1. Volunteers Needed With OKNA Board
Right now we have a few needs on the OKNA Board. One opening is with the School Liaison Committee where we are looking for someone to build connection between the neighborhood and Beach Elementary and other area schools. Additionally, we are looking for someone who might be interested in supporting the weekly and quarterly updates to the neighborhood. If either of these are of interest to you please email overlookna@gmail.com.
2. An outdoor homeless shelter on every corner?
Big changes could be coming to how the city regulates siting of shelters and other low-income residential development. The Shelter to Housing Continuum (S2HC) project has passed committee review and now heads to Portland City Council. If adopted by council, the city and property owners would have wide latitude in locating sanctioned homeless camps and high-density development in neighborhoods.
Temporary sanctioned homeless camps would be allowed in all parks, open spaces (like along Going Street), and other vacant spaces for up to six months. They could continue in those spaces with conditional use approval.
S2HC also would allow group living arrangements without an opportunity for public comment under the conditional use review process. And every property owner could have one recreational vehicle or tiny house on wheels permanently parked on their property for occupancy.
The city calculates that in Overlook, outdoor shelters (sanctioned camps) would be allowed outright on 159 tax lots totaling 48 acres and with a conditional use on 520 tax lots totaling 181 acres. Short term and mass shelters would be allowed outright on hundreds of neighborhood tax lots.
All of these changes could have profound effects on the character of neighborhoods. The Overlook Neighborhood Association Board continues to review S2HC and suggests all residents to check out the details for themselves. Everyone should weigh the benefits of sanctioned camping and denser development during a housing crisis against the impacts to communities before reaching a conclusion.
OKNA Vice Chair Christian Trejbal gave a presentation on S2HC at the February board meeting. The city has additional information including the proposed code changes and FAQ on the S2HC website.
Before City Council adopts S2HC, there will be an opportunity for additional public involvement. OKNA encourages residents to be engaged citizens and share what they like and don’t like about the proposal.