[BWNA] FW: BWNA Transportation and Land Use Committee - It is time to get involved

Sun Dec 16 19:18:31 PST 2007

Hi folks,

This is a reminder about the Transportation and Land Use committee
meeting tomorrow night (December 17th) at 7:30 pm. I was hoping to meet
at Vicinato tomorrow night, but the owners had something come up and we
won’t be able to meet there. We will plan on meeting at the Alameda Brew
Pub instead. I have included the information that I sent out on November
18th to remind you of the items that we will be discussing.

Thanks and I look forward to seeing you all at the meeting.

Cheers,

David Whitaker

BWNA Transportation and Land Use Chair

-----Original Message-----
From: David Whitaker [mailto:dkwhit at pacifier.com] 
Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2007 1:11 PM
To: dkwhit at pacifier.com
Subject: BWNA Transportation and Land Use Committee - It is time to get
involved

Good afternoon,

I am not going to be available to make the regularly scheduled
transportation and land use meeting tomorrow night (November 19th).
Sorry for the late notice, but those of you who are interested in
discussing transportation and land use issues in the neighborhood are
welcome to meet without me. 

I think that it would be good to have the meeting in December so that we
can develop some goals for items that we would like to accomplish in
2008. The meeting will be on Monday, December 17th at 7:30 pm. Since
Fremont Coffee closed down, we need to come up with a new place to meet.
I would like to try the new wine bar named Vicinato, which is located at
46th and Fremont (4605 NE Fremont) in the courtyard behind Parisi’s (and
across from Green Dog Pet Supply). It is quite comfortable, is big
enough to handle the occasional large crowd and the owners are glad to
accommodate us. I have listed some items that we could discuss at the
December meeting:

*	Build up the attendance by community members to the
Transportation and Land Use Committee meetings. Also, bring new members
onto the committee that are committed to providing positive change for
our neighborhood.
*	Monitor infill development and advocate for a design overlay for
the neighborhood. It seems that infill development has been more common
in our neighborhood within the last couple of years. This will likely
not change….how can we push developers to build appropriate development
that fits in with the neighborhood character?
*	Work with the neighbors along NE 37th and PDOT to reduce traffic
speeding and high traffic volumes along NE 37th between NE Fremont and
NE Prescott. Would it be good to have a stop sign at the corner of 37th
and Skidmore? Do we need speed bumps or some other type of
infrastructure change to slow drivers down? How can we make the
intersection of NE 37th and Alameda smaller so that it is easier for
pedestrians and bicyclists to cross and so that it slows down drivers
that are driving through the intersection? 
*	Monitor development of mausoleums at the Rose City Cemetery and
advocate for a sidewalk to be constructed along NE 47th.  The Rose City
Cemetery Associations seems to be poised to construct new mausoleums
near NE 47th and Shaver and behind Amalfi’s Restaurant. They have
certain requirements that need to be met as a condition of their land
use permit. They have not followed through on their commitments yet, so
we need a person or group of people that will monitor their activities
and work with the City of Portland to ensure that all of their permit
requirements are met.
*	Address concerns from Beaumont School and others related to the
north bound line 33 bus stop at the corner of 42nd and Fremont. The bus
that stops at this location frequently stops 42nd Ave northbound traffic
in the middle of the intersection of 42nd and Fremont. This creates a
bad traffic situation and a potentially dangerous situation for kids
that are trying to cross the street to get to school. Solving this
problem will involve working with both Tri-Met and PDOT.
*	Work with adjoining neighborhood associations and CNN on
regional issues such the proposed Portland International Airport
expansion and the increase of dangerous chemicals being proposed for
discharge from the Boeing Airplane maintenance facility. The Port of
Portland is in a planning process where they are evaluating the need for
a third runway that would direct a significant amount of air traffic
near our neighborhood. The Boeing Corporation is proposing to expand the
airplane maintenance facility at NE 47th and NE Cornfoot and
significantly increase the discharge into the air of Volatile Organic
Compounds (VOCs). These are known to be cancer causing chemicals and the
discharge site is only about a mile from our neighborhood. When the
winds blow from the north in the spring and summer, these chemicals
would be blown directly towards our neighborhood. It would be good to
have a neighborhood representative (or representatives) involved in
monitoring these planning processes so that we can insure that our
neighborhood provides significant input about the proposed plans.
*	Develop a subcommittee to address the need for public art along
NE Fremont Street. There is an interest in working with the Regional
Arts Council and others to get funding for some really great art along
NE Fremont, in the Beaumont business district. 

If you have other items that you would like to add to the list, please
forward them on to me and I we will discuss them in December. I am
sending this email to as many folks in the neighborhood as I can think
of. There are many important items to work on in our neighborhood and I
encourage all of you to get involved. It should be a commitment of no
more than 2 – 3 hours per month on average, so it would not be a huge
commitment.

Thank you and I hope that you enjoy our fine winter weather. 

Cheers,

David Whitaker

BWNA Transportation and Land Use Chair

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