Buckman Community Association

03/10/05 BCA general minutes

General mtg 03/10/05

In Attendance: M’Lou Christ, Amy Hsuan (Oregonian), Officer Jim McMurray (PPD), Bill Hoffman (ODOT), Aron Homberg (CCHS), Abe Pfeifer (Portland Four Square Church), Chris Marston, Jeannie Burt, Anne Hughes, Gerald Casey, Adam Zucker, Pete Bruha (Roadside Attraction), Alf Evers (Roadside Attraction), Paul Minty, Michael Whitmore (Kerns Neighborhood Assoc), David Gabriel (Colab Architecture), Mark Engbert (Colab Architecture), Kevin Krauss, Doug Klotz, Sandy Combes, David Mortenson, Jim Davis (Awakenings of the Heart), Faddh Yuetsu Wolf, Roger Burt, Peter Fry, Loran & Cathy Lamb-Mullin,, Gavin Shettler, Galina Grigoyan (ONI), Steve Hoyt (SEUL), Jack Maynard, Glenn Watts, Dolores Dee, Gunnar Langhos (Ankrom Molsant/Beam Dev.), Mary Ann Schwab, Lew Bowers (PDC), Christine Egan (PDC), Dennis Keenan (Catholic Charities), Lloyd Lindley, Richard Sharey, Kevin Johnson (GBD Architects), Jill Sherman (Gerding Edlen), Bruce Wood (Opus), Bradley Malsin (Beam), Jonathon Malsin (Beam), John Murphy (PHC/Opus), and BCA board members: Lily Witham, Gilly Burlingham, Seann McKeel, Bethany Pratt, Jim Andrews, Ann Bowling and Susan Lindsay.

Minutes approved- The minutes from 02/10/05 were approved by a motion from Seann McKeel with a second from Bethany Pratt and a unanimous vote.

Portland Arts Center- Gavin Shettler made a brief announcement about the new Portland Arts Center, located at SE 20th & Belmont. This is an inter-disciplinary center for all art events. Hours are 12-8PM Wed-Sat.

Holman Building- M’Lou Christ made an announcement regarding the kick-off for the Holman Building boat house, to be held on Sat. March 12th from 11AM-3PM. Newsletter Deadline- Lily Witham asked for submissions for the BCA newsletter and extended the deadline to March 23.

Venue Change/Board Meetings- Susan Lindsay announced that the BCA will hold the Board meetings in a faculty meeting room at CCHS.

Roadside Attraction-This item is on the agenda because of complaints from several neighbours regarding the liquor application for Roadside Attraction (1000 SE 12th). Neighbours Jim Davis and Dave Mortenson both read letters previously sent to the BCA, in which they stated their opposition to a bar in that space. They stated concerns regarding noise levels, hours of operation, influx of cars and the resulting parking problems in an area where there is very little off street parking, responsibility and ability of management to handle problems in the bar, and what they feel is a demonstrated lack of regard by the owners of the building for the surrounding neighbours. There are 4 buildings on the block, including the Basement Pub, and with the addition of Roadside Attraction, half the block would be bars. Liquor committee members Bethany Pratt and Lily Witham had recently visited the building in order to go over a Good Neighbor Agreement with the owners. Lily said that she had concerns about noise due to the fact that the stage is set up directly in front of a large garage door with glass panes. Anne Hughes asked about occupancy requirements and if the city had done an inspection yet. She also asked if Evers had liquor insurance. Evers said no to both. Susan Lindsay stated that she thinks the BCA should oppose the liquor application based on the fact that the BCA has received numerous letters and phone calls voicing concern about the owners of the property.. Jim Andrews made a motion to deny the application on the basis that there is no Good Neighbor Agreement in place at this time. The motion was seconded by Gilly Burlingham, and the vote was unanimous.

Crime Update- Jim McMurray had to leave, but left crime statistics sheets to be distributed.

Burnside Couplet- Bill Hoffman of the Oregon Department of Transportation gave a presentation on the Burnside couplet, a $20 million dollar project to upgrade Burnside from W. Burnside and NW 23rd Ave to E. Burnside and SE 14th Ave. This plan includes making E. Burnside a one-way street east from Grand Ave to SE 14th, with Couch St. as the one-way westbound street. This project ties into the Burnside Bridgehead project at Grand and Burnside. Architect Lloyd Lindley gave a brief presentation about the transportation and land uses issues and possibilities at the Burnside/Sandy/12th/14th configuration.
Faddah Wolfe asked why national figures are used when plugging in traffic numbers to create studies. He felt that local numbers should be used as they reflect the true traffic situation. Lily Witham said that she thinks that The East and West sides of Burnside should not be lumped together in this project. She said that E. Burnside does not have the same problems as W. Burnside, and that she feels very strongly that E. Burnside should not be made into a one-way street.

Burnside Bridgehead- Lew Bowers of the PDC introduced representatives from each of the three companies that submitted RFP’s for the Burnside Bridgehead Project at Grand and E. Burnside. Representatives were Bruce Wood of Opus Development, Jill Sherman from Gerding Edlen and Brad Maslin of Beam Development. Each speaker showed plans of their proposal and gave a brief presentation about their proposal. Brad Maslin of Beam received enthusiastic applause from the audience after giving his proposal. The presentations were followed by a question and answer period. Lily Witham pointed out that several key elements from the original Beam proposal had been “adapted” by Opus and GED.