr 12, 2018 - John Hollister, Melanie Kuppenbender, Betty Lou Koffel, Tom Lavoie, Christian Maynard Philipp,. Dave Mitchell, Ed O'Rourke, Stan Penkin, ...
Agenda Board Meeting Regular Session Thursday, April 12, 2018 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM At PNCA Hammer Board Room (#237) 511 NW Broadway Board Members: Bill Bagnall, Bill Dolan, David Dysert, Reza Farhoodi, Michael Gann, Sara Hoeber, John Hollister, Melanie Kuppenbender, Betty Lou Koffel, Tom Lavoie, Christian Maynard Philipp, Dave Mitchell, Ed O’Rourke, Stan Penkin, Michael Roberts, Glenn Traeger, Jan Valentine, John Warner
1. Introductions
2. Approval of Minutes (March 8, 2018)
3. Invited Guests – Lift Urban Portland (Erin Goldwater)
4. President’s Report (Appendix B) – Stan Penkin a. Communications (Appendix A) b. Event Approval Policy c. River Pig Saloon First Thursday Events d. Collaboration Update (PDBA, Rotary, PNCA, R2C, Old Town, Emerson School) e. Trash Cans f. Safety g. Local Improvement District (LID) h. Noise – Impact Hammer i. Fremont Appeal (Appendix C) j. Old Town Task Force – Discussion and Action k. Ad Hoc Bylaws ‐ Discussion l. Strategic Workshop Follow Up
5. Financial Report – Christian Maynard Philipp
6. Committee Reports (Only items requiring discussion – refer to Committee Minutes and Written Reports) a. Livability & Safety – Dave Mitchell b. EPrep – John Warner c. Communications – Bill Bagnall d. Community Engagement/Fundraising – Sara Hoeber e. Planning and Transportation – David Dysert/Reza Farhoodi f. Nominating ‐ Bill Dolan
7. Coalition Report – Bill Dolan
8. Any Other Business/Public Comment
9. Adjournment Page 1 of 5
APPENDIX A Communications (more information available upon request) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.
To/From: Ramzy Hattar – River Pig Saloon (First Thursday party notification) To/From: Kalise Rucker – PBOT (10 Barrel event) To/From: Kristan Alldrin – PBOT (River Pig event request) To/From: Kevin Veaudry Casaus – BPS (trash cans) From/To: David Nassif – PBOT (trash cans) From: Numerous appeal congratulations To/From: Leah Treat – PBOT Director (Couch traffic signal) From: Jackie Gordon – Henry Chair (Couch traffic signal) From/To: Roger Leachman – Goose Hollow Board (meet with Suk Rhee – ONI Director) From/To/From: Jaime – Pizzicato (support/donation) To/From: Lewis Waldrip – PBOT Engineer (Couch traffic signal) From/To: Helen Ying ‐ Old Town Community Association (Task Force) From/To: Jamie Dunn – Emerson School (thank you and follow up) From/To: Stephen Goodman – LMC/Lennar (W. Burnside Project) To: Kimberly Branam – Prosper Portland (Centennial Mills) From/To: Kira Straussman – Prosper Portland (Centennial Mills)
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APPENDIX B President’s Report April 12, 2018
1. River Pig Saloon First Thursday Events I attended a meeting with PBOT representatives and the owners of River Pig Saloon, Hunt and Gather and Barista in an effort to resolve complaints regarding River Pig’s events. River Pig agreed to make some changes and PBOT agreed to issue permits on an event by event basis. Julie Gustafson from PDBA also attended this meeting. 2. Collaboration Update PDBA – PDNA supported and promoted the Bunny Hop Event. Rotary – Will be a guest at our May meeting. PNCA – Collaborating on Earth Day Recycle event. R2C – Continues to support two Fido Houses; effort to recruit foot patrollers was unsuccessful Old Town – John Warner and I attended the first Old Town Task Force meeting on homeless shelters on April 3rd. The discussion focused on safety issues related to shelters. At least two more meetings are contemplated. PDNA has not officially joined then task force, but I had a seat at the table and was able to participate in the conversation. This is an action item for today’s meeting. Emerson School – Conversations are ongoing about ways to support PDNA. 3. Trash Cans Responding to the concern raised by Jan Valentine several months regarding any remaining PDNA liability for trash cans, I was in communication with representatives from the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. The issue has been resolved resulting in PDNA being relieved of all responsibility and liability. 4. Safety Michael Roberts and I met with Police Bureau Sgt. Jacob Jensen to discuss safety and crime in the Pearl and how we might elicit greater police response. We asked that the Police Bureau reestablish monthly appearances at our Livability and Board meetings to report on criminal activity as was done in the past. This is an effort in progress. 5. Local Improvement District (LID) Several Pearl residents have complained to me about the deterioration of cleanliness on our streets. Related to our Livability Committee’s cigarette butt remediation effort, Dave Mitchell obtained proposals from Central City Concern to provide cleaning services. This leads to the question of how such an effort could be funded which further leads to the question of potentially creating and LID for the neighborhood. This will be a significant topic of conversation at an upcoming meeting. 6. Noise – Impact Hammer Mary Sipe and I met with Noise Control Officer, Paul van Orden, to revisit the attempt to bring a revision to the noise ordinance to City Council. The effort has been stalled due to personnel changes occurring at ONI. We are awaiting a follow up response. Page 3 of 5
7. Old Town Task Force See collaboration above – Discussion and Action Item. 8. Events We continue to receive numerous event notices and approval requests. We have yet to establish a consistent policy on how to respond to such requests. This is a discussion and action item for a future board meeting. 9. Couch and 11th Traffic Signal Reza and I met with PBOT representatives and Stephen Kafoury, a representative from the Henry Condominium, to discuss difficulties and confusion with the “scramble” traffic signal. PBOT agreed to make some immediate signaling changes and to consider elimination of the “scramble” and possibly relocating that configuration to 10th and Burnside as a more appropriate location. We further discussed the consideration of creating a queuing lane for Powell’s garage to alleviate congestion. PBOT seemed responsive to these request and we await further communication. 10. Centennial Mills Following an email to Kimberly Branam, Executive Director of Prosper Portland, I was in discussion with Kyra Straussman, its Director of Development and Investment, regarding the public process for the development of Centennial Mills. I suggested that we hold a public forum for the community to better understand the stakeholder committee process and to gather input from the community as to what will actually happen on that site. I will be asking our Planning Committee to coordinate this effort with Prosper Portland. 11. Bylaws Proposed amendments and revisions submitted to board members for review. Discussion and Action Item. 12. Fremont Appeal City Council on April 4th voted 3‐2 to reopen the record regarding revisions to the current design (Appendix C) 13. Strategic Workshop Follow Up I reached out to our facilitator, Matt McTigue, to have the Executive Committee meet with him prior to today’s meeting to seek guidance for continuing our “under the iceberg” discussion at board meetings. He was unavailable in this time frame, but we will continue to pursue it. Page 4 of 5
APPENDIX C
What Just Happened?
Fremont Apartments Back to the Drawing Board
PDNA Needs Your Support!
City Council in a hearing on April 4th to take a final vote on the tentative, unanimous upholding of the PDNA appeal of March 7th chose instead to reopen the record to allow the developer an opportunity to submit a revised design, most specifically with regard to the greenway. This was an unprecedented decision that puts City Council in a position to make a design decision which they openly admitted they were unqualified to do. Under the current law, review of a revised design for this project cannot go back to the Design Commission which would be the appropriate body. In a 3‐2 vote, Commissioner Fritz and Commissioner Saltzman dissented, explaining that City Council is not the appropriate entity to review design, that the appeal should be upheld and that the applicant should reapply with a new design that would address all the reasons why the appeal was upheld in the first place. The majority did not seem to understand that the problem with this project is not just the greenway encroachment, but other issues, particularly with regard to the massive bulk of the building. Although the Design Commission ultimately approved the project by a 3‐1 vote in December, the Commission Chair, Julie Livingston, objected to the project for the same reasons as the PDNA’s initially successful appeal. So, what happens next? The applicant has till April 11th to submit a revised plan that will presumably be evaluated by City Council. Our concern is that the developer will simply add 10’ to the greenway, tweak some plantings and that City Council will think that’s OK. It’s NOT! There will then be a period for review and public comment with a hearing scheduled for May 10th at 4:00 p.m. where testimony will be taken and City Council will presumably take a vote. While the neighborhood was successful in at least forcing some change of the design, if City council fails to address all the issues of this project, there is a possibility that the neighborhood and the city will lose out to an inferior development that will set a bad precedent. There is still a strong chance that our neighborhood will prevail, but we need your support and your dollars. We have fought a good fight, but it’s not over yet. With this unanticipated occurrence, legal fees will be even greater. We ask our community to show up and let their voices be heard by writing to city council, talking to your neighbors and showing up at City Council on May 10th. We filled the “rafters” on March 7th and need you to be there again. Please donate online at www.pearldistrict.org We appreciate your support. Stan Penkin President, Pearl District Neighborhood Association
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