North Macadam

North Macadam Urban Renewal Area
Meeting Minutes
Urban Renewal Advisory Committee
Thursday, September 18, 2003
8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

1. Welcome & Opening Comments
The meeting was opened at 8:45 a.m. by Barbara Walker. Rick Saito, Chair, was not present.

2. Review & Approval of August 7, 2003 Meeting Minutes
Approval of the minutes was delayed until the next URAC meeting since the URAC did not have a quorum.

3. Street Standards Update and Discussion
Stacy Bluhm (Portland Office of Transportation) presented on the South Waterfront Street Standards. She started with the history of the document. In 1996, City Council adopted the Engineer’s Report which began work on the street standards. This work was not completed because work was started on the Framework Plan. The street standards work restarted in 1999 with the acceptance of the Framework Plan and then was put on hold again with development of the South Waterfront Plan.

The street standards work has begun again and will be reviewed by City Council on October 8, 2003 [Note: delayed to incorporate comments received]. Comments on the document need to be submitted to Ms. Bluhm by the end of next week to be incorporated into the document before it is reviewed by City Council. Individual review meetings with Ms. Bluhm are available. These meetings will need to happen by September 26.

Lloyd Lindley, Urban Design consultant, described the street standards. The street standards have not changed much since the last project effort, but the new standards have more of an environmental focus.

1. Hamilton Court is identified as a pedestrian/bicycle connection to the west, to OHSU.
2. Meade/Arthur is proposed to connect to the Ross Island Bridge.
3. Southbound streetcar is shown on Moody Street, with a return on Lowell Street to northbound route on Bond Street, transitioning back to Moody Street at Grover Street.
4. 5 special design areas are identified because they are at important intersections:
• River Parkway south of Ross Island Bridge
• Meade Street to the Marquam Bridge
• Gibbs Street
• Central Neighborhood Park area
• Bancroft Street
5. Several types of streets are proposed throughout the district: local streets, enhanced pedestrian streets (Meade, Grover, Whitaker and Gaines), green streets (Meade and Gaines), and green accessways (12 total).
6. Greenway accessways are now public right-of-ways, not provided through easements.
7. Design of special design areas will happen cooperatively between developers, City and neighborhoods.
8. Green streets are not calculated as part of the Greenway and are within 100-feet of the Greenway.
9. Street lighting will be mounted on a 14-foot post and will be a slightly different luminaire than in the downtown Central City.

4. Greenway Implementation Strategy Discussion
Kia Selley (PDC, Development) spoke on the soon-to-begin South Waterfront Greenway Implementation Strategy. Ms. Selley distributed a handout of the workplan and schedule describing the project, goals and objectives, public outreach approach and partners, as well as the work plan and schedule. She noted that the information was provided at the last URAC meeting as well as at the September Corbett Terwilliger Lair Hill Neighborhood Board meeting. She asked for comments and concerns.

Questions from the audience:

1. Concerns regarding environmental contamination and effects on health of people. Response: Will be addressed later in the meeting under agenda item #7.
2. Narrowing of greenway width to 75’ average – how would that work.
   Response: will be designed within T33 provisions. If the greenway is averaged to 75’, then it will be wider in other areas to compensate for the narrowing in certain area(s).

Vote: Committee recommended Commission approval of the workplan and schedule.

5. Central District Project Update
Jim Atkins (Williams & Dame representative) provided an update on the Central District project.

• In the Greenway there were a couple minor areas of contamination which were removed and hauled off the site. The Greenway area is now considered clean.
• Central District is defined as from Gibbs Street to Lane and from Macadam Avenue to the Willamette River. The Central District does not include the Zidell Marine property.
• The civil engineering design work from Lane to Gibbs is almost complete and permits are expected the last quarter of this year.
• Vertical design is underway by Gerding/Edlen on block 29 for OHSU and a condominium project is also underway on block 30. Design review for these projects is expected during the first quarter of 2004 and construction will begin the first quarter of 2004.
• Design of Macadam Avenue is underway to increase capacity.
• Demolition of the Standard Insurance and AT&T buildings will begin in October 2003. The Grunbaum property, block 33, will be cleared in October as well.
• Along the riverfront, a stormwater quality facility bioswale and riverbank restoration is under construction. Beginning at elevation 5, the bank has been pulled back and root wads have been installed for fish habitat.
• A sedimentation pond will soon be constructed to capture stormwater during construction to allow settling of particulates before water is discharged to the river.
• Union labor and the M/W/ESB community will be included in the infrastructure work to the extent practical.
• The Pacific Metals building will be demolished in September 2004.
• The PP&L Tower will be removed and the line will be relocated.
• A traffic control plan will be in place once the construction has begun which will communicate how pedestrian, bicyclist and auto detours will occur. Some innovative ideas are being discussed to reduce truck traffic and increase the efficiency of material transport to projects in the district. For example, material may be moved directly from the Ross Island operation across the Willamette River to the project site. A request was made to coordinate with BES on traffic control since they are impacting traffic with the CSO work.
• DEQ and EPA have reviewed the environmental assessment work for this project. The Grunbaum property is the only property in the Central District which has been enrolled in the DEQ Voluntary Clean-Up Program, which will lead to a no-further action (NFA) letter.
• Underground injection control permits from the DEQ will allow for stormwater in the Central District to be infiltrated into the soil through perforated pipes.

6. Urban Renewal Boundary Amendment/Acquisition Update
Jane Blackstone (PDC, Development) provided an update on the PSU boundary amendment/acquisition project. A handout was provided that endeavors to answer frequently asked questions about this project.

• Two amendments are proposed: 1) amend boundary of North Macadam Urban Renewal Area and, 2) acquire the Doubletree Hotel property.
• Beginning fall 2004, PSU expects to begin using the Doubletree Hotel property. Redevelopment includes student housing, conference and classroom space, faculty housing and some retail.
• On September 10, 2003, the Portland Development Commission delayed decision on the proposed amendments until the October 2003 meeting [Note: now scheduled for November 19 meeting). The PDC is expected to act on a development agreement for this project in December 2003.
• Ms. Blackstone presented a letter from Sara Allison regarding this project to the URAC and to meeting participants.
• Ms. Blackstone presented and discussed the information shared on the handout.
• A meeting was held with the American Plaza community on Monday, September 15, 2003 to discuss concerns and share new project information.
• PDC will continue to keep stakeholders informed on the progress of the project.

7. Neighborhood Park Acquisition Update
Ms. Blackstone (PDC, Development) provided an update on the neighborhood park acquisition.

• South Waterfront Plan calls for a neighborhood park and the Central District Development Agreement defines that the neighborhood park shall be located within the Central District.
• The neighborhood park is proposed to be located between Moody and Bond and Curry and Gaines.
• Portland Parks & Recreation will lead design of the park.
• The land for the proposed park is currently owned by Public Storage, and the plans for acquisition have been informally discussed with a representative of the owner.
• The PDC will be requested to approve acquisition of the site.

8. Brownfields Assessment Grant Request for Proposal Update
Kia Selley (PDC, Development) provided an update on the Brownfields Assessment grant project.

Ms. Selley is now the project manager for the project. The project goals and draft criteria for site selection have been discussed with the URAC on three earlier occasions. The work program and draft criteria were reviewed once again. The primary goal of the project is to address community environmental concerns in the South Waterfront District. An area may be defined as a brownfields if contamination occurs on the site as well as if the land is perceived to be contaminated – both scenarios are a challenge for redevelopment.
PDC wants to ensure that the public is knowledgeable and comfortable with the assessment work and so that people are not fearful of environmental conditions in this District.

A consulting team led by Parametrix has been selected for this project. They have an excellent public outreach and involvement approach planned with the community. The URAC will be the main forum for public outreach, but other presentations can be provided upon request. The consulting team, along with PDC, will work in close coordination with the EPA (funder of project) and DEQ. Outreach is in progress, with recent presentations at URAC and the Corbett Terwilliger Lair Hill Neighborhood Board meeting. One of the first deliverables will be a Brownfields Primer which will describe the project, commonly used terms and the proposed process in layperson’s terms.

Next steps include identifying sites for assessment based on criteria. (Criteria was reviewed.) The primary criteria to be determined will determine whether the program focus is on public projects (such as the Greenway and parks/open spaces). Consultants will refine the draft criteria and will bring the criteria back to the URAC for finalization. Another first step will include updating the District-wide assessment work earlier completed by Century West.

The project will begin October 2003 and will be completed by fall 2004.

Questions about the project:

1. Audience question re: Oregonian article on Zidell property.
   Response: Zidell was involved in the DEQ Voluntary Clean-Up program. Together, they are working through assessment and remediation modeling. These sites will not be part of PDC’s Brownfields program because are already being addressed in the DEQ program. The DEQ program will result in clean-up and a remediation plan to ensure public safety and to obtain a no further action decision from DEQ.
2. A question from CTLH representative Jim Davis (for Jerry Ward): concerned that PDC is doing assessments but not cleaning up properties. How will that translate into safety for our new neighbors? Will PDC select sites that are obviously contaminated?
   Response: Grant amount was for $200,000. After completing assessment work, PDC may then be able to obtain EPA funding for clean-up or clean-up properties as part of the redevelopment of the site.
3. A question from CTLH representative Jim Davis (for Jerry Ward): Will PDC test the Zidell site?
   Response: EPA typically excludes DEQ voluntary clean-up sites from grant funded projects. The EPA funding will be used for sites most visible and connected to the public.

Ms. Walker suggested that, due to the late hour, people address additional questions to Kia Selley (823-0113). She said that this is a great opportunity to use grant funding on public land so that we don’t have to use our limited TIF. This will help the City to move positively to address community concerns.

9. Closing Remarks
None

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