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City Council on Wednesday may open the door for revitalization of a blighted building in North Portland.

A businessman, Haddish Tarekegn, is hoping to transform a former church, at the corner of North Mississippi Avenue and Stafford Street, into a school. However, to do so, zoning for the property 鈥� now a split of single-dwelling residential and general commercial 鈥� must become mixed commercial/residential.

The process to change zoning has been painstaking, according to Dave Spitzer, architect for DMS Architects, which is designing the project.

鈥淚t has taken so long,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think (this is) just the last step in the process.鈥�

The council will review a recommendation by the hearings officer. It includes traffic studies, neighborhood feedback and comments from each city bureau, among other things. Ina letter opposing the project, the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability points out that mixed commercial/residential zoning was not created for heavy residential areas.

However, in his overall assessment, the hearings officer recommends that the project move forward.