91ÊÓƵ

City commisioners have approved a project to revitalize a blighted building in North Portland.

Haddish Tarekegn, a business man who lives in the neighborhood, is planning 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 had to be changed to mixed commercial/residential.

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

In coming to their decision, city commissioners reviewed a recommendation by the hearings officer. The recommendation included traffic studies, neighborhood feedback and comments from each city bureau.

A letter provided by the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability outlined the agency’s opposition to the project, based in part on the fact that it felt commercial/residential zoning was not created for heavy residential areas.

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