A Pearl District group on Monday elevated its fight against plans for a 23-story tower, filing a notice of intent to appeal to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals.

That action follows approvals of the project by the Portland Design Commission and City Council, which in January turned back an appeal by the group – Pearl Neighbors for Integrity in Design (PNID).

The Hyatt Place and Allison Residences proposal has stirred opposition in the Pearl District, where it would be the first building to reach a new height limit of 250 feet. The Central City 2035 rezoning plan raised height limits in the Pearl District, Goose Hollow and other close-in neighborhoods, causing some residents to voice fears that those areas would change for the worse.

“The whole essence isn’t the height so much as the density, the traffic, the impact on the greenway,” said Patricia Cliff, president of PNID.

The building would have 160 hotel rooms and 113 residential units in 197,118 square feet. Otak Inc. is designing the project for Seattle multifamily developer Vibrant Cities and hotelier The Sunray Companies of Madison, Mississippi.

The project doesn’t adequately consider bicycle traffic or deliveries to the building planned at 350 N.W 12th Ave., Cliff said.

“The precedent setting of it is incredible,” she said. “There are 12 of these quarter-blocks in the South Pearl, south of Lovejoy (Street). Any one of them could be built this way. It’s a preservation idea.”

Attorney Carrie Richter of Bateman Seidel is representing PNID, a nonprofit organization. The group is separate from the city-recognized Pearl District Neighborhood Association, although some members are active in both groups. Richter could not be reached for comment.

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The Portland City Council is considering adoption of an amended Central City 2035 Plan after it was remanded by state regulators.

Historic preservationists successfully challenged the zoning overhaul, which called for increasing height limits in some areas, including 10 blocks in Old Town Chinatown in Northwest Portland. It also called for decreasing height limits on some properties, typically to preserve views of Mount Hood or the Willamette River.

The state Land Use Board of Appeals remanded the ordinance in August 2019, saying the city’s findings were inadequate to support the higher height limits in Old Town Chinatown. LUBA‘s remand forced the city to explain how the taller maximum heights “preserve and complement historic resources,” as required by the city’s comprehensive plan.

Restore Oregon and a coalition of Old Town Chinatown organizations challenged Guardian Real Estate‘s plans to build on Block 33, which under Central City 2035 zoning would have a 200-foot height limit with bonuses.

In January, the state Court of Appeals affirmed LUBA’s analysis in a lawsuit brought by Restore Oregon and various other groups.

The City Council received two hours of public testimony on Thursday, but did not vote. The written record was held open until 5 p.m. on June 4. The council is tentatively scheduled to vote on amended findings on July 2, with a final vote the following week.

Pearl Neighbors for Integrity in Design has pushed for the City Council to hold off on adoption until after November elections, when a new slate of commissioners will be seated.

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The Portland Design Commission has delayed making a decision on a proposal for a 23-story hotel and multifamily project that has raised opposition from neighbors in the Pearl District.

The design by Otak Inc. has improved from earlier iterations, design commissioners said. But they opted not to take a vote at a Thursday hearing, leaving the record open for more written testimony.

The proposed tower would be the first in the Pearl District under Central City 2035 zoning that raised height limits. The developers plan to use the full height limit, with bonuses, of 250 feet – an increase from the previous limit of 175 feet.

Neighbors have objected to the height and bulk of the Hyatt Place design. The building would be constructed on a quarter-block lot at Northwest 12th Avenue and Flanders Street.

“The central problem here is there is too much mass and too much height and it is not contextually appropriate,” said Carrie Richter, a land use attorney representing the Pearl Neighbors for Integrity in Design, a community group that has challenged tall building projects in the area. PNID is distinct from the city-recognized neighborhood association.

The Hyatt Place project comes from a development team of Seattle developer Vibrant Cities and The Sunray Companies of Madison, Mississippi.

The 197,118-square-foot building would hold 160 hotel rooms on floors two through 11, and 113 studio and one-bedroom units on floors 12 through 23. The project was valued at $66 million by the city’s Bureau of Development Services.

Otak’s Gary Larson said the design team had used setbacks and other architectural moves to reduce the apparent mass.

“We have created a dynamism here with also the goal of bringing the height of the building into the context of the neighborhood,” he said.

Richter told design commissioners that they should follow the previous zoning rules because the Central City 2035 plan was remanded in August by the state Land Use Board of Appeals. The city lacked a factual basis for the height limits, LUBA said.

“The tallest building that you can approve is 175 feet,” Richter said.

City officials said they would follow the 250-foot height limit, which has been declared effective but not formally “acknowledged” – the final step of approval by the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development.

Architectural changes made since previous meetings with design commissioners won praise. Reza Farhoodi, a resident representing the Pearl District Neighborhood Association, said the design appeared “more cohesive.”

“This project will set a precedent for height in the Pearl District neighborhood, so it’s important to get the design details right,” he said.

Design commissioners said a required water feature was better integrated into the ground floor façade. They also praised the stouter appearance of the building’s base, which was criticized in earlier designs as too weak.

“The base-middle-top expression is a clear improvement over earlier expressions,” Commissioner Brian McCarter said.

McCarter, however, voiced one significant concern.

“My one disappointment is urban street trees,” he said. “It really bothers me in a quarter-block building that we’ve set a precedent for one street tree in a hundred feet. … To have a single tree in a hundred feet, it seems like we’ve got to do better than that.”

The project team will return before the Design Commission for final deliberations and a decision on Jan. 9.

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Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals has denied an appeal of a Portland City Council decision upholding approval for an affordable housing project planned in the Alphabet District.

Plans call for construction of two new buildings – one five stories and the other a four-story addition to the existing three-story Buck-Prager Building, at 1727 N.W. Hoyt St. Combined, they would hold 148 housing units, including 48 for seniors. Northwest Housing Alternatives is developing the project.

Portland’s Historic Landmarks Commission approved the project last year, and then neighbors of the project site submitted an appeal to the City Council. It voted 4-0 against the appeal, which led resident Kenneth Dobson to appeal to LUBA.

LUBA, which hears appeals of land use decisions made by local jurisdictions, listened to that appeal in July. Then the board earlier this month upheld the City Council’s decision and rebuffed all five points of error claimed by the appellant.

In the appeal, Dobson claimed the proposed project would not be compatible with the surrounding neighborhood, and the proposed height, scale and design would violate city design standards. He also claimed the city erred in allowing elimination of on-street loading space.

The board, however, did not agree.

“Petitioner has not demonstrated that the city’s interpretation of ‘compatible’ is inconsistent with the express language of HAD-3, the purpose of that design standard, or the underlying policy that provides the basis for that standard,” stated in denying the first assignment of error.

As to the second assignment of error, the decision stated, “We conclude that a reasonable person could rely on that evidence to support a finding that the development will ‘maintain the district’s architectural scale and its fine-grained pattern of development,’ as required.”

The project is being designed by Carleton Hart Architecture. Michelle Black, a principal with the firm, declined to comment on LUBA’s decision.

Dobson or another appellant may appeal to the Oregon Supreme Court. If not, the project team will be able to apply for building permits; however, there is no timeline for such action.

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Plans to build a fracked-gas-to-methanol refinery in St. Helens were dealt a blow late last month when the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals upheld an appeal of a decision by the Columbia County Board of Commissioners to rezone 837 acres of agricultural land for industrial use.

The decision by LUBA remands the decision to Columbia County for the second time; LUBA in 2014 rejected an attempt by the county to rezone the Port Westward property to allow numerous potential uses. This time, just five proposed uses – processing, storage and transportation of forestry and wood products, dry and liquid bulk commodities, natural gas products and break bulk cargo – would’ve been allowed.

But LUBA still found those uses inconsistent with adjacent agriculturally-zoned land. Columbia Riverkeeper and 1000 Friends of Oregon had appealed to LUBA.

The county and the Port of St. Helens had sought to rezone the property – 17 separate parcels – as Rural Industrial Planned Development (RIPD) land. Currently, the property is zoned for exclusive farm use, though it is adjacent to 905 acres of industrial land. That property is served by a 1,250-foot-long dock along the Columbia River. Most of the land is occupied by Portland General Electric, which operates three gas-fired electrical generating plants there, as well as a 1.3-million barrel tank farm, a biomass refinery facility and electrical substation.

The Port of St. Helens in February 2018 reached a lease agreement with Northwest Innovation Works for construction of a fracked gas-to-methanol refinery at Port Westward.

The LUBA decision was based on an analysis that the broad range of proposed industrial uses at Port Westward are incompatible with adjacent agricultural uses, and that the county failed to adequately analyze the impacts of those proposed uses.

The decision means the Port of St. Helens will now be required to disclose the specific uses it intends to employ at Port Westward, as well as potential impacts on adjacent property and environmental resources.

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Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler seemed to believe the City Council was in for a long day at a public hearing in early February.

Thirty-six residents, mostly members of the same neighborhood association, had signed up to testify in support of an appeal of approval given to a subdivision proposal.

“You don’t have to use your full three minutes,” Wheeler told people who were signed up to testify. “You are of course entitled to your three minutes. I just want to suggest alternatives if people would prefer.”

For the next three hours, Wheeler and his fellow city commissioners saw something extraordinary. One neighbor after another testified against the Macadam Ridge subdivision proposal. But unlike other groups, their testimony was professionalized, coordinated and synchronized with a PowerPoint presentation illustrating their main points.

The property owners, the Griffith family, were pushing to build 21 homes on a 14-acre lot off of Taylor’s Ferry Road. The South Burlingame Neighborhood Association appealed a hearings officer’s decision approving the development, citing landslide risks and other issues.

Carol Hazzard went first, introducing herself as a 52-year resident of Portland. She focused on the landslide risk to existing homes built uphill from the Macadam Ridge property.

“It is my opinion this development would put hundreds of people and their homes at risk,” she said.

Then Mary Lee Carr, wearing a reflective safety vest in council chambers, testified as leader of the Neighborhood Emergency Team – volunteer first responders who are trained by Portland Fire & Rescue.

“As I assess hazards around my neighborhood, I look at houses set upon slide-prone ground as coffins,” Carr told commissioners.

By the end of the presentation, commissioners had been persuaded. They voted unanimously to uphold the neighborhood association’s appeal.

“I don’t remember a more thoughtful set of presentations,” Commissioner Nick Fish said.

In recent weeks, the City Council has proved receptive to appeals from development opponents. In addition to Macadam Ridge, commissioners upheld an appeal challenging approval of the Fremont Apartments project in the Pearl District and declined to consider a proposal from NBP Capital for a series of downtown towers.

Macadam Ridge was lower stakes: a small subdivision planned by family landowners best known for running the Riverview Abbey Mausoleum. Yet the neighborhood association’s well-organized presentation, aided by local professionals, could offer a template for other groups fighting developments.

“We conveyed the message,” said Robert Lennox, president of the neighborhood association.

The presentation was assembled with the help of Shannon Hiller-Webb, a neighborhood association member who has professional experience in marketing and advertising. She worked with other neighbors and an environmental legal group, Crag Law Center, to hone the message. They also hired Carrie Richter, a Portland land-use attorney.

The neighbors divided their presentation into storyboards, much like a film. With only three minutes allotted per speaker, they realized they could be more effective coordinating topics into a cohesive presentation.

“We realized we needed to tell a story in a narrative arc,” Hiller-Webb said. “By changing our kind of approach so we didn’t duplicate our efforts and told one story as a collective voice, we came to find that impactful.”

South Burlingame Neighborhood Association members have shared their experiences with representatives of Friends of Overlook Bluff, which is fighting to save a historic tree in its North Portland neighborhood, and the Southwest Hills Residential League, which is weighing in on plans to develop the ex-Strohecker’s grocery store property for housing.

“Every neighborhood association is having to pretty much to start from scratch, so we were hoping to inform of what we’ve learned in four years of doing this,” Hiller-Webb said.

The Macadam Ridge fight is far from over. The Riverview Abbey operators, the Griffiths, have appealed the City Council’s decision to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. LUBA could override the City Council and allow the development to proceed.

The Griffiths also have filed a grievance with the South Burlingame Neighborhood Association, objecting to an emergency board meeting the association held.

“They’re required to follow the rules, and the grievance basically says they didn’t follow the rules,” Stephen Griffith said. He filmed the proceedings of a recent neighborhood association meeting with his cellphone.

Lennox said the Griffith family’s grievance has little merit.

“Our feeling is they’re just looking for a thread to pull to void the City Council decision,” he said.

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LAKE OSWEGO – Like many new developments, Patrick Kessi’s 200-unit luxury apartment project started with a relationship.

Around a decade ago, Kessi served on the University of Portland board along with Gene Wizer, a local businessman who owned a keystone block in downtown Lake Oswego. Wizer had long had notions of redeveloping the block, which was home to small shops, and had discussed the possibilities with a succession of developers.

The recession scared off most firms. With few developers interested in tackling a big project, Wizer asked Kessi for his impressions.

“He had talked to multiple developers for years and years,” Kessi said of Wizer, who died in 2015. “I knew him from the board, and when the market went down, he asked me to take a look at it.”

Kessi liked what he saw. Lake Oswego’s community could support an expensive project. The city had invested in the area, and opened Millennium Plaza Park. Another developer built Lakeview Village, bringing high-end shopping to the neighborhood.

Housing could be the missing ingredient, Kessi thought.

“It was a very good time to start looking at new properties in this location,” he said.

A decade later, The Windward is opening to residents. The first tenants can begin moving in on March 15.

The opening marks a milestone for Kessi and his company, PHK Development, which has focused on developing condos and apartments in the Portland area.

PHK fought opponents of the project for years. Lake Oswego’s Development Review Commission denied the project, but Kessi successfully appealed to the City Council. The Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals and then the Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed the City Council’s decision, until finally the state Supreme Court declined to hear the case. The appeals were lodged by the Evergreen Neighborhood Association and a group called Save Our Village.

Kessi, a Portland-based developer who grew up on a dairy farm in Scappoose, was confident enough in the eventual outcome that he had his general contractor, Lease Crutcher Lewis, break ground before the Supreme Court turned down the case in November 2015, letting the favorable appeals court ruling stand.

After some community backlash, the design was reduced from five stories to four.

Kessi said he’s pleased his patience was rewarded.

“If you do the right thing, the right thing will happen,” he said.

The Windward is nearing completion, with 200 luxury apartments, more than 42,000 square feet of commercial space and 430 underground parking spaces, including 135 public spaces.

“From the outside, the building looks really good,” said Jackie Manz, a Lake Oswego city councilor. “There’s quality materials. It’s amazing how quickly it has come to fit into our downtown streetscape.”

Apartment configurations range from studios to three bedrooms, spanning 650 square feet to 2,400 square feet and renting for rates of $1,600 to approximately $6,000 a month – an eyebrow-raising rate that could pay down a hefty home mortgage.

Kessi said the initial tenants are mostly Lake Oswego residents and former residents with ties to the tony suburb southwest of Portland who are interested in the downtown lifestyle.

“It’s the person who doesn’t want the yard maintenance, the house maintenance, who wants the security,” he said.

The ability to walk to restaurants and shops nearby has also proved a popular draw. Early interest for the apartments has been strong, Kessi said.

The development is also attracting commercial operations. So far, ice cream maker Salt & Straw, pizzeria Chuckie Pies, Bamboo Sushi, fitness studio StarCycle, Richard Henry Barber Co. and clothing retailer Adorn have signed deals for space in The Windward. Some of the commercial spaces have been offered for sale.

“We have a good mix of Portland best-in-class and Lake Oswego best-in-class commercial tenants,” Kessi said.

The Windward is composed of three buildings, each of which follows a Lake Oswego design style: “Oregon Rustic,” “English Tudor” and “Arts and Crafts.”

The structures are largely concrete and steel studs, not wood-framed, opening the possibility of a later condo conversion. Kessi said any conversion to condos would not happen until years in the future. The apartment tenants are on one-year leases.

Kessi said the building will be rated Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design gold for environmental performance.

Lake Oswego’s redevelopment agency is subsidizing the development with $5.2 million for development costs and permits and $749,000 for construction. The city received from PHK Development public parking, a public easement that allows pedestrian access between First and Second streets and assurances that the commercial spaces facing First Avenue and A Street would be active-use retail, said Elaine Franklin, a spokeswoman for The Windward.

The project was designed by ZGF Architects and Ankrom Moisan Architects. A public pension fund provided financing.

PHK Development is also building a 162-unit condo project at Northeast 21st Avenue and Multnomah Street in the Lloyd District.

After that?

“And then, we’ll just keep going,” Kessi said. “It’s what we do.”

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The local family proposing to build a 21-home subdivision in the Southwest Portland hills will appeal the City Council’s decision last month that halted the development.

Stephen Griffith, one of four brothers who own the land behind Riverview Abbey Mausoleum Co. on Taylors Ferry Road, said the family will file an appeal with the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals.

“It is our hope that LUBA will recognize the fact that our development plan complies with the law,” Griffith stated in an email message. “Portland needs more housing options. We desire to fulfill my grandfather’s dream of building on the property that he had the foresight to purchase many years ago.”

On Feb. 7, the City Council upheld an appeal by the South Burlingame Neighborhood Association. The group had challenged development plans for the Macadam Ridge subdivision, citing landslide hazards and environmental overlay rules. Commissioners said they were also concerned about tree removal and disruption of a wildlife corridor.

The Neighborhood Association delivered to the council a three-hour presentation with coordinated testimony from more than 30 neighbors.

The council overturned a favorable decision by hearings officer Melvin Oden-Orr “based on an emotional appeal by the Neighborhood Association,” Griffith stated.

The 14-acre property, purchased by Willard Griffith in 1945, is a rare undeveloped plot of land within Portland’s urban growth boundary. Stephen Griffith said the family intends to establish a preliminary plat and sell the property to a homebuilder. Each new home would be about 3,500 square feet and cost approximately $750,000.

At the February council meeting, Mayor Ted Wheeler said some development on the land is inevitable.

“It is my view that this is a complex site, for obvious reasons – it has all of the overlay issues – but ultimately it is a developable site, and it is my belief it will be developed,” he said. “So now the question is: How do we shape that development and how do we take that from here?”

Griffith said the family has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars during the past four years to develop the property.

“It’s so extremely costly,” he said. “Between us and development partners, it’s close to a million dollars now.”

Starting over in the city’s approval process would only add to the costs, according to Griffith.

“It’s basically cheaper to appeal than to start a new application,” he said.

Griffith said he expects to hear a decision from LUBA in about 70 days.

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The Portland City Council on Wednesday upheld a neighborhood association’s appeal of a hearings officer’s decision that had opened the door for development of a 21-home subdivision in Southwest Portland.

City commissioners expressed concerns about substantial tree removal, landslide hazards and an undefined disturbance area on the 14-acre lot located off of Taylors Ferry Road.

The commissioners’ unanimous vote was a rare rebuke of plans for development on land zoned for that purpose. The result came after more than three hours of testimony, mostly from South Burlingame Neighborhood Association members who organized a coordinated presentation.

The development proposal is from the Griffith family, which has owned the parcel adjoining Riverview Abbey Mausoleum Co. since 1945.

“We’re not out-of-state developers,” said Stephen Griffith, who is co-owner of the mausoleum and part of the development effort. “We’re just a family that’s owned land for 70 years.”

The proposal calls for homes on 4 acres of the parcel. The remaining 10 acres would be donated to the city of Portland. The property is part of an environmental overlay zone; portions of the lot are heavily wooded, and Stephens Creek and Ruby Creek run through the property.

Stephen Griffith, who owns the land with his brothers – Robert, David and Mark – said the family intends to establish a preliminary plat and sell the property to a homebuilder. Each new home would be about 3,500 square feet and cost approximately $750,000, which Stephen Griffith called “middle income” (the median sale price of a Portland-area home was $379,900 in 2017).

The parcel is one of the last potential locations for a new single-family subdivision within Portland city limits, and plans for Macadam Ridge come as Mayor Ted Wheeler and other city officials have pushed to expand the city’s housing stock.

“It is my view that this is a complex site, for obvious reasons – it has all of the overlay issues – but ultimately it is a developable site, and it is my belief it will be developed,” Wheeler said. “So now the question is: How do we shape that development and how do we take that from here?”

The Griffiths planned to remove 470 trees while preserving 1,400 others. The family also agreed to build a bus stop requested by TriMet and make frontage improvements along Taylors Ferry Road. The development would create a short stretch of new public road that would link with Southwest Taylors Ferry Road, Hume Street and Ruby Terrace. The Griffiths also pledged to replace failing stormwater systems.

Commissioners were not sold on the proposal.

“I have significant concerns about the wildlife corridor, the landslide issues and the trees,” Commissioner Chloe Eudaly said.

Commissioner Nick Fish suggested the Griffiths start over.

“We want to get to a better design that has full engagement of everyone from the beginning,” he said.

The neighborhood association appealed a Dec. 27 decision by Portland hearings officer Melvin Oden-Orr, who found the environmental review requirements could be met with conditions. Oden-Orr has since been appointed to Multnomah County Circuit Court.

Neighbors zeroed in on landslide risk. The land is located within a city-defined potential landslide hazard.

A landslide in the area is “an identified threat to our resources, and we need to protect against it,” said Robert Lennox, president of the neighborhood association.

Plans to remove trees on the parcel would make a landslide more likely, Lennox said.

“By removing 500 trees, you remove 500 water pipes off the site,” he said.

Neighbors said the trees also lower temperatures in the two creeks that traverse the property.

The Griffiths may appeal the City Council’s decision to the state Land Use Board of Appeals, or submit a reworked land-use application to the city.

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The Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development has turned back objections to Portland’s 2035 comprehensive plan.

The state agency’s Dec. 5 ruling means the comprehensive plan has cleared a hurdle toward implementation by the city of Portland in 2018. Yet opponents could still appeal the plan to the Land Conservation and Development Commission and the Land Use Board of Appeals.

One group left no doubt an appeal would be forthcoming.

“We’re going on with the appeal, and we’re working on it right now,” said Martie Sucec, chairwoman of the Multnomah Neighborhood Association.

The Multnomah Neighborhood Association in Southwest Portland was joined by the Goose Hollow Foothills League, Rose City Park Association and several individual property owners in lodging objections to the comprehensive plan.

Several objections concern changing the character of single-family neighborhoods by adding apartment buildings. Others also lodged complaints about the city’s process in adopting the comprehensive plan.

The comprehensive plan is a wide-ranging set of rules meant to guide how Portland will develop during the next two decades. The plan affects zoning throughout the city, and such crucial rules as maximum height and allowed building uses.

The Multnomah Neighborhood Association lodged objections against Multnomah Village being designated as a “neighborhood center,” and also against the city’s public process.

“We’ve just been ignored, which is why we’ve filed objections,” Sucec said.

The city’s neighborhood center designation “wipes out Multnomah as a single-family neighborhood,” she added.

Multnomah Village has seen a recent influx of apartment proposals. Crews are finishing construction of a four-story building with 70 units at 7661 S.W. Capitol Highway – a site that formerly held a gas station.

“What we don’t want is for developers to have free rein on any lot at any time,” Sucec said. “This is not good planning, to just say build anything, anywhere.”

Nevertheless, the DLCD turned back the group’s objections. The department found the city complied with its citizen involvement program during development of the comprehensive plan. It also found that designating an area a neighborhood center did not result in rezoning, and that rezoning would require further public notice.

The City Council adopted the comprehensive plan in June 2016. State law requires periodic review of a city’s comprehensive plan, and the 2035 plan is the first thorough overhaul of Portland’s rules since 1980.

The city’s plan allows neighborhoods to grow up to accommodate housing demand, DLCD Director Jim Rue stated in a news release.

“Portland is an attractive city with lots of people moving there each year,” he stated. “The City Council had to make difficult choices about how to best accommodate the expected growth. Our review found the plan to be consistent with the state’s requirements for efficient, managed use of land.”

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