2) Affordable Housing project at Alberta and Interstate
3) Summer highway construction season is here
4) Portland Parks considers closing Columbia Pool in 2020
1) OKNA general meeting
Join your Overlook Neighbors on Tuesday, March 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the Kaiser Townhall for the monthly Overlook Neighborhood Association meeting. This month we’ll receive an update from the Joint Office of Homeless Services about the status of moving the Hazelnut Grove homeless camp to St. John’s and a presentation from a developer who has proposed several residential units on N Campbell Avenue near the community gardens.
Update: The Joint Office of Homeless Services will not be able to attend this month’s meeting but will attend the April meeting.
2) Affordable Housing project at Alberta and Interstate
Proud Ground and its partners have submitted an application to develop an affordable housing project at the intersection of N Interstate Avenue and N Alberta Street on the site of the former dry cleaner. The OKNA Board supports this project. If done right, it is an opportunity to bring much-needed affordable housing to Portland and will be a vibrant addition to that intersection.
As with all projects, however, the board expects the project to comply with city code. As applied for, it fails on one point. City zoning code requires 25 percent of the ground floor be active use such as commercial. The developers sought a waiver of that requirement to include only 19 percent.
Given all of the high-density residential development occurring along Interstate, the board felt that the requirement for active uses is extremely important lest Interstate become only an urban canyon that no one wants to visit. This also is, to our knowledge, the first time this active-use code requirement (which is relatively new) has been applied in Overlook, and it would be a poor precedent to grant a waiver, thereby encouraging future developers to skip required ground-floor active uses.
Read the full letter that OKNA submitted to city planners.
3) Summer highway construction season is here
Now that the weather is finally improving, the Oregon Department of Transportation will be hard at work repaving Interstate 5 between the Moda Center and the Interstate Bridge. Work primarily will take place at night. Overlook residents can expect some interruptions to their normal travel routines in the coming months.
Work will include nighttime ramp closures on Broadway/Weidler, Going Street, Rosa Parks Way, Lombard Boulevard, Victory Boulevard, Marine Drive and Jantzen Beach from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., and daytime single lane closures on the ramps from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Drivers could have to detour at times.
ODOT also is getting to work on repairing and replacing a number of freeway joints on the elevated sections of Interstate 405 on either side of the Fremont Bridge and from I-405 north to U.S. 26 west. These repairs will improve the condition and maintain the long-term safety and use of this heavily traveled freeway
This work will impact traffic on multiple freeways including I-405, U.S. 30, Interstate 5 and U.S. 26. These closures are needed to maintain a safe work zone for the traveling public and construction staff. Significant traffic delays and congestion are expected. The N Going Street on-ramp to I-5 southbound will close for two weekends to be announced later.
4) Portland Parks considers closing Columbia Pool in 2020
Portland Parks & Recreation in its budget request to the city has suggested closing Columbia Pool. If that happens, it would affect users throughout North Portland who use the facility. The only other large facility suggested for closing in the budget is the Sellwood Community Center. Facilities in other neighborhoods would be largely unaffected.
The Portsmouth Neighborhood Association will hold a meeting on Monday, March 18, 6:30-8 p.m. at Columbia Cottage to discuss strategies to rally to keep the pool open. All are welcome to attend. If you can’t attend but would like to get involved, check out their Facebook page.
The Kenton Neighborhood Association has put together more information about the proposal and how people can help keep the pool a priority in Portland.