Motorists in Montavilla should use extra caution when driving on May 1st. Wednesday morning, commuters on SE Stark Street encountered a Portland Police Bureau Photo Enforcement van parked near SE 78th Avenue. Drivers traveling over the posted speed limit of 20 miles per hour saw their speed displayed on the van’s attached reader board and flash. To the north, posted road closure signs on NE 78th Avenue at E Burnside Street and NE Everett Street prohibit through traffic as Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) crews work in the roadway.
Although outside the active NE 78th Avenue project area, PBOT crews have begun repairing the sinkhole that appeared on that street last week near NE Glisan Street. NE 78th Avenue remains open on that segment, but cars must navigate barricades covering the sinkhole area. Look for construction to disrupt local travel as work progresses.
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Over the next 30 years, more property tax dollars collected in parts of East Portland could go directly towards projects in that geography. If evaluators recommend new Tax Increment Financing (TIF) expansion to Portland City Council later this year, Portland could gain new TIF Districts along 82nd Avenue, East of Interstate 205, and in the Parkrose-Columbia Corridor. In 2023, Portland City Commissioner Carmen Rubio’s office convened an East Portland TIF Exploration Steering Committee to identify three possible TIF locations. That work progressed to the next phase of investigation in November 2023 with the formation of working groups charged with creating TIF boundaries, guiding principles, and permissible project lists. Those groups of community members, organization leaders, and business people must also communicate with the people in the affected area to determine if a TIF District is the right project funding tool for each proposed District. Community members can learn more about TIF and voice their opinions at TIF Open Houses this May.
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is a funding tool for physical improvements to a specific geographic area. Although funding comes from people’s property tax payments in that District, it does not raise tax rates on its own. Instead, it freezes the portion of the taxes sent to the County and City at its current level and then diverts any increases to a special fund that TIF Districts can use for projects in the area where those funds were collected. Because of Ballot Measure 50 passed by voters in 1996, property tax increases are mostly capped at three percent annually. The City can issue bonds based on that expected three percent TIF District income, providing capital for projects in the District years ahead of collection. TIF has the benefit of reserving a segment of tax dollars for use in the community where it’s collected instead of spreading all tax funds across all areas of the City. Portland also dedicates 45 percent of funds collected towards affordable housing, a policy that has led to TIF districts now supporting 47 percent of Portland’s affordable housing units. Even with those upsides, forming a TIF District has the potential to cause harm to communities and has displaced people for decades under another name, Urban Renewal.
Past Urban Renewal projects used TIF District funds to fuel the destruction of communities across the country by demolishing “blighted” neighborhoods. The municipalities created new infrastructure and other public works in those areas, causing displacement and gentrification. The Albina neighborhood stands as a prime example from Portland’s past, where Urban Renewal displaced hundreds of Black families and businesses by creating Interstate 5 and other public projects where people once lived. However, even the relatively recent Interstate TIF District caused substantial displacement in the corridor surrounding the MAX Yellow line. Consequently, Prosper Portland adopted a new approach to implementing TIF Districts that relies on community guidance and early anti-displacement work. Portland’s newest TIF District in the Cully neighborhood spent nearly four years shaping a plan to fund projects meant to strengthen the existing residents while improving conditions. Approved in November 2022, the Cully TIF District is too young to prove this new model, and it will take years to see if it can meet all its goals. However, the three new TIF Districts under consideration will leverage the Cully work in an effort to create an equitable tool for funding improvements and provide community stabilization during a transformation already underway.
The issues around TIF District formation are complex. Past projects have shown that an improvement for some can cause injury to others, and it often disproportionately harms people from communities of color. It is essential that a variety of residents participate in conversations, learning about the positive impacts and helping shape risk mitigations that will prevent harm. Montavilla Residents can attend the May 6th meeting in The Orchards on 82nd building at 8118 Southeast Division Street from 6 to 8 p.m. or the May 9th meetings held in the African Youth & Community Organization (AYCO) building at 2110 SE 82nd Avenue. All three sessions are presented in English with translators available for Cantonese at 6:15 p.m., Vietnamese at 6:50 p.m., and Somali at 7:20 p.m. Attendees are asked to pre-register online for the Orchards meeting and the AYCO meeting. For people looking to attend on another day or are more invested in the East of I-205 TIF, there is an event on Saturday, May 11th, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Gethsemane Lutheran Church at 11560 SE Market Street. People can request translation services when registering online.
Update: Added additional meeting information for May 6th event.
Disclosure: The author of this article serves on the 82nd Ave TIF Working Group. It is a unpaid volunteer position. However, participants can receive honorariums for attending each meeting that have a cash value. Montavilla News does not endorse candidates, ballot measures, or government initiatives. The Authors participation in this Working Group and votes should not be considered the opinion of this publication.
On April 27th, the 18th Annual 82nd Avenue Parade entrants marched down SE 82nd Avenue. Elected officials, community groups, and organizations started the precession from Eastport Plaza Shopping Center, heading north towards SE Yamhill Street. Hundreds of community members lined the streets to watch the 90-minute event, cheering and clapping. Portland Police and event organizers cleared barricades by 11 a.m., reopening the busy street to cars. However, attendees lingered on the sidewalk for a while longer, filling the pedestrian realm on 82nd Avenue to a degree not seen since last year’s parade.
Event organizer Nancy Chapin remarked that it has never rained on this parade. Drops only started to fall after the precession moved off 82nd Avenue, securing another dry year of community celebration. Organizers hope to increase parade fundraising efforts to bring back the event’s live stream for those unable to make it in person.
List of registered parade participants (in order of appearance)
City of Portland Police Bureau – East Precinct – Commander Jake Jensen
Parade Banner presenters
Troop 24 (BSA boy troop) and 5024 (BSA girls troop)
Grand Marshals
The Royal Rosarians
Portland Rose Society
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757
Portland Rose Festival Foundation
Ascension Catholic Church
TenBridge Partners/ The BlackPearl Friesian Dance Troupe
Montavilla Farmers Market
56th Army Band
Mysti Krewe of Nimbus
Portland City Commissioner Carmen Rubio
PageantsNW Miss Oregon USA | Miss Oregon Teen USA
Past Queen & Princess
Saint Anthony Catholic Church
Beneficial State Bank
White Lotus Dragon & Lion Dance
Portland Commissioner Mingus Mapps
Portland Winterhawks Booster Club
Madison South NA
SEI King SUN School Drill Team
Chelsea McManus with MORE Realty and Aidan Keller with Guild Mortgage
East Portland Rotary Clubs
Portland Raging Grannies
Rip City Scooter Collective
Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers
Portland Skyliners Tall club
Portland Commissioner Rene Gonzalez
KC Cars Inc.
Military Vehicle Collectors Club of Oregon
PCC Gateway to College & Yes to College
Kim’s Taekwon-Do
Squares of Warmth
SEI Kalros PDX Sun School Drill Team
State Representative Thuy Tran and Multnomah County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards
Throughout 2024, the community group APANO will work to create up to five new East Portland community gardens. Currently, Portland State University (PSU) students working in the Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) program are gathering public input that will guide site selection. Residents have until May 10th to complete a survey before the MUPR team compiles submissions, discussion results, and research data into a proposal that APANO staff can implement east of 82nd Avenue.
APANO developed the Community Gardens project specification based on interest expressed by people living along the 82nd Avenue corridor and in East Portland. “There were many people asking for places to garden, gather, and connect in the Jade District, a neighborhood that APANO heavily works in,” explained Sam Guthman, Policy Manager at APANO. The organization identified a lack of public green space and a scarcity of produce diversity as an issue APANO wanted to address in 2024. “Our members were asking for places where they could grow culturally relevant produce, as most western grocery stores aren’t going to have Thai basil or galangal and other staples common in Asian American and Pacific islander cuisine,” remarked Guthman. However, garden placement and organizational structure require planning and partnerships when creating that type of community resource. For that part of the project, APANO looked to the graduate students at PSU working to complete their final project.
PSU MUPR students participate in a Planning Workshop where they apply their skills in real-world endeavors. This two-term grad-student project provides clients with professional recommendations based on direct community consultation and situational assessments. APANO saw the Community Gardens project as fit for the workshop process and submitted a request at the beginning of the year. “They sent a request for proposal to help them find and develop community gardens with a focus on culturally specific food, particularly with an emphasis on BIPOC (black, indigenous, and other people of color) and low-income individuals,” said Tyler Smith, one of the PSU MUPR students working on the project. Early engagement sent the MUPR team to food pantries and other places where people seek food assistance. They also spoke to community garden operators to learn about the efficacy of their models.
Smith explained there are many models to consider with different approaches to organizational structure. Outgrowing Hunger, for instance, uses a grassroots, bottom-up system that keeps organizers out of operational decisions, letting the mostly refugee and immigrant participants manage gardens. With a top-down approach that assigns space and manages access, the Portland Parks Community Gardens program is on the other side of that spectrum. Other groups, like the Ethiopian Eritrean Cultural Resource Center, work within different models, maintaining a few plots at the Dharma Rain Zen Center with others housed in Portland Park run locations.
Operational modeling is an integral part of this project. However, it is secondary to identifying site opportunities and narrowing them down to three to five viable locations. Smith points out that properties not owned by public entities are rapidly redeveloping in East Portland. Consequentially, nearly two-thirds of community gardens exist in Park bureau sites. Securing the half-acre or full-acre needed for the garden is challenging. It is also difficult to find property near the communities interested in working the land and accessible for people who may not have a vehicle capable of accessing remote sites. Smith also notes that relying on Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) run sites poses other obstacles and keeps some users from participating in those programs. “Accessibility can look like a lot of different things. I think there were some access issues around needing background checks to garden, and that could be a barrier. [Also], the knowledge that the garden exists and the ability to get a plot. Portland Parks have these immensely long wait lists. You also have to know about those wait lists and a lot of people with limited English language proficiency are not necessarily in the know about those things. Sometimes those wait lists can tend to privilege certain demographics,” explained Smith. He noted that PP&R is doing its best to address equity imbalance in its systems. However, limited staffing in the Community Gardens department restricts how fast they can improve the program for all Portlanders.
Micro Community Garden on SE Division street near 80th Avenue
The MUPR team has already made progress surveying the community and existing landscape, identifying design alternatives that could affect site placement. Considerations around soil conditions and accessibility for gardeners with limited mobility could dictate using raised beds at the cost of available planting space. Access to transit and sidewalks is also a key consideration. They need more public input through the survey at this phase to begin shaping community priorities. “We want to get more people to weigh in on the survey. It asks questions about what kind of things they would like to see in a garden. Would they like the garden to be more educational focused, food production focused, or have space for community gathering,” said Smith. “We’ve been hearing about how it’s more than just growing food; it’s about growing community.” He explained that many immigrants and refugees came from places where they farmed land. They no longer have that option when moving to Portland because gardening space is often a luxury in the American urban environment. They miss the process and the human interaction that comes with growing their own food.
The PSU MERP students and APANO hope more people can participate in this process, lending their input and knowledge of potential sites to team members. The MURP group will complete their report by early June, just before graduation. Then, APANO staff will use that siting work to advance their goals of creating places for people to grow culturally relevant produce. “Our goal is to set up as many Community Gardens in East Portland as funding allows and ensure that the community has full and equal access to these spaces. We are hoping to lay the foundation for at least three to five gardens by the end of this year, but I suspect our ambition and need for these spaces will extend far beyond that,” said Guthman. As plans transform into action, look for more information about this project later this year.
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At 3:30 p.m. on April 24th, firefighters responded to reports of a commercial rooftop fire at the PDX Peaches adult entertainment venue. The fire at 9243 NE Glisan Street started from ignited trash that spread to the roof structure and parapet of the single-story building. A helpful neighbor notified the team inside the building, and everyone escaped uninjured. Responding Portland Fire & Rescue crews quickly extinguished the flames. However, damage from the fire and water closed part of the lobby, and restoration crews are working to repair this woman-owned business.
Image courtesy Portland Fire & Rescue
Lexi, the manager at the location, was not at the shop when the building caught fire. However, after reviewing security footage and speaking to neighboring business owners, she has a good idea of how it happend. “A couple of days ago, I noticed a bunch of trash in front of the neighboring hair salon. Yesterday, I noticed the trash was picked up and put in a trash bag set against our outer wall,” recalled Lexi. After hearing of the fire from women working at PDX Peaches and rushing to the shop, she reviewed the business’s surveillance footage. “It shows a man walking up and lighting the bag of trash on fire and casually just walking off,” said Lexi. She is disappointed that a trash bag was left on the street as kindling for a fire that nearly destroyed the business, but she is also thankful for the quick work of neighbors.
“A hero neighbor was skating by when he noticed the fire. He ran in to alert the girls working. Everyone made it out, and no one was hurt. He called 911 and also tried putting the fire out along with another neighbor, but at that point, it had already made its way into the walls and roof,” said Lexi. A restoration crew arrived hours later and began clearing the debris and securing the structure, making the lobby safe for guests. PDX Peaches is open for business again after the brief interruption. Lexi is thankful for the help they have received and hopes it will continue as the team recovers from the fire. “We are a small business, and we really appreciate the community’s support throughout this difficult time.”
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On Wednesday, April 24th, Portland Parks & Recreation invites community members to a Portland Urban Forest Plan open house at Leodis V. McDaniel High School. Event attendees will learn about the plan and help shape the plan’s future vision and goals for Portland’s tree canopy. Those unable to attend can still participate through the Portland Urban Forest Plan Survey. People specifically interested in the tree planting project along 82nd Avenue can also join the 82nd Avenue Transition Round Table meeting online for a focused conversation with the project arborist.
Wednesday’s open house at 2735 NE 82nd Avenue runs from 5 to 7:30 p.m. The event will include activities and opportunities to speak directly with project team members. The family-friendly program will not have a set agenda, so attendees can come by anytime during its two-and-a-half-hour runtime. Organizers will provide light refreshments at the open house and enter people who complete the survey into a drawing for a $45 Fred Meyer gift card. They will draw a winner’s name each week until the survey closes on May 2nd, 2024.
April’s monthly meeting of the 82nd Avenue Transition Round Table will feature the Building a Better 82nd program‘s arborist, who will describe tree selection and answer questions. The 82nd Avenue Business Association will host this meeting focusing on improvements related to 82nd Avenue’s jurisdictional transfer from the Oregon Department of Transportation to the Portland Bureau of Transportation. Those projects will add more trees to the roadway in medians and along the street’s edge. The meeting is accessible online via Zoom this Thursday, April 25th, from 10 to 11 a.m.
Join Zoom Meeting on April 25th at 10 a.m. Meeting ID: 812 5378 3045 Passcode: 538088 Phone: 669-900-6833
Portland has seen a diminishing tree canopy as properties redevelop with more housing, and people avoid planting due to maintenance costs. Over the last several years, private and government organizations have increased efforts to reverse that trend in an attempt to reduce the heat island effect experienced during the summer months. These events and survey are opportunities for the public to learn more about the work while providing direction to officials on better meeting the community’s need for more trees.
Update April 25th, 2024: This article was updated with images from the open house and the 82nd Avenue Transition Round Table posted an audio recording of the presentation.
Four new houses now surround 8404 NE Holladay Street in what was once the 1931-era home’s expansive yard. Each two-story building is on one of five lots created by a new Middle Housing Land Division technique. This multi-structure project is one of Montavilla’s first cottage cluster land divisions, and it demonstrates the housing density possible with the 2022 enacted zoning updates that allow for this type of development.
8404 NE Holladay Street in 2023 before construction
The scale of the project triggered frontage improvements to the sidewalk along both streets, including the reconstruction of corner ramps to comply with current Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. However, not all cottage clusters will require these improvements, and in many cases, this type of land division is a cost-saving process for developers. Instead of orienting lots with individual street access, cottage clusters use pathways and utility easements to divide a parcel. This process can create odd-shaped lots hidden behind other houses in places that previously could only hold an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU).
Lot line map from LU 23-012542 MLDS.8414 NE Holladay Street – Unit A, 8410 NE Holladay Street – Unit B,964 NE 84th Avenue – Unit C, 960 NE 84th Avenue – Unit D
8414 NE Holladay Street (Unit A) has an open-concept first floor with a kitchen at the front and a half bathroom at the back. A sizable section of the main level’s footprint contains an 18-foot-wide patio covered by the upper floor. The second level holds three bedrooms. The main bedroom has a full-sized ensuite, with another full bathroom accessible from the hallway. Designers placed a stacked laundry closet at the end of the hall.
8410 NE Holladay Street (Unit B) has its owner’s bedroom on the main level with a three-quarters ensuite. A half bathroom sits at the center of the house, off the living room. The U-shaped kitchen and dining area occupy the back wall with a covered patio to the south. Three more bedrooms on the second story share a full bathroom with double vanities. The staircase wraps around a second-floor stacked laundry closet.
964 NE 84th Avenue (Unit C) is a mirror replica of 8410 NE Holladay Street. 960 NE 84th Avenue (Unit D) is an inverted version of 8414 NE Holladay Street. The two street-facing additions offer 1,349 square feet to residents, while the innermost homes provide 1,269 square feet. These four new homes are over 1,000 square feet smaller than the original building. However, they are still spacious enough for families and offer substantial housing density while retaining the surrounding area’s single-family scale. Expect to see these homes for sale later this year.
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On April 18th, crews with Hicks Striping & Curbing began applying high-visibility crosswalks and bike crossings to SE Stark Street at SE 80th Avenue. Workers plan to continue the street painting process one block south on SE Washington, completing this section of the 70s Neighborhood Greenway project. With road markings applied, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) can energize the rectangular rapid-flashing beacons (RRFB) installed at each intersection to aid pedestrians and cyclists trying to cross these busy streets. Winter weather delayed this work, leaving both intersections without painted lanes or crosswalks. This work is a welcomed update to what has grown to be a problematic crossing point during construction.
Road crews began project work at this intersection in June 2023, completing most infrastructure work by January 2024. During that time, street users did not have a marked crosswalk or the ability to use the installed RRFBs. According to PBOT representative Hannah Schafer, crossing lights require street markings. “We must complete the striping of the crosswalks before we can turn on the RRFBs. As soon as the weather allows, we plan to complete the striping, and then we will activate the RRFBs.” That delay frustrated many pedestrians who found that cars would not stop reliably for people attempting to cross.
Drivers traveling through these intersections and users of the Greenway should plan for delays and detours during this phase of work. Crews will need to close through traffic on SE 80th Avenue and reduce east-west travel lanes one at a time to apply the street markings. Work will take several days to complete, but the favorable weather forecast should allow for the speedy completion of this project. People on foot and bike should have a safer experience crossing SE Stark and Washington Streets at 80th shortly, thanks to the striped crosswalk, bike crossing, and RRFBs.
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The recently completed apartment buildings at 9050-9060 NE Hoyt Street are available to lease. The three-story complex, collectively known as Hoyt Manor, offers 24 one-bedroom and two-bedroom residences. Upper-level homes are accessed by external stairwells, while ground-floor units provide at-grade entrances. One curbside parking space is reserved for people with Disabled Person Parking Permits.
Provision Group bought this property in September 2020 and razed the 1959-era single-story duplex in 2022. Soon after crews cleared the property, the developer spit the parcel into two 50-foot by 95-foot lots. In July 2022, the owner sold each lot to separate Limited Liability Companies (LLC). D&B Properties LLC now owns 9050 NE Hoyt Street, and Hoyt Development LLC owns 9060 NE Hoyt Street. However, Quantum Residential manages both buildings and operates them under one name.
The building’s website touts several amenities, including stacked washer and dryer units in apartments, 10′ ceilings, and patios or balconies available on some rentals. Cyclists can use a locked bicycle room or store bikes in units on wall racks. Without onsite parking, this development is ideal for people who use public transit or engage in non-automotive travel. It is near the TriMet number 19 bus line and across Interstate 205 from the Gateway Transit Center MAX station.
The apartments in the complex are carpet-free, using vinyl plank flooring to create a pet-friendly home. Building management allows cats and dogs to reside in the apartments, provided their owners pay an additional $35 per month and submit a $300 deposit. These costs are on top of the $1,400 starting rent for a one-bedroom or the $1,795 starting monthly price for a two-bedroom unit. All residences have a single bathroom, dishwashers, and large closets.
This housing development sits on a dead-end section of NE Hoyt Street that lacks consistent curbs and sidewalks. However, the Hoyt Manor contractor built a modern wide sidewalk with street trees along the 100-foot frontage and created several street-side parking spaces. Work continues on the Gracelyn Commons subdivision across the street from this property, gradually adding new detached condominiums to this area and creating other pedestrian infrastructure. A pending sale of the 6,098 square-foot property at 9000 NE Hoyt Street could further increase housing density if it redevelops like other properties in this area.
Article and photos by
Jacob Loeb
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The site of an April 1st homicide will become a new Chick-fil-A restaurant after the City approves permits. Since 2022, franchise designers have worked to gain approval for a new chain chicken sandwich shop at 9950 SE Stark Street. The approximately 7,012 square foot building hosted several establishments over its years, including Tony Roma’s, Hooters, Mystic Gentlemen’s Club, and now Venue Gentlemen’s Club. It was outside this current adult entertainment business that responding Portland Police officers found one person with life-threatening injuries and a second person deceased on that early April evening.
On Friday, April 12, members of the Vancouver Police Department and the United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force arrested the suspected April 1st shooter in Washington State. The 31-year-old Portland resident is awaiting extradition to Multnomah County from the Clark County Jail, where law enforcement officials are holding him on warrants for Murder and Attempted Murder. The suspect’s apprehension resolves immediate concerns regarding this most recent spike in violence in a commercial area struggling to come back from its decline.
This parcel sits across SE Washington Street from the Mall 205 complex that sold to new investors in January 2022. As the new ownership works to remake that formerly bustling retail center, several area tenants have vacated the area. However, other big-name companies have remained in existing locations while other new chain stores look to establish a foothold in this central corridor.
Portland City officials recently approved a design review for the future Chick-fil-A restaurant to replace Venue Gentlemen’s Club. The 1984-era building will receive substantial upgrades inside and out. Motorists will maintain parking lot access from the two existing SE Washington Street and SE Stark Street driveways. However, guests will need to leave their vehicles at this fast food location as the building will not offer a drive-through window. Crews will rework the façade and roof to incorporate a new entry vestibule. Sidewalk improvements around the site will join the parking lot and ramp additions to increase accessible entry to the restaurant. Workers will restructure the interior with all new restrooms, a play area, a sit-down dining room, and kitchen space to meet the Chick-fil-A standards.
After years of preliminary work on this proposed restaurant, project planners have recently moved to the permitting phase, making this site’s transformation likely to proceed. The permitting process can take significant time to secure City approvals. According to an Oregonian/OregonLive article from May 2023, Venue Gentlemen’s Club will remain at this site on SE Stark Street until they can secure a new location. The presence of a Chick-fil-A location can often change the character of a street, drawing many patrons. Its addition to the business roster for the area could bolster the efforts of Mall 205’s rehabilitation along with other shopping additions planned for neighboring commercial spaces. People should expect construction at 9950 SE Stark Street to begin soon after permits are approved and the existing tenant vacates the space.
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Neighborhood news site focused on buildings and changing businesses
