November 19th, 2015 General Meeting Minutes

South Tabor Neighborhood Association (STNA) had its monthly meeting on Thursday Nov 19th.
The meeting opened with a debate on the pros and cons on the proposed idea by some of our neighbors of creating a bioswale and bike path on SE Woodward between 78th & 79th to replace the unmaintained street that currently exists. Thanks to the neighbors that came out for that discussion, and for the orderly and well-reasoned points, both for and against. Our Southeast Uplift liaison pointed out there is a current program run by the city of Portland called Street by Street Up Out of the Mud. More information available at http://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/58466 or https://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/article/423548 .
Our Jade District liaison reminded the neighbors that the JAMS (Jade APANO Multicultural Space) building on the corner of SE 82nd & Division is available for rent to community organizations. More information at http://www.apano.org/resources/rent-our-space/. The building was bought by Metro last year, and the bureau is moving forward with the long-term plans for mixed-use development at that location. Metro has put out a Request for Qualifications for interested parties. More information available at http://www.oregonmetro.gov/news/metro-releases-request-qualifications-82nd-and-division-project.
The Land Use Committee has drafted a letter that will be sent to the Portland City Council in response to 2035 Comprehensive Plan proposed zoning changes that affect the South Tabor neighborhood. SNTA opposes the change from Institutional-Residential, which currently requires land use reviews and community input on changes to Franklin High School and its campus, to Institutional-Campus, which would result in less stringent land use reviews and neighborhood input. STNA also opposes the change from Residential to Mixed-Use in Residential Areas as “it would reduce the residential character of the neighborhood and allow more commercial and mixed use development to occur is predominately single-family neighborhoods.” The association supports changing the zoning designation from Residential to Mixed-Use on non-conforming properties that are already being used for commercial purposes, and lie within mixed use zones such as SE Division and SE Powell. It also supported zoning changes from R2/R1 to R1 for existing split-designated/zoned sites that are already zoned for multifamily development. The designation would remove a difficult obstacle to development.
There were several ideas tossed around for future projects and workshops for the neighborhood in the new year. STNA is also looking for interested parties to serve as Board members and committee chairs, or to simply volunteer. If you are interested, please contact us at president@southtabor.org.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!