By Alan Torres
Eugene Register-Guard / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Eugene City Council has advanced a measure that would require people selling homes in Eugene to disclose the home’s Home Energy Score to prospective buyers.

City staff, recommending councilors pursue the requirement, said in surveying Eugene residents, people wanted more guidance on how to improve their home’s energy efficiency and passing the requirement would do that.

“It would expand access to information about energy usage, energy improvements and available incentives,” said Danielle Klinkebiel, Eugene climate policy analyst.

A Home Energy Score is a standardized measurement of a home’s energy efficiency. A Home Energy Score report includes a home’s estimated energy costs, recommended improvements, and available rebates. Klinkebiel said this assessment costs $150 to $250 and examines the home’s insulation, air sealing, heating, cooling, windows, doors and water heating.

Under the proposal, people selling homes in Eugene would be required to include a Home Energy Score and Report in the real estate listing and home showing. Eugene would be the fifth Oregon city to adopt such a requirement.

City staff said they had researched Home Energy Score requirements in other cities, and found implementing them didn’t have an impact on housing supply. But staff recommended the city create a program to train energy assessors to ensure there are enough of them to meet the demand generated by the requirement.

Councilors unanimously voted to advance the proposal to a public hearing. Because of City Council’s upcoming summer recess, the earliest this could occur would be Sept. 21.

Councilors expressed a range of enthusiasm and skepticism of the proposal.

Supportive councilors said the requirement would provide more information to home buyers and help people make the homes in Eugene more energy efficient.

Critical councilors said it would likely be redundant with expected federal regulation and worried about the home inspections being inaccurate and sellers passing along the cost of the inspection to buyers.

Other Oregon cities requiring the disclosure are Portland, Milwaukie, Hillsboro and Bend.

Celeste Schmorde, president of Eugene Realtors, shared mixed thoughts on the requirement.

Schmorde said earlier in the process the Realtors had weighed in with concerns that the energy score may not accurately reflect the value or livability of older homes, and questioned the theory the requirement would encourage homeowners to make energy improvements.

But Schmorde also said the organization supports “transparency around a home’s expected utility costs and operating expenses,” and that at this point Eugene Realtors has switched from debating the policy to “helping buyers, sellers, and real estate professionals understand any new requirements so they can navigate them successfully.”

Meredith Tufts, coalition coordinator for Fossil Free Eugene, celebrated the vote. She called the proposed requirement “a common sense measure that will help to ensure prospective home buyers have the knowledge they need to make informed purchases.”

The post City eyes requiring energy score disclosures for home sellers appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

For close to a decade now the city of Milwaukie has talked about a potential downtown public plaza. Now, that plaza is finally being built as part of the city’s South Downtown Concept Plan.

The plaza will be located in the middle of Southeast Main Street, next to the city’s Dogwood Park, and essentially pedestrianize that stretch of road between the Main Street MAX station and Southeast Washington Street.

Now the city is seeking a construction manager/general contractor to build the new plaza. The contractor will provide pre-construction services and build a 4,000-square-foot colored concrete plaza with artistic elements.

The design requires the use of colored concrete, inlays, textures and multiple colors. The plaza will meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements within a shared road.

Bids are due by 3 p.m. on March 8. Prospective bidders can learn more by contacting Stephen McWilliams at 503-786-7610 or mcwilliamss@milwaukieoregon.gov.

Bidders can submit proposals to the City of Milwaukie Engineering Department or email them to McWilliams with subject line “RFP – Downtown Plaza Construction Manager / General Contractor Services.”

The post Milwaukie officials seeking CM-GC for plaza project appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

A downtown Milwaukie site that was formerly the home of local landmark Bernard’s Garage is being redeveloped into a multifamily housing project, the first such project to be built in the city in years.

Dubbed Axletree, the five-story, 110-residential unit mixed-use building is being developed by Guardian Real Estate Services on a parcel at the corner of Southeast 21^st Avenue and Washington Street in the heart of the city. General contractor R&H Construction is building the roughly $31 million project, which was designed by SERA Architects and is one of under way in the downtown district.

“I think we got a catalyst deal here and a catalyst project,” said Tom Brenneke, Guardian’s president and a Milwaukie native. “We need housing, and it’s ripe for it right now. We’re going to see some interesting things happen when this development is completed because there are lots of capital projects going on right now. It will begin happening, but we’re the first ones in.”

When it comes to commercial development, Milwaukie has lagged somewhat behind the rest of the metro area. But this year large projects have gotten under way at Milwaukie High School and the Northwest Housing Alternatives campus, both just blocks away from the Axletree site. Further plans also are on tap in the city center thanks to a city of Milwaukie master planning effort.

“I grew up there,” Brenneke said. “I know the neighborhood well, and that makes me unique. But you look at the proximity to Portland and you think of yourself being in downtown Portland working, and you can go left or right; left to Vancouver and right to Milwaukie, and I don’t know why you’d go left.”

Downtown Milwaukie, lacking the chic factor of Portland proper, has long been known as the home of Dark Horse Comics and not a lot else.

“Downtown has historically been very quiet,” Brenneke said. “Maybe it’s just not as cool or hip.”

A development surge that was expected to follow completion of TriMet‘s orange line in 2015 has resulted in multiple transit-oriented projects near stops in southeast Portland, but downtown Milwaukie has yet to see the same type of mixed-use building that has proliferated in Portland.

“We’ve always been around that area, but why develop?” Brenneke said. “I’d say obviously light rail is very compelling, and then the proximity to downtown Portland. And I think you have to distinguish downtown Milwaukie from the rest of Milwaukie. You get out to King Road and 82^nd and you have a lot of development out there.”

Brenneke also blamed Portland’s inclusionary zoning policy for slowing residential development to a standstill.

Deals in Portland are not working right now, Brenneke said. “Inclusionary housing has really done this in. The math doesn’t work,” he said. “Trying to get these to pencil just doesn’t work. So we’ve started looking elsewhere where we don’t have those requirements, and obviously Milwaukie fits.”

Axletree’s 110 residential units will be split between four stories and programmed to provide 44 studios, 58 one-bedroom and eight two-bedroom units ranging from 440 to 1,044 square feet. The ground floor will be split into four commercial spaces totaling 7,300 square feet of floor area.

The building will contain 78 parking spaces, including a 17-stall mechanical car stacker.

Crews broke ground earlier this fall and the first concrete deck pour took place last week. Andy Hernandez, site superintendent for R&H Construction, expects to begin placing prefabricated wood-framed walls by next week.

Prefabricated components are being manufactured by Pacific Wall Systems of Tumwater, Washington, and trucked to the job site. Walls are hoisted into place with a tower crane, saving significant amounts of time and manpower, Hernandez said.

“It’s huge,” he said. “We’ll get truckloads of panels and we’ll probably be framed in 15 weeks, where to do it conventionally not only would it add three weeks to our overall, we would have two to three times the labor on site, which gets to be a problem.”

The post Mixed-use multifamily coming to Milwaukie appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Milwaukie hasn’t gained a mixed-use development since 2006, when Tom Kemper built the four-story North Main Village. But city officials, anticipating increased pedestrian traffic when TriMet opens its orange light rail line late next summer, are working to make the town more inviting for entrepreneurs.

“We’ve been working for about the last two or three years, at least, to take advantage of opportunities related to the new light rail station,” Milwaukie Community Development Director Steve Butler said. “In the last three or four months it’s like someone really flipped a switch. We’ve seen a lot of interest from businesses looking to set up locations.”

The orange line’s 7.3-mile corridor runs southeast through Portland, ending in Oak Grove after passing through downtown Milwaukie with a station between Main Street and Southeast 21st Avenue.

Butler mentioned four businesses – Molly Muriel Apothecary, Painted Lady Coffee House, textile store Roger & Ives and wine bar Wine:30 – that opened within the past year in the downtown area with sights set on the light rail line’s arrival.

“We have been working over the last year to update policy and zoning standards because the old zoning map and its standards didn’t reflect what we wanted to see,” Butler said. “Downtown Milwaukie is even more business-friendly than in the past since we’ve worked to streamline the development process.”

Kemper said he hopes the city modifies zoning standards to allow a greater range of businesses on Main Street. Since North Main Village opened, he said, 2,300 square feet of ground-floor space has sat vacant because city code restricts the uses allowed. North Main Village has five retail spaces below three floors of one- and two-bedroom units.

“The residential part of the property has been very successful,” Kemper said. “But what’s been tough, and I hope they (address), is allowing some flexibility. They wouldn’t allow any sort of office activity on the ground floor facing Main (Street).”

Butler said the city contacted Kemper to gauge his interest on developing another mixed-use project in Milwaukie. Kemper said that for now he’s not interested, but the option isn’t off the table. He currently is the executive director of Housing Works, the Central Oregon housing authority serving Crook, Jefferson and Deschutes counties.

Meanwhile, Milwaukie Mayor Jeremy Ferguson said city officials are working to develop for downtown a new zoning plan that they’d like to have in place by the end of the first quarter of 2015.

“We have a lot of developers looking at Milwaukie right now,” he said. “I think some are waiting on the orange line and others are waiting to see what comes of our ‘Moving Forward Milwaukie’ project.”

City planners have been working on “,” since 2009 with the goal of assessing different city parts – residential, commercial and industrial – to develop and refine the vision for area character and function as well as encourage development.

“We’ve had two developer roundtable meetings; both were well-attended, but one had 23 developers,” Ferguson said. “We heard from multiple developers that they’d like the zoning changed, and I’m sure that would be something that would come before the planning ���dz������������Dz�.”

Ferguson said the downtown area currently has seven different sub-zones, making development confusing and difficult.
“We want to broaden the uses allowed downtown,” he said. “We’re also addressing issues of building heights and taking a look at different urban renewal ideas, like granting tax exemptions or credits for certain types of developments in the hopes that we increase foot traffic.”

Kemper agreed that the lack of foot traffic downtown has stanched development in Milwaukie.

“The only two employers they’ve really got is Moda (Health) and (Dark Horse Comics),” he said. “The rest are real small businesses, and there’s not a lot of housing. To kick-start the area what they really need is the housing.”

Branda Tiffany, owner of Molly Muriel Apothecary, moved her wholesale business into a space on 21st Avenue in October 2013 and opened the storefront in February. She said she hardly gets any foot traffic.

“This little downtown area isn’t ready to rely on foot traffic yet, but there’s just a buzz in the air and I feel like the (orange) line is going to bring people,” she said. “Those people will bring more people and they’re going to stop and explore.”

Tiffany has lived in the Sellwood area for about 10 years and said she’s had her eye on Milwaukie as the right location for her business.

“It’s becoming a younger crowd down here, which is good for my type of business,” she said. “It’s just going to take a few more businesses opening – maybe a few restaurants.”

Kemper said he thinks the addition of the orange line will spur the type of growth Tiffany is hoping for.

“It’s an up-and-coming area that’s close to downtown (Portland),” he said. “It’s got an incredibly beautiful waterfront and now the light rail is coming; it’s going to change that town.”

The city in 2012 began work on the $3 million enhancement project at Riverfront Park. Butler said construction is nearly complete – ahead of the Christmas Ships Parade on Dec. 20.

“We’re finishing up on the major renovations,” Butler said. “We’ve added a boat ramp, expanded the park and enhanced the trails.”

The changes to Milwaukie’s downtown are drawing a younger crowd to the area, Butler said.

“People are realizing we have a small-town character and feel. We’re seeing people in their 20s and 30s moving here who maybe want to buy a house, settle down and have a family,” he said. “We’re small enough that it’s still possible to get involved in the community. That’s also true on the development side.”

The city is trying to find developers interested in three parcels it owns – two 40,000-square-foot tracts and one 8,000-square-foot piece – near downtown.

The post Milwaukie prepping for orange line appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Light rail trains in a 7.3-mile-long corridor being developed through Southeast Portland and into Milwaukie are projected to carry up to 25,500 weekday riders to nearly 100,000 new jobs by 2030, according to TriMet data released in August 2012. The MAX orange line will have 10 stations, 675 motor vehicle park-and-ride spaces and 400 bicycle parking spaces.

Within two months after TriMet issued those projections, Joseph Bradford, owner of local development company Urban Evolution Inc., announced his plans to build a 68-unit multifamily complex – Moreland Crossing – in Sellwood, just 800 feet from the Southeast Tacoma Street/Johnson Creek station.

The timing and location weren’t coincidental, Bradford said. He chose the location at 8118 S.E. 23rd Ave. because he believes that the orange line will revitalize the neighborhood.

“I studied Sellwood in college through the (University of Oregon School of Architecture and Allied Arts‘ urban design program) and found the trolley lines in the early 1900s were spot-on in how neighborhoods should function close to the downtown,” he said. “We lost a lot of urban planning ideas through the onset of the automobile (from the 1950s through the 1980s), and now people are re-embracing urban amenities and ‘main street’ living close to transit.”

Bradford’s development isn’t the only one planned or already under construction near the new light rail corridor. Portland-based SolTerra is developing a 46-unit apartment building in the Brooklyn neighborhood, at the corner of Southeast Schiller Street and Milwaukie Avenue. SolTerra began as an electrical, roofing and landscaping company specializing in creating environmentally conscious systems – eco-roofs, solar systems and living walls. Earlier this year it started acquiring land for ground-up development.

Director Andrea Wallace said SolTerra chose the property because it’s in a great neighborhood, but added that the proximity to the orange line is a bonus.

“We focus primarily on, and are passionate about, urban properties,” she said. “Having it near the MAX line is a happy coincidence, because we believe it’s important that people have access to public transportation.”

SolTerra considers the proximity a happy coincidence, but the owner of a property at 4215 S.E. 17th Ave., slightly north of the future orange line station at Southeast 17th Avenue and Holgate Boulevard, is well aware that the property is adjacent to the future MAX station, according to paperwork from the Bureau of Development Services.

Works Partnership Architecture on Oct. 28 submitted an application for a land use review of the vacant lot. The developers are seeing permission to build a mixed-use project that would feature between 30 and 36 residential units and up to 3,000 square feet of commercial space.

Not every developer following the Southeast Portland area is ready to commit to construction based on orange line ridership projections. Josh Schlesinger, vice president and asset manager of Portland-based Schlesinger Cos., said his company is eyeing a surface parking lot, but isn’t ready to bite just yet.

“We’re excited to see the orange line fully operational and are waiting until (it opens in) September 2015 to see if it has the ridership and the economics to support development,” he said. “We’re interested in reviving sites that are close-in in proximity, and what’s attractive from a developer’s perspective is what’s going on in Southwest Portland.”

TriMet officials predict that much of the job growth along the orange line corridor will be driven by Oregon Health and Science University and Portland State University. Their projections indicate that more than 9,900 residents and 13,600 jobs will come to the South Waterfront District by 2030.

That predicted density also piqued Bradford’s interest in developing housing along the transit corridor.

“In our studies of these areas in urban design, we found that there is only one thing that stops an area from being vital … it is people,” he said. “Density along main streets and on the edges of neighborhoods that are walkable and close to transit are key.”

Bradford believes the addition of the orange line, along with the existing Springwater Trail to accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians, will vitalize Southeast Portland and Milwaukie.

“I believe that our project at Moreland Crossing will contribute to the neighborhood vitality by supporting the retail, the environment, and (offering options) for transportation,” he said. “We think this is ideal and more affordable than the other new apartments further north.”

The post Eyes on the orange line appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Lot Whitcomb, who in 1847 named Milwaukie after its Wisconsin counterpart, had grand visions of the city rivaling Portland as the shipping and transportation leader of the Willamette River. But Portland ultimately won that battle.

More than 160 years later, Gill Williams, director of landscape architecture for , is working with Milwaukie officials to develop the waterfront that has since languished.

“There’s no ‘there’ there to speak of,” he said. “So if I have a coffee shop or want to start an antique store, that’s the last place (to consider) really because there’s no foot traffic.”

City officials are working hard to change that with a series of development projects they believe have the potential to turn the pass-through city into a destination. The first is development of Milwaukie Riverfront Park.

The $9 million project would turn the uninspired Willamette riverbank adjacent to Milwaukie’s downtown into a landscaped park with an amphitheater, restrooms, pathways and a new boat ramp. City staffers recently hired Hillsboro-based Subcom Excavation & Utilities LLC to perform the $270,000 first phase; work is slated to begin in the next two weeks. A new trail and a plaza overlooking a riparian area in Johnson Creek are planned.

“The first phase will activate the park itself and get people to say, ‘Oh, look at this. Look what’s going on here,’ ” said JoAnn Herrigel, community services director for the city. “It’s just a really beautiful place to hang out, but right now it’s so underutilized because it’s just not developed and there’s no amenities.”

Because the park sits between the natural fish habitats of Johnson and Kellogg creeks, permitting has been a major hurdle. Herrigel applied for a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in December 2008 and is crossing her fingers that it will come through by the time the first phase is finished in October.

She said the corps is concerned about the park’s impact on fish and that she deleted plans for a mooring dock at the park as a result. Phase two also is waiting for a go-ahead from the Oregon Department of Transportation because it will share an access road with a nearby sewage treatment facility, as well as $7.5 million.

Meanwhile, Milwaukie’s Community Development department is actively pursuing a $15 million effort to drain Kellogg Lake and return it to its former natural state as a creek and wildlife area. Kenny Asher, community development director, said GSI Water Solutions Inc. on Monday would begin taking core samples to analyze the extent of sediment contamination.

The results are due in September and will inform staffers how much environmental cleanup will be necessary. A City Council meeting regarding funding for the project is scheduled for Sept. 4.

Asher said the city is talking with a private company interested in pursuing restoration development at the 14-acre site as part of the Portland Harbor Superfund cleanup.

Also, construction crews next year will begin to build a $1.2 million bike and pedestrian bridge underneath the Portland-Milwaukie light-rail bridge now under construction over Kellogg Lake, connecting Kronberg Park to Milwaukie’s south downtown revitalization area. Asher said the point is to increase access between nature and commercial activity.

“That potential has been locked up all these years because of poor access and barriers like dams, lakes, railroad trestles and highways,” Asher said. “And so we’re pretty confident that by taking the lead on those kinds of projects, more people are going to discover the charm of downtown Milwaukie and want to invest there and want to invest in the neighborhoods as well.”

Light rail should also help increase access to the city. Crews are expected to complete construction of the approximately $18 million Milwaukie light-rail bridge and the approximately $2.56 million Milwaukie light-rail station in summer 2014.

Milwaukie could also soon see increased traffic from bicyclists as improvements to the Trolley Trail – a six-mile multiuse path connecting Milwaukie to Southeast Gladstone – connect to the Springwater Trail and beyond.

But not all of Milwaukie’s growth would come from outside. In June, a group from Portland State University released a study proposing to revitalize commercial activity along Southeast 32nd and 42nd avenues.

Despite challenges posed by inadequate zoning standards, slow residential growth and relatively modest density compared to other metro areas, the study stated that the two corridors would be the best situated for commercial development because of the high number of residents (between 2,831 and 3,887) within a half-mile walk.

According to the report, 100 percent of those people travel outside of their neighborhoods for home maintenance, repairs and insurance needs; 95 percent travel for entertainment needs; 88 percent travel for food and drink; and 79 percent travel for home furnishings. Just food and entertainment account for $21 million in annual spending.

Downtown, Herrigel said the city is trying to attract retail businesses rather than ground-floor office tenants. One that arrived last year, Milwaukie Kitchen & Wine, sought to escape the competitive market of Portland. It’s located in North Main Village, a multiuse building that Tom Kemper developed in 2006.

The city also is weighing whether to build a $10 million to $25 million baseball stadium. City staffers are studying the pros and cons of 2,000-seat and 4,000-seat facilities.

And while Milwaukie will likely never be a shipping and transportation hub as Whitcomb envisioned it in the 19th century, Herrigel thinks the riverfront park will be an important first step in revitalization.

“I think it’s going to be the playground for anyone living in the downtown area,” she said. “I think it’s going to attract boaters, both from those that want to put in as well as those that are out on the river that want to come and look at the park. I think it’s going to become a destination.”

The post Riverfront park to be first of several revitalizing projects in Milwaukie appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The saga to bring professional baseball to Milwaukie continues.

The city’s negotiations with the Northwest League broke off last week when league officials were unable to provide a team by the city’s self-imposed deadline of July 31.

Now the city is looking to another league, the West Coast League, a summer league for college players, to fill its proposed $12 million stadium, which was expected to be built in 2015.

The city’s council will vote Aug. 7 whether to proceed with raising funds for the stadium and whether to pursue a WCL team. It is undetermined whether plans for the stadium, which was expected to meet a variety of community needs outside of baseball, would reduce in size if a WCL team was obtained.

Sadly for baseball fans, this means the idea of a cross-town rivalry with Hillsboro, a city that recently received a NL team, is no longer possible.

The post Milwaukie turns to another league to fill baseball stadium appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

When Bob Richmond, president of the Northwest Baseball League, was asked last week about the chances of a minor league team playing in Milwaukie, he responded with a deep, tired sigh.

That is because over the past couple of months he has answered the same question from countless residents, city officials and reporters. In fact, the onslaught of phone calls was twice as bad a few weeks ago, he said, before the league announced that Hillsboro would gain a team.

Richmond said there is a buzz about the likelihood of minor league baseball arriving in two Portland suburbs. However, citizens and government officials say the excitement stems from more than just baseball.

“In the end, baseball is a tenant – a long-term tenant, but just a tenant,” said Steve Greagor, director of Hillsboro Parks and Recreation. “In excess of 300 days out of the year, the stadium will be used for something else.”

Proposed stadiums – Hillsboro’s is moving forward, while Milwaukie’s is contingent on the city landing a team – are expected to fulfill a variety of community functions as well as attract more visitors, city officials say.

Hillsboro’s 4,500-seat stadium, with an estimated construction cost between $13 million and $15 million, will help the city meet a demand for more parks and recreational areas, according to Greagor. The stadium’s artificial turf will provide a year-round playing field for youth sports, adult recreational leagues and possibly high school state tournaments.

Additionally, the city is working with the Hillsboro School District to plan student events, like graduation ceremonies, at the stadium. Music concerts and festivals are also being considered.

Many of these events, especially the state tournaments and music concerts, will attract new visitors to Hillsboro and open the city to a wider audience, Greagor said.

“It will help establish an additional aspect to our community’s identity,” he said. “It will bring family-friendly, very affordable entertainment not only to Hillsboro, but the whole Portland area.”

Greagor said the stadium is the largest project the city has taken on in years and will provide many construction and engineering jobs, though he could not give exact figures.

Milwaukie’s proposed 4,000-seat stadium, which could potentially cost $25 million, would also be used for recreational sports and outdoor music events. City officials say the indoor concourse area could be used as a marketplace or an event area for weddings, movie nights and other social events.

Between baseball ticket sales and leases for private events, Milwaukie city officials say the stadium could generate annual revenues up to $7.1 million.

“It’s just going to be a beautiful gateway to the city,” said Joe Loomis, a Milwaukie city councilor. “I see it spurring small businesses, especially in downtown Milwaukie – like bike shops and small coffee shops.”

The stadium also would give the city a recognizable landmark, according to Pepi Anderson, a resident in the city’s Lewelling neighborhood.

“Milwaukiens have great pride in being a city that’s trapped in between Portland and the nether lands out there,” she said. “(The stadium) will bring people into Milwaukie and help them discover the good things we have here.”

Of course, the idea of the city having a professional sports team is also exciting, Anderson said. Officials from both cities have marveled at the idea of having a metro baseball rivalry, which would be unique (no existing NBL teams are so close). And, according to data collected by the NBL, there is a large demand for baseball to return to the Portland area – enough to support two teams.

But baseball would be only the beginning. The stadiums could become ambassadors for both Milwaukie and Hillsboro, Loomis said.

“The people that come to events will have the opportunity to see the local businesses and bike trails and say, ‘Well, I’ll bring my family back and rent a bike, and we’ll ride the trails,” he said. “It’s just exposing Milwaukie to other folks.”

The city of Milwaukie has set a deadline of July 24 for an existing team to make a commitment to move there; it will not build the stadium otherwise. Hillsboro city councilors last week officially approved an agreement to bring the Yakima Bears to town. The team has an agreement with the city, but it still has to sign an agreement with the NBL before Sept. 4 to make the deal official.

When Richmond was asked whether Milwaukie and Hillsboro would both have teams, he said wearily, “It looks like it’s going to work out,” and then hung up.

The post Stadiums would bring more than baseball to Hillsboro, Milwaukie appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

A bid to require a public vote for nearly every decision about the Portland-Milwaukie light-rail project is one step away from becoming a special election ballot measure for Milwaukie voters.

Petitioner Ed Zumwalt‘s initiative went unchallenged in the five days after it received a title on Feb. 7, meaning that he needs only to gather 1,724 signatures from residents by late summer – a process, he said, that should be “no big deal.”

“It’s time (for city councilors) to take care of the neighborhoods they vowed to protect when they took an oath in office,” Zumwalt said.

He said light-rail developers do not comprehend the detrimental effects it will have on traffic, crime prevention and children’s safety. The planned orange line will “cut the town in two,” he said, and clog main intersections during busy travel times.

Zumwalt also pointed out that TriMet has already reduced the number of park-and-ride garages promised originally – a result of less federal financial support than expected – so some riders may have to park in surrounding neighborhoods.

As for safety concerns, he said the line will be close to four schools, including Milwaukie High. TriMet has stated that part of the development process will include educating students in the area and adding strict security, but Zumwalt said he needs more reassurance.

“They haven’t gotten their arms around crime in 25 years on this light rail,” he said. “Milwaukie won’t have any bad people come in unless you invite them in.

“They say they’ll educate (students), but I say, ‘How?’ I want something concrete.”

If voters were to pass the measure in September, it would change the city charter to require a public vote before Milwaukie can spend any money to finance, design, construct or operate any public rail transit system.

Milwaukie and TriMet officials claim the measure would not jeopardize the city’s ability to pay the promised $5 million portion of the orange line’s cost, however, because breaking the contract the city has with TriMet is not allowed by the state’s constitution.

“The city of Milwaukie voted twice to approve the project and then the funding,” TriMet spokeswoman Mary Fetsch said. “TriMet is proceeding in good faith and is counting on our partner jurisdictions to do the same.”

City Council President Greg Chaimov said the ballot measure would instead hinder the city’s ability to make necessary adjustments to the line, because most of them cannot wait for public approval.

“Last December, we had our Design and Landmarks (Committee) work really hard with our planning staff to make sure the bridge that’s crossing along Milwaukie Boulevard was safe,” Chaimov said. “If the measure had been in place, we wouldn’t have been able to do that, because we only had a small window of time.”

He added that the measure would prevent the city from operating the rail without public approval, which could hinder the city from providing security on the trains.

“I just wish Mr. Zumwalt would go about his effort to stop the light rail in a way that wasn’t so counterproductive to what he’s trying to achieve,” Chaimov said. “All it’s going to do is make sure we end up with a line that won’t be a good neighbor as we want it to be.”

The effort is similar to one last December that would have required voters to approve Clackamas County’s $25 million pledge to the project. It was challenged, however, by a Lake Oswego resident, because it would have affected existing and future light-rail lines and not only the $1.5 billion orange line.

The post Ballot effort could derail orange line to Milwaukie appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

is providing design and project management for the renovation of Advantis Credit Union’s headquarters in Milwaukie. The renovation includes a 20,000-square-foot overhaul of executive and administrative offices. Sustainable materials are being incorporated, LED lighting is being installed, and a new floor plan is being used to accommodate interior offices with glass walls that allow natural light to brighten the interior.

The post Advantis headquarters renovated in Milwaukie appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.