On December 9th, the Montavilla Neighborhood Association (MNA) voted unanimously to sign the Good Neighbor Agreement (GNA) for the Oak Street Village shelter site at 333 SE 82nd Avenue. The Multnomah County-owned property will open to temporary residents in early 2025, and formalizing a community agreement is a significant step toward launching this shelter. The 32-page non-binding document covers the signers’ shared commitment to adhere to their agreed responsibilities and follow set communication standards to resolve conflicts.
The GNA signers include the Joint Office of Homeless Services, the City of Portland, shelter services providers Straightway Services, the Montavilla East Tabor Business Association, and the MNA. Each party has distinct responsibilities and roles in the agreement, and the GNA can update through its duration with the consent of the signers. The MNA sees the Community Advisory Committee formed by the GNA as a critical part of the document’s strength. That committee meets monthly with members from each signing party and village residents to review operations in a collaborative problem-solving format. This continual engagement ensures the parties maintain strong lines of communication and identify opportunities for collaboration between the village participants and the Community.
The GNA establishes an Engagement Zone bordered by the west side of SE 80th Avenue, the east side of 83rd Avenue, the north side of SE Ash Street, and the south side of SE Stark Street. The City will grant high-priority services within the defined area, and the site operator commits to regularly engaging with people in the zone to limit community impacts around Oak Street Village. The prioritized city services include the removal of unsanctioned campsites or abandoned vehicles, emergency calls, non-emergency calls, and cleaning services. The City has to adhere to its policies regarding each service but agrees to rank occurrences higher in the Engagement Zone.
The GNA states that the service provider will initially favor referrals into Oak Street Village from Montavilla’s unsheltered population, potentially reducing the number of persistent unsanctioned campsites in the neighborhood. This site prioritizes individuals living in vehicles who want to keep their car while moving into sleeping pods. Oak Street Village supports people making that transition by offering onsite parking for one personal vehicle per resident. This somewhat unique shelter feature generated many questions from neighbors during community engagement meetings. The GNA includes Straightway Services’ written policies, which outline the provider’s prohibition of onsite vehicle repair, prolonged idling, sleeping in a vehicle, or extensive property storage in the cars. The cars must fit within the marked parking stalls, blocking the storage of recreational vehicles or other oversized trucks. Owners of parked cars leaking fluids must use drip pans and properly dispose of hazardous materials to prevent runoff contamination of the stormwater system.
The agreement also covers future site placement, limiting Multnomah County’s expansion of the JOHS Community Sheltering Strategy within the Good Neighbor Zone. The Good Neighbor Zone surrounding the Engagement Zone is bordered by SE 75th Avenue, SE 88th Avenue, E Burnside Street, and SE Yamhill Street. It also has an extension from E Burnside Street up NE 80th Avenue and NE 82nd Avenue to incorporate the Vestal School. This agreement and other potential sites with a similar GNA will significantly reduce the potential for more County-owned sites along Montavilla’s section of 82nd Avenue.
The GNA mandates the regular collection of metrics to track the shelter’s impact on the neighborhood. Members of the Community Advisory Committee will monitor the data, which will become publicly accessible through existing dashboards and other group communications. As the County prepares a second site at 1818 SE 82nd Avenue, this GNA will likely play an influential role in that site’s Good Neighbor Agreement. The other parties will have to sign the document, but JOHS leaders expect that will happen before the residents begin moving into the 333 SE 82nd Avenue site.
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