By Laura Smith
The November meeting of the Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association had a light but interesting agenda.
Portland Police Officer Joe Cook reminded attendees about the PDX Reporter app that is free to download. It can be used to report non-emergency livability issues like abandoned vehicles, graffiti, potholes, lighting that is out and so on. It allows you to add a photo or GPS coordinates to your report. For reporting crimes like bike and auto thefts, online reporting is available because wait times can be long on the non-emergency phone line. Online crime reporting is on the City’s website here: portlandoregon.gov/police/cor.
MTNA board members submitted public testimony for the Residential Infill Proposal Concepts, expressing MTNA’s concerns about limited public involvement and protection of existing neighborhoods that the City Council should consider.
The owner of Belmont Family Dentistry is working through the land use processes to make a zone change for his new property on SE Belmont and updated the neighborhood on his effort to relocate his dental office to that property.
The historic Nurse’s Quarters property at 6021 SE Yamhill has been purchased by Bridgeway Realty Resources, a development team that buys older properties and finds adaptive reuses for them. The project will be converted to housing with 76 residential rental units targeted to households at 80% of median income. There will be a combination of SRO units, one-bedroom units, and studios. The current 15 parking stalls will be retained and sheltered bike parking will be added. The project will have an ADA elevator and large communal spaces.
A Warner Pacific College representative provided a brief presentation about the school in the heart of our neighborhood. Warner Pacific’s main campus has 500-550 students, with over 59% of the enrollees being first-generation college students. WPC’s current focus is supporting students from the local area and the underserved. The majority of WPC students are minorities and the main feeder high schools are David Douglas and Franklin. Each year, WPC provides a full-ride scholarship for 10 students with leadership potential. Curriculums include business and entrepreneurship, biology, health sciences, social science, and health care administration. WPC hopes to start a nursing program in the future.
MTNA board members are currently working with Water Bureau representatives to select contractors for overseeing historic restorations and to choose a consultant for the interpretive project which will preserve the history of Portland’s reservoir system.
The Tabor Commons/Cafe au Play community planning meeting held in late October and online surveys indicate that neighbors want to see it reused in a way that continues to serve the community. Sale of the property was the least popular option. Explorations are underway to find a tenant for the next two years while long-term plans are determined.
SE Uplift and MTNA members are now actively working with a website designer hired to start the process of re-establishing the MTNA website.
The last Weed Warrior event for 2016 in Mt. Tabor Park was October 29.
There will be no meeting of the MTNA in December. The next meeting will be Wednesday, January 18, at 7 pm at Mt Tabor Presbyterian Church at SE 54th and Belmont, with social time starting 6:50 pm. For more information, visit mttaborpdx.org.
