We are making headway

Greetings neighbors and fellow activists,

Beaumont Wilshire Neighbors for Responsible Growth continues to determine and understand the impacts of the building proposed for 4419-4439 N.E. Fremont St. and how to address them. We will report soon on developer Wally Remmers’s parking study, which took at least a six-square-block area as its sample.

We continue to voice concerns with City Council and staff of numerous city bureaus, in particular:

• Permit suitability of the site per the city’s own criteria for such developments (site is outside the required 500-foot proximity to “frequently operating transit service”; site lacks good street connectivity)
• Traffic
• Public safety
• Fire, police, and medical response on Fremont, a city-designated major emergency response route
• Lack of parking
• ADA requirements
• Storm-water runoff
• Pedestrian facilities that maintain the existing positive pedestrian experience and safety in light of garbage/recycling/compost pickups and deliveries via Fremont

What we want

Keeping in mind that regardless of what is built on the site, the time is now to demand safety/livability mitigation measures. We argue for some, if not all, of the following:

• Reduction of the proposed building to three stories from four
• A moratorium on the project until site qualifications are reviewed against city criteria and safety impacts for tenants and neighbors are assessed
• Stoplight, crosswalk, and other safety measures
• Parking district and/or parking included in the project
• Pedestrian accommodations/green space at street level
• Amended emergency response plan for Fremont
• A Good Neighbor Agreement (visited annually)
• Long-term, a revision of the CS zoning to include height and scale restrictions

Join the effort 
(see https://sites.google.com/site/beaumontapartment/ and http://bwnrg.blogspot.com/ for details)

• Donate to the legal fund if a legal challenge is unavoidable (thank you to all those who have contributed so far)
• Make your concerns known by contacting representatives and others involved

• Sign up with BWNRG
• Attend meetings: Oct. 8 neighborhood meeting, Oct. 18 Beaumont Wilshire Neighbors for Responsible Growth, Nov. 13 hearing on the city-sponsored parking study; check the BWNRG website and blog for updates.