91ÊÓÆµ

Extra time given to solve homeless camp relocation dilemma

By: Lee Fehrenbacher//October 22, 2013//

Extra time given to solve homeless camp relocation dilemma

Lee Fehrenbacher//October 22, 2013//

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The Right 2 Dream Too homeless camp has occupied a lot at the corner of Northwest Fourth Avenue and Burnside Street since October 2011. (Sam Tenney/91ÊÓÆµ)
The Right 2 Dream Too homeless camp has occupied a lot at the corner of Northwest Fourth Avenue and Burnside Street since October 2011. (Sam Tenney/91ÊÓÆµ)

The parties involved in the Right 2 Dream Too homeless camp conflict gained more time to hash out a creative solution.

Portland Commissioner Amanda Fritz announced Monday that the parties have agreed in principle to a 60-day extension of a controversial settlement that she helped negotiate in September. That settlement was scheduled to expire on Oct. 28.

R2DToo has occupied a vacant lot at Northwest Fourth Avenue and Burnside Street without a permit since October 2011, and received fines totaling approximately $20,000. Camp operators disagreed with the citations and sued the city. The settlement called for waiving the fines in exchange for the camp relocating to a vacant lot (Lot 7) beneath the Lovejoy on-ramp of the Broadway Bridge.

Pearl District stakeholders opposed the relocation plan, arguing that the city failed to follow its own permitting procedures and zoning laws. At a hearing earlier this month they asked commissioners for additional time to brainstorm an alternative solution to the R2DToo dilemma.

Fritz said that finding an alternative site for the “rest area” has proven more challenging than stakeholders expected, and that a viable alternative has not been proposed. She added that although the owner of the Fourth Avenue property, Michael Wright, has allowed R2DToo to use it rent free to this point, he is now interested in either selling it or earning revenue from it.

Fritz said a group led by the Pearl District Neighborhood Association and area businesses has offered to compensate Wright for letting R2DToo remain on his property for 60 additional days. John Mangan, spokesman for that group, declined to confirm that statement; however, Fritz said negotiations over terms of compensation are expected to wrap up by the end of this week.

Meanwhile, the Pearl District group has already set its place in line at the Land Use Board of Appeals. On Oct. 17, the group (including Hoyt Street Properties, Wyse Investment Service Co. and Williams/Dame Associates Inc.) filed a notice of intent to appeal the city’s land use decision granting R2DToo the authority to operate at Lot 7. Mangan said the group filed the notice only to preserve its right to appeal should negotiations fail in the future.

The group immediately followed with a motion to suspend the appeal. In a prepared statement Mangan said it is the group’s hope that, after further discussions, it can simply withdraw that appeal.

“Our group is working really hard every single day to come up with some ideas and solutions – specific solutions,” Mangan said.



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