March 3, 2005

NEWS & EVENTS

 

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WHEN IS AN ADDITION ANOTHER DWELLING UNIT?
During the past month the SGNA Board has been very busy with a building permit that was issued to build an addition on an existing duplex at 2416 NE Halsey. Last year the property owner started work on what appeared to be a rather large addition without a building permit, which we notified the city about. The existing structure is a legal duplex and the zoning does not allow the addition of a third unit on the property.

Last month work started again and we confirmed that a valid permit had been issued. When we saw the actual permit we discovered that the addition would only be attached to the house by a breezeway, suggesting that it could easily be rented separately in the future. The SGNA Board learned that a building permit had been granted because the property owner signed a covenant that the unit would not be rented out separately.

SGNA is very concerned that no enforcement mechanism is in place to insure that this does not happen and we do not believe that it should be up to the neighbors to provide enforcement. On Feb. 16 we testified before City Council asking them to put a stay on the building permit and to address the underlying problem. Copies of the letters we've sent the city and other documents can be found on the SGNA website. For information contact Harrison Pettit, 503-249-0996 harrison.pettit@worldnet.att.net

A GROCER FOR THE 1620 BROADWAY BUILDING
Since Zupans pulled out several months ago, developer Alan Kraviz has been talking to two groceries who have expresed interest in leasing the ground floor of 1620 Broadway.  One is Market of Choice, an Oregon company with 8 stores in the state, the closest is at 502 Terwilliger Blvd. The other is Wild Oats, which currently has several stores in the area.  Either would probably fulfill our desire to have a specialty grocery as a part of the project and a critical part of the Broadway business district. We are told by the developer that encouragement from neighbors, including area businesses, could assure these grocers that they would be a most welcome addition to our neighborhood. If you would like to let them know your interest, the addresses are:

Send an email to Rick Wright, Market of Choice: rickw@marketofchoice.com
and send a letter or fax to: Rick Franz, Wild Oats, 10575 N, 114th St., Suite103, Scottsdale,  AZ  85259; or fax: 480 344 7712


SPRING GARDEN TIP O' THE MONTH
It's not too early to plant peas, mustard greens and spinach, that you'll be able to start eating in a few months, recommends Susan Campbell, soon to be OSU Master Gardener, who tills the soil at the corner of 19th & Clackamas. And although it's not very glamorous, now's the time to clear out plant litter and debris to reduce slug habitat and prevent the growth of plant viruses and molds so they don't remind you of their presence later in the season. In other gardening news Meara McLaughlin and her hearty band o' sod busters continues to plan a neighborhood gardening extravaganza for sometime in April. Contact her if you want to attend the next planning meeting 503-287-7312 meara17@hotmail.com


NEW TENANT FOR HOLLADAY MARKET
The long-rumored arrival of a Newport Bay restaurant in the Holladay Market building is now official, according to an article in the Portland Tribune, quoting Lloyd Center owners, Glimscher Properties. It's the 28th Newport Bay location for the Portland-based Pacific Coast Restaurants, Inc., and will take up a substantial part of the building. Even with Bank of America moved in several months ago, Glimscher is still looking for several more tenants.
http://portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=28573

NEXT BUS ARRIVAL IS NEAR AS YOUR PHONE
Everyone in Sullivan's Gulch lives near a bus route and we have pretty frequent service to downtown, Hollywood, and points north via 15th, 24th & 33rd Avenues. Waiting for the bus can seem a lot shorter if you know how soon the next bus will arrive and TriMet offers a fast easy way to find out.

To use the service all you need to know the bus stop number in the direction you want to go, which is on the TriMet web site http://www.trimet.org/customerservice/stopidnumbers.htm. For example, the bus stop in front of the Helen Bernhard Bakery heading downtown is number 632. When you want to know what time to leave your house, just call TriMet's main information number 503-238-RIDE (7433), enter 1 and 1 again, wait a moment and you'll be asked to enter the stop number. Then you'll hear the arrivals of all bus routes that use that stop - in this case the #9 and #77. Many buses are equipment with GPS so the system can report actual arrival, not scheduled arrival. You can also check the TriMet web site for next bus arrival, get full schedules and do trip planning, as well. www.trimet.org

SPRING CLEAN UP AHEAD
Every spring in conjunction with Office of Neighborhoods and Bureau of Environmental Services, SGNA sponsors a "Spring Clean Up" with dumpsters to collect your unwanted and unsalvageable junk and yard debris. Our date is set for Saturday, April 16, so start assembling your unrecyclables. This year will also be recycling molded white styrofoam, such as what TVs, stereos and computers come packed in. As in past years, it will be in the morning only. We'll have full details about the clean up next time.

WHO YOU GONNA CALL?
The SGNA Board and committees are involved with a number of issues to improve the livability of our neighborhood:
• Land Use issues — Lynne Coward, Land Use Committee chair 503-335-9405;
• Transportation and pedestrian improvements — contact Dave Galaty, Transportation Committee, 503-319-2666;
• Neighborhood safety/crime issues — Wayne Scott 503-288-5571;
• Gulch Lifestyles and other social events — Meara McLaughlin 503-287-7312 (see garden tip above);
• Newsletter and communications — Dave Brook 503-288-4024.

FOR OTHER NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
... including minutes from previous Board meetings, see our website www.sullivansgulch.org or attend our monthly Board Meetings. They're held the second Tuesday of each month (except August) at 7:30 pm at Holladay Park Plaza, off Clackamas St. at 16th Ave. The next one is Tuesday, March 8. For information or to submit an agenda item, contact Co-Chairs Peyton Snead, 503-284-8313 or Harrison Petit, 503-249-0996 or email your item to info@sullivansgulch.org.

The boundaries of the Sullivan's Gulch Neighborhood Association are: NE 15th to NE 33rd, I-84/Banfield Freeway to NE Broadway + the Lloyd Cinemas and parking lot, Holladay Park and the 1201 Building across from the MAX station. Our neighbors are: Irvington & Grant Park to the north; Hollywood to the east; Kerns to the south and Lloyd District to the west.