Tag: Tree Canopy

Community

Curb-less Street Tree Planting Program

Last year, Portland Parks & Recreation’s (PP&R) Urban Forestry division began planting new street trees throughout Montavilla as part of a program to increase the urban tree canopy. Contractors working for the City placed most of the new trees in the planting strip between the sidewalk and curb. This year, Urban Forestry expanded the tree planning program to incorporate areas with few trees on streets without sidewalks or curbs. People will still need to plant trees in the front of the property in an accessible space where City-paid watering crews and arborists can visit the tree for upkeep. Montavilla and nine other neighborhood residents have until October 31st to volunteer their property to host a free street tree by completing an online form.

Planting street trees in areas without discernible boundaries can be challenging, unlike past efforts that occurred in spaces designated for street-side greenery. When people volunteer to participate, crews working with Urban Forestry will determine the best planting location that avoids underground utilities, overhead lines, or placement that could inhibit future sidewalk construction plans. People can optionally state a tree species preference from the 2025 Trees for Residential Streets list. Still, the final selection is made based on availability and its potential to grow well in the space provided. The list contains most tree types with the ability to thrive in Portland’s changing climate. They are low-maintenance and drought-tolerant while also resisting blight from pests and disease.

A close-up of a green informational tag attached to a tree, identifying it as a Redmond Linden (Tilia americana 'Redmond'), along with details about the benefits the tree provides and contact information for Portland Parks & Recreation.

Participants in the program receive multi-year support and have choices where crews plant their new trees. Contractors will water and prune trees during the critical first three years of growth. Then pruners will return at years five and ten to keep the tree growth healthy. People will also have options on where the free trees reside, subject to certain limitations. Urban Forestry staff will visit the property and mark the proposed planting locations with white spray paint based on the participant’s indicated locations. Then the resident can decline the planting or ask for a location change if it is not what they wanted.

A newly planted tree secured with wooden stakes and mulch, located in a grassy area alongside a sidewalk in a residential neighborhood.
Portland’s street Tree planning efforts in 2024

The Urban Forestry planting season runs from November 15th to March 31st for people who sign up before October 31st. Residents on curb-less streets in the Brentwood Darlington, Centennial, Glenfair, Hazelwood, Lents, Powelhurst-Gilbert, Mill Park, Parkrose, Parkrose Heights, and Montavilla neighborhoods can participate. Adding trees is often attributed to increased mental and physical well-being, as well as improving the appearance of an area. Proponents of this expanded program hope it will make the dispersal of the urban tree canopy more equitable and accessible for all of Portland.

Article and photos by

Jacob Loeb

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Infrastructure

SE Mill Closed for Repaving July 7 to 11

Over 200 feet of SE Mill Street east of SE 82nd Avenue will remain closed to cars during the work week starting Monday, July 7th, allowing road workers to begin street repaving. Earlier this year, crews working for the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) constructed new sidewalks on SE Mill Street in this area, which previously lacked curbs and a dedicated pedestrian walkway. This project added wide sidewalks on both sides of the street, featuring tree wells for future street tree planting, creating a safer segment for the bike greenway, and a safe route to school path that runs along this street. Drivers should detour to Harrison Street until SE Mill Street reopens on Friday, July 11th.

Construction zone on SE Mill Street featuring a green construction vehicle, traffic cones, and construction signage. The road is closed to cars with ongoing repaving work visible in the background.
Degraded asphalt between new sidewalks ready for grinding and repaving

Much of SE Mill Street east of this site, up to 89th Avenue, still lacks curbs and sidewalks but features mature trees lining the somewhat degraded asphalt road surface. A future extension of sidewalks along this street would require extensive stormwater engineering. It could also necessitate substantial land dedication from adjacent property owners to accommodate sidewalks on the building side of the tree line. Alternatively, engineers could narrow the street to fit sidewalks between the curb and trees, but that could create challenges for opposing traffic to pass while supporting safe passage for cyclists using this Neighborhood Greenway.

A tree-lined street with mature trees on both sides, featuring a degraded asphalt road surface and parked cars along the edges.
SE Mill St east of the worksite lacks curbs and sidewalks up to 89th Avenue

Paving of SE Mill east of 82nd Avenue requires a full road closure; however, pedestrians and people riding bicycles can use the new sidewalks during construction to pass through the worksite. This reworking of a relatively small section of roadway will significantly transform the street from its previous form and serve as an extension of community investments made during the SE 80th and Mill Local Improvement District. After this road reopens, paving work will continue in this area on SE 82nd Avenue between SE Mill and Harrison Streets, Starting July 14th.

A car dealership featuring several vehicles for sale lined up in front of a building, with a colorful inflatable figure waving and trees in the background under a clear blue sky.
Recently completed SE Mill Street’s north sidewalk open for pedestrians and cyclists during construction

Update July 7, 2025: As of Monday, crews have closed the sidewalks on both sides of SE Mill Street, in addition to the roadway. People should detour to Harrison Street, and the sidewalks may reopen to pedestrians and bicyclists later in the project timeline. The contractors working on the project have removed the old asphalt surface and are regrading the roadway with a new gravel base.

Article and photos by

Jacob Loeb

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Construction

Legin Commons Apartment Building Readies for Construction

Crews with LMC Construction are preparing the future site of the Legin Commons apartment building on the southwest corner of Portland Community College’s (PCC) Southeast campus. The four-story building will offer 124 affordable housing units, including 63 family-sized apartments and 20 deeply affordable units reserved for people earning 30 percent or less of Portland’s Area Median Income (AMI). Workers on site will soon depave the former parking lot and clear many trees in preparation for principal construction.

In 1964, Kaiser Permanente built a one-story medical clinic on the property and operated there until 2014. PCC acquired the land several years before Kaiser’s closure and demolished the building in 2015. Since then, it has served the educational institution as an auxiliary parking lot with a large grassy spot where the building once stood. PCC had always planned to repurpose the space for more effective uses than parking. In 2021, College leadership worked to develop a twenty-year facilities plan for the educational institution’s properties. During that evaluation, PCC determined that portions of the school grounds should support low-income affordable housing. Instead of student-only dormitories, they opted to focus on attainable housing open to the community. From internal surveys of students, PCC staff learned that housing insecurity is a significant concern. They also observed that students often spread their education out over many years with inconsistent enrollment. Consequentially, PCC determined that tying housing programs to school affiliation would not help alleviate the housing insecurities among the student population.

Over the last two years, this housing project progressed with Our Just Future as the Sponsor and Developer. APANO and Edlen & Co. serve as development partners in the Bora Architecture & Interiors designed project. APANO, which has its offices a few blocks east of the site, will be the Service Provider at Legin Commons.

Our Just Future provided tree planting site map

Landscapers will surround the 110,000-square-foot building with trees and other plantings. However, many of the existing mature trees are either in the way of the future development or suffering from age and showing signs of a fungal infection. The project arborists will preserve a healthy mature tree on the corner of SE Division Street and SE 77th Avenue and three other trees mid-block on SE 77th Avenue. A net-style orange safety fence protects the remaining trees, including eight small street trees planted between the curb and sidewalk on SE Sherman Street. During community engagement, neighbors asked that project planners maximize onsite parking for residents, lessening the impact on street parking. They needed to remove and replace seven older trees with seven new plantings closer to the property line to accommodate that community request. The apartment will offer 32 parking stalls at the north end of the building and place ten new trees between parking spaces. It will take years before the tree canopy matures. However, the replacement tree selection emphasizes native, hardy, and drought-tolerant species to better fill in this parcel over the coming decades. Brian Shelton-Kelley, with Our Just Future, explained the city-approved landscaping design will eventually provide significant urban tree canopy thanks to a building footprint scaled back to adequately utilize the site’s housing density but not maximize it at the expense of green space.

  • Protected mature tree on the corner of SE Division St and SE 77 Ave
  • Mature trees along SE Sherman St slated for removal indicated by the white X mark

Towards the later part of the project, crews will replace some curb-tight sidewalk segments with walkways buffered by tree-planted furnishing zone strips. The developer received Portland’s approval to retain some curb-tight sidewalks on SE 77th Avenue, allowing the preservation of the three mature trees whose roots have grown up to the pavement’s edge. Unsuccessful challenges to the city-approved adjustments by some neighbors delayed groundbreaking and increased development costs. However, Shelton-Kelley explained that the project is back on track with all the necessary approvals to begin work on this new affordable housing. People should expect to see heavy equipment onsite early in 2025 to regrade the land and provide trenches for utilities, making way for a year of construction at this site.

Article and photos by

Jacob Loeb

Update January 2nd, 2025: Some neighbors opposing the tree removal and placement of the housing project have created a website expressing their concerns and presenting an alternative design of their creation at savethegreenspaceat77th.org (Montavilla News has not checked or validated any claims made on the linked site).

Update January 6th, 2025: Arborists with Wind Thin Tree Service began cutting down the trees slated for removal. Crews operating a stump grinder are following the crane and bucket team chipping down the visible stumps.