Where: Sheraton hotel, 8235 N.E. Airport Way, Portland

When: Wednesday, from 7:30 to 9 a.m.

The Columbia Corridor Association is bringing together the candidates vying to become Portland’s next mayor.

Debate topics will include the Columbia River Crossing, the Portland Harbor Superfund, environmental zone overlays and brownfield redevelopment. Admission is $30 for CCA members and $40 for nonmembers.

For more information, contact Marissa King at 503-287-8686 or at mking@columbiacorridor.org.

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With plans for a new Interstate 5 bridge, and potential annexation of West Hayden Island, change is coming to the developed, eastern side of the island.

But some forward-thinking business and property owners are not certain yet whether that change will be for the better.

The Hayden Island Business Alliance, a group representing business interests on the island, was founded by Greer Kern, public relations manager for Mayfield Management Co. She believes the alliance can leverage the projects being planned on Hayden Island to make it much more business friendly.

“These changes are coming and they will affect us,” Kern said. “The only way to weather change on the island is to be part of the solution.”

Kern initiated formation of the group after she encountered difficulty securing leases for an office building she represents, Hayden Island Plaza – the only office building on the developed side of the island. Mayfield’s portfolio was performing well, but Kern’s marketing efforts weren’t working on Hayden Island.

Kern decided to contact the local business group that represented the island, but at first she couldn’t find one. She eventually discovered that the island fell within the boundaries of the Columbia Corridor Association, which represents industrial businesses and property owners along the Columbia Slough.

“Hayden Island has always been in our boundaries, but it’s predominantly made up of retail, and that’s just not something we deal with a lot,” said Corky Collier, executive director of the CCA. “But with that said, we are definitely willing to work with the group now that there is interest there.

“Whether it’s carving them out of our boundaries or letting them have their own subgroup and still be part of the (CCA), we are here to support them.”

Kern and Mayfield employee Jessica Oien hit the pavement to speak with business and property owners on the island about the upcoming projects and the existing business climate. The pair learned that businesses weren’t communicating with each other, which was leading to exchange of misinformation and heightened fears about the changes.

“What we learned rather quickly was that it wasn’t our building on the island that was the problem; it was a lack of unity and a lack of an identity,” Kern said. “Not only was there fear and frustration about the projects, but there were literally neighboring businesses that didn’t know each other existed.

“Through all of this, I want to bring everyone together to at least get an intimated dialogue started.”

After identifying the 166 businesses on the island, Kern formed a list of issues that came out of the discussions with business and property owners.

These included, for example, “just getting the signs that say businesses are open, or making sure that people can still access businesses during the construction of the bridge,” she said. “The public agencies will help with that stuff, but only if there is someone advocating for it.”

The business alliance is being received warmly by the community. A kickoff event this week drew approximately 40 business representatives as well as officials from Business Oregon, the city of Portland, TriMet, Metro and other organizations.

The effort dovetails nicely with the planned expansion of Jantzen Beach SuperCenter, according to Tara Platt, regional property manager for Edens & Avant, which handles property management for the mall. Site preparation is under way for a new, 138,760-square-foot Target store. After that project wraps up, storefronts will be upgraded and 100,000 square feet of retail space will be added.

“Right now we’re an island on the island,” Platt said. “(The business alliance) is going to better connect us with the community and help us create relationships.”

The alliance also received support from Rex Burkholder, the Metro councilor who represents Hayden Island. He said the area’s connectivity to the water, its proximity to both Portland and Vancouver, Wash., and the sight lines to Mount Hood are great business advantages for Hayden Island.

“What propels people is a vision,” Burkholder said. “The idea of where you want to get is as important as the tools and techniques that get you there. This effort will create that idea.”

Burkholder said the business alliance could choose to pursue new neighborhood commercial zoning to make the area feel more like a community, and take action to ensure that the new bridge creates better connectivity and not separation.

“(Interstate 5) has essentially pushed away development, but that can change with the new bridge,” he said. “This area could be neighborhood center and serve the needs of a large surrounding area.”

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On a recent tour of the Columbia Slough, Matt Grumm, a representative of Commissioner Dan Saltzman‘s office, asked why new environmental zoning shouldn’t be applied to the slough when a map showed the same zoning east and west of the area.

“Because sometimes you can’t tell what’s really going on from just looking at a map,” replied Peter Livingston, president of the Columbia Corridor Association, the organization that represents business interests along the slough.

The association is taking time out during a delay in the Airport Futures project – part of which includes strengthening environmental zoning along the slough – to show city councilors and others how nearby businesses would be affected. The CCA believes the tours have created a dialogue between businesses and the city.

As part of the Port of Portland’s efforts to update the airport’s comprehensive plan, the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability has been charged with the task of strengthening nearby environmental zoning. Presently, everything 50 feet from the bank of the slough is considered to be in a conservation zone. If the proposed zoning were approved by City Council, the area would become a protection zone.

Under conservation zoning, future development and improvements are allowed in exchange for a set amount of mitigation or restoration work, but under protection zoning, neither is allowed. Businesses could operate as they do now, but expansions and improvements would be strictly prohibited.

“While 50 feet doesn’t seem like much on a map, the new zoning would affect several operating industrial businesses along the slough,” said Corky Collier, the Columbia Corridor Association’s executive director. “That’s what we came here to show you.”

A recent tour paused at the home of aluminum manufacturer Sapa Inc. The company wouldn’t be allowed to repave the fire escape path out its back door if the area were rezoned. The tour also stopped at the manufacturing facility of Hanset Stainless Inc., which would be allowed to replace an existing propane filling station. However, if the company were to grow, and needed to install a bigger one, then it would have to move it and rewire the entire building.

“They’ve told us throughout this entire process that you can keep doing what you’re doing,” Collier said. “But what businesses do is grow.

“It’s OK to discourage building on the side of the slough through mitigation. But don’t just disallow it.”

Probably the most glaring example of how the proposed zoning could affect businesses was Silver Eagle Manufacturing. The company recently received a contract to manufacture 48 fifth-wheel tactical trailers for the U.S. Army. Silver Eagle is almost at capacity on its Columbia Slough lot, according to Mike Williams, the company’s chief financial officer, so if the new zoning were in place, it would either have to move or decline the contract offer.

After concerns about these issues were raised by the association and other interest groups earlier in the process, Bureau of Planning and Sustainability staffers suggested a compromise of 25 feet of protection zone directly off the bank followed by 25 feet of conservation zone. But then the Planning Commission voted for the original plan.

City Council was set to vote on the proposed rezoning last week, or turn toward the compromise, but the Port of Portland is now waiting on the Federal Aviation Administration.

In an agreement with the city, port officials agreed to plant $1.8 million worth of trees along the slough and the Columbia Watershed because it isn’t safe for trees to be planted at the airport, said Chris Corich, Port of Portland project manager for the Airport Futures project. The problem is that FAA regulations prohibit spending money made at the airport on projects away from it, he said.

“(The FAA) is working through it and as soon as we get the go-ahead, we will move forward with the project,” he said.

In the meantime, the Columbia Corridor Association will continue to offer the tours. Mayor Sam Adams, all four city commissioners and a handful of city staffers have already taken the tour, so the association is now turning its attention to environmentalists. Among tour guests scheduled for later this week are: Mike Houck, director of the Urban Greenspace Institute; and Bob Sallinger, conservation director with the Audubon Society.

“So far the talks have gone pretty well,” Collier said. “We aren’t trying to hammer anything through here; we just want to make sure that they have the right questions in front of them.

“Now we are just waiting to find out if this is going to be actual dialogue or just a gesture.”

Some city staffers spoke highly of the tour.

“It was very useful,” Grumm said. “You can hear it and you can read the maps, but until you see it you just don’t know.”

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Creating industrial jobs in the Portland-metro area starts with making land available where business can locate. On that, local commercial real-estate groups can agree.

But where two of Portland’s most notable commercial real-estate organizations can’t agree is how that land should become available.

The Metro Council for regional government Metro will make a decision by the end on the year whether to expand the urban growth boundaries in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties. And while Metro staff has noted a glaring deficit of large-lot industrial land – lots more than 50 acres – in the current UGB, not everyone is convinced that adding more land to the UGB is the key to creating jobs.

On one side is the Oregon chapter of NAIOP, a local commercial real-estate development association. The group is fighting for more large-lot industrial land to be included within the UGB, a move members say will make the area more attractive to out-of-town, industrial businesses.

On the other side is the Columbia Corridor Association, a group of industrial business owners and real-estate professionals representing industrial land between the Willamette River and the Sandy River. While the group understands the importance of having available land, organization leaders say they are concerned that underutilized industrial land currently in the UGB is being left out of the expansion discussions.

“Suitable industrial land is hard to come by in the Metro region,” said Michael Jordan, the chief operating officer at Metro who is leading the potential UGB expansion discussions. “A site has to be large, flat and close to multiple transportation options.”

In a preliminary recommendation, Metro staff targeted 310 acres west of Hillsboro to be included in any potential expansion. But NAIOP says the acreage is not enough to help cure the region’s 10.4 percent unemployment rate.

“Right now we do not believe the region has a competitive enough inventory to attract potential employers to the area,” said Mark Clemons, director of NAIOP Oregon and the director of project development at Group Mackenzie. “We’re supportive of the 310 acres being suggested, but it’s not nearly enough to help us create the jobs this region needs.”

Clemons’ organization thinks the amount needs to be closer to 1,200 acres to make any significant difference.

During the urban reserves process last year, Metro’s policy advisory committee found a need for between 200 and 1,500 acres of additional large-lot industrial land to meet the needs of the region during the next several decades.

“Because of our geology and geography there’s not a lot of opportunity out there. We understand that,” he said. “But when out-of-town companies come here, they want options, and right now, we don’t have many.”

The Columbia Corridor Association agrees with NAIOP that more usable land is important. But the group also believes there are alternatives to adding more land.

“We can keep adding acreage to accommodate industrial businesses moving to the outskirts of the region, but we all need to realize that there is land within the current urban growth boundary that is not being allowed to be utilized,” said Corky Collier, executive director of the CCA. “And until everyone acknowledges that, the problem isn’t going to be solved.”

The CCA is concerned about the city of Portland’s recent attempts to add environmental zoning to industrial lands along the Columbia Slough and up the Willamette River. New zoning in both areas would completely curb any future development within 50 feet of the banks of a body of water. This is the prime portion of most industrial zoned lots, and the reason a business would be next to the water in the first place.

“The city is slowly, bit-by-bit putting constraints on the industrial land,” Collier said. “And when we take away the usage of a parcel we lose industrial acreage, industrial businesses and industrial jobs.”

Also, the group believes that the city’s many brownfield sites – contaminated lots that would be usable if cleaned up – could be used for industrial land if a more consistent remediation method could be created.

“We have hundreds of brownfield lots in the Columbia corridor and several large brownfield lots in the Portland Harbor,” he said. “These sites are ideally suited for industrial usage, yet are being rendered useless by the city.”

Metro has met with both groups and says it is trying to come up with a solution.

“The discussions so far have gone smoothly, but both groups have made it clear that something needs to be done,” Jordan said.

Metro staff is looking at potential industrial sites north of Hillsboro that could be included, as well as some smaller parcels near Sherwood and Tualatin. But staff is also working on a way to make sure any additional land doesn’t fall into the trap that Collier and the CCA are concerned about.

“We want to instill some functional plan changes,” Jordan said. “If we do include some large-lot industrial land, we want to make sure it’s preserved to be used for industrial businesses for years to come.”

Metro staff is recommending putting stipulations on any industrial land that would be included. One stipulation would be that the land couldn’t be divided up, so it could be used by large industrial companies in the future.

The other stipulation would be that the land could only be used by private industrial businesses, not public entities. This would avoid what’s happened in Happy Valley, where the North Clackamas School District and North Clackamas Parks and Recreation District moved onto the town’s one large-lot industrial site, said Jordan.

Jordan also recommends that Metro should have a process where industrial land could be added to the urban growth boundary without having to go through the entire expansion process. Thus, if a business was looking for land and an accommodating site couldn’t be found, Metro could find urban reserve land to be included.

“Industrial business is a big part of the region’s economy and we understand that,” he said. “But we need to come up with an agreement that helps everybody’s interests.”

The Metro Council will make a decision on the urban growth boundary expansion by the end of the year. In the meantime, Jordan is visiting industry, environmental and community groups to determine their needs. He will make a final recommendation in October before the council officially starts discussing the matter.

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Hanset Stainless, a steel fabricating business along the Columbia Slough in east Portland, has become an expert at adapting to survive. In the past few decades the company has shifted from manufacturing parts for restaurant equipment to manufacturing parts for electronic equipment. Now the company produces parts for medical supplies and architectural interiors.

But Hanset Stainless’ owners worry the company’s adaptability could be in jeopardy because of a city plan to update environmental zones near Portland International Airport. Owners of businesses and properties in the area say they are concerned that the zoning changes being proposed would prohibit future expansions or development along the slough, which could push businesses not just out of the area but out of the city.

“As we’ve changed and adapted, we’ve had to improve our technology, as well as expand and retrofit our shop,” said Luke Hanset, a project manager and an estimator with the company. “All of these changes required expansions to our building, and if we needed to shift again we wouldn’t be able to with this new zoning.”

While companies like Hanset Stainless consider the slough to be one of the last sanctuaries for industrial business in Portland, the city sees the slough as an environmental gem that needs to be protected, said Jay Sugnet, a project manager with the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.

Everything in the area that is at least 50 feet from the bank, including businesses like Hanset Stainless, is considered is to be in a conservation zone. If proposed zoning were to be approved by City Council, the area would become a protection zone.

In a conservation zone, future development, improvements or expansions are allowed if the property owner also performs mitigative or restorative work worth 5 percent of the cost of the work. But in a protection zone, all three are strictly prohibited.

That change could place Hanset Stainless in a precarious business position. The company’s compressor, which is essential for vital manufacturing equipment, sits within the proposed protection zone. Eventually, the compressor will need to be replaced, but a switch to a new compressor won’t be allowed in an area designated as a protection zone.

“We would have to reroute and retrofit our entire building if the compressor went out because we wouldn’t be allowed to put a new one where it currently sits,” Hanset said.

Hanset Stainless, however, isn’t the only business in the area that would be affected by the new zoning. The district would include 5,686 acres that sit between the Columbia River, the Columbia Slough, Northeast 13th Street and Interstate 205. The area has 354 industrial-zoned properties in use and approximately 260 acres of industrial-zoned, undeveloped properties – 37 percent of the city’s industrial land.

“This is incredibly important to us,” said Corky Collier, executive director of the Columbia Corridor Association, a group of industrial professionals representing 28 square miles of industrial property, much of which is along the slough. “Not only do the changes in zoning devalue the undeveloped industrial land in the area, (but) it makes it nearly impossible to expand or improve the facilities currently in operation, most of which are out of date already.

“This is a great area to redevelop, something the city likes to see happen with other commercial buildings around town. If the zoning is changed, it’s going to push industrial businesses away from the city, toward greenfield sites at the edge of the urban growth boundary.”

Mark Childs, a senior vice president with Capacity Commercial, is working with a potential buyer on a manufacturing property he is brokering in the area. Fifty feet may not seem like much, Child said, but almost every manufacturing business in the area has a paved parking lot in the zone. Improvements would not be allowed if it became a protection zone.

“This deal, a $1 million to $2 million deal, will be dead in the water if this passes,” Childs said. “The building is a little outdated and no matter who moves in, they will need to make improvements, if not expand the building.

“If property A is in the city but has a 4-inch-thick binder about what can and can’t happen on it, and property B is out of the city but doesn’t have any binder, no one is even going to look at property A. This is going to push businesses out of the city.”

The Bureau of Planning and Sustainability and the Port of Portland will be bringing the proposed zoning changes to the Planning Commission for a hearing on Aug. 24. If the Planning Commission makes a recommendation, it will go in front of City Council to be passed as an ordinance. Staff is targeting a council meeting sometime in October.

“We understand that this could be a heavy hammer, and we hope to work with these industry groups, but this corridor is already constrained,” Sugnet said. “There aren’t many places in the city with as much wildlife, and we need to do something to protect that.”

While Hanset agrees that both businesses and the city should be good stewards of the environment, he doesn’t agree with the path the city is taking.

“We don’t mind mitigating our impact, but we need to be able to grow to afford it,” he said. “If the city is going to come on our private property and regulate, then (it) needs to compensate us for it because this is going to really hurt our resale value.”

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