On Fremont, developer sees room to loom

Beaumont-Wilshire residents who work downtown could have this to look forward to on their journey home: a building that stretches three stories higher than its adjacent neighbors, without any "stepping back" that would reduce its mass and increase its appeal. The rendering shows how the building would look as an expansive backdrop for existing buildings at Northeast 44th and Fremont in the Beaumont Village corridor. If the developer has his way, it's what you would see looking east from the lobby of the local Umpqua Bank branch.

After a long delay, Wally Remmers now has a revised permit. We haven't seen updated plans, but we hope for real fixes.

Dear readers, where do you live?

An illustration from portlandmaps.com shows the boundaries of Wally Remmers's 50-unit project proposed for Northeast Fremont. If you live within 100 feet and support the BWNRG cause, let us know.

Pardon the intrusion, but we seek property owners within 100 feet of Wally Remmers's building site at 4419-4429 NE Fremont to sign on as petitioners in our planned appeal to the state Land Use Board of Appeals, or LUBA. LUBA requires that at least one of the named petitioners own property within 100 feet of the controversial development.

One of our previous petitioners, who owns property adjacent to the site, bowed out for health reasons. In addition, Bill and Jere Barrett of Barrett Automotive are out as well, apparently to make a deal with Wally Remmers. Without any formal communication from them as to the reasons for their withdrawal, we are working to meet the LUBA requirements and continue the cause for a significantly modified building that is an asset to all.

With more than 3,000 hits over its relatively short life, this blog may be one of the best ways to spread the word; it also shows the public's interest in the shape and future of our neighborhood. Beaumont-Wilshire Neighbors for Responsible Growth never imagined having to spend a year bringing about changes in a project that more than triples the number of households on the block without offering any mitigation of its impacts or improved infrastructure that supports a building of its size. We also object to the scale of the project amid a village-like commercial strip and modestly sized homes.

Two times we have begun the appeal process; both times the city and developer withdrew the permit before any paperwork associated with the permit had to be submitted to LUBA. Right now the developer's working with the city on revisions to that contested permit. Once the permit is reissued, we will be looking for changes that alleviate neighbor concerns and fix code nonconformance. Otherwise, we can restart the appeal process. The third time could be the charm.

Meanwhile down in Hollywood

With the permit for Wally Remmers's proposed project at 4419-4439 NE Fremont still undergoing "value added revisions" ranging from zoning clarifications to plumbing changes, let's check on another of his family's projects in Hollywood, a neighborhood just south of Beaumont-Wilshire.

Now showing in Hollywood: The Building that Tried to Eat a Neighborhood Landmark. A couple of blocks away, a similarly oversize project offers units from $1,125 to $1,750/month, with a map to neighborhood parking included.

Two buildings went up recently in Hollywood, both big on the number of units and low on amenities. At one of the two, the building across from the library at Northeast 41st and Tillamook, a tour comes with this handy map to all the street parking in the vicinity.

Would-be tenants taking a tour of the new building receive a map to neighborhood parking for vehicles, but nothing on nearby transit or bike facilities.

At the numerous city hearings dedicated to discussing amendments that would put a stop to no-parking buildings of a certain size (like those just opened in Hollywood), many activists in favor of affordable housing and car-free living spoke up in support of this kind of development. They argued that this was precisely the type of housing Portland needed.

Color-coding shows how long to leave a car.

Now the buildings are leasing up. Two-bedroom units at the 41st and Tillamook building run from $1,550 to $1,750, and one-bedrooms are $1,125 to $1,425. Developers enjoyed the support of those activists but the results fall short of expectation—expensive and, for the neighborhood, exploitive.

That is, if Hollywood residents and businesses have no friends or customers.

Here in Beaumont-Wilshire, we hope for better. As the city and developer continue to work on the permit for the troubled, much-delayed development on Northeast Fremont, hopefully they also fix the scale and size of the project and further improve the investment in the neighborhood.

We've been here before

Two days short of the city's deadline to submit its record of the permit decision, a required part of the proceedings with the Land Use Board of Appeals, the permit has been withdrawn yet again. For more "strengthening"? Why wait until deadline? All neighbors want is straightforward, transparent process and a final, objective ruling on Wally Remmers's out-of-scale, unmitigated project at 4419-4439 N.E. Fremont. 

No matter. Beaumont-Wilshire Neighbors for Responsible Growth are in it for the long haul, with a belief that the permit, however weak it is, shouldn't have been issued at all. The only silver lining to the delays is that we could get more exposure to our cause and more donations once those 45-foot walls start to rise in the heart of the neighborhood. It is our right to call attention to a development mistake, but these delays prevent us from following the only process with which we can respond. 

After cultivating a hostile environment from the day the developer introducing the project at a neighborhoodwide meeting last summer, and after BWNRG filed its first notice of intent to appeal in early April, Wally Remmers can't be surprised at the seriousness and strength of the pushback. Here it is two months after filing our first notice of intent to appeal, and the city and developer are still working on the permit. It's bad enough that city planning failed us, and now the city keeps throwing a wrench into the path toward resolution.

In happier news, we saw a heartwarming response—and influx to the legal fund: thank you!—at our root-beer social adjacent to the site last weekend. We appreciate all who came out for news about the biggest development in the neighborhood and brainstorming for a better future. If you missed the event, you can contribute online here or through the link at right. As the appeal drags on, costs rise. We are grateful for the support and time people contribute, along with the many professionals who have given us hours of expertise. It's been a long slog getting longer, but we're not alone.

Stay tuned for further developments (ha) as we learn them.

On June 9, members of Beaumont-Wilshire Neighbors for Responsible Growth and concerned citizens gathered to view construction at 4419-4439 NE Fremont, site of a controversial development.

Participants sketch out a better future.

Business owners, neighborhood residents, and more came to get the scoop on Fremont.

Come Sunday to show support for responsible growth

You know what they say: failing to plan is a plan to fail

In research trips to the Bureau of Development Services, this map on the wall caught my eye. The island of white inside the blue identifies the neighborhoods without plans. No wonder our neighborhood's having problems, such as Wally Remmers' proposed 4-story 50-unit building without parking on Northeast Fremont between 44th and 45th avenues.

With some sites in Beaumont Village still zoned Commercial Storefront, which now we've learned can encompass mondo residential, Beaumont-Wilshire residents have a chance to take a proactive approach to shaping future development.

It may be years yet before we see the revised, long-awaited comprehensive plan from the city. That plan is meant to fix the kind of problems we're seeing with the Remmers project, according to the city's Northeast Liaison Debbie Bischoff. But better not to wait for or depend on that; let's get a plan, man.

Picture this: scenes from ground level

Some images write their own captions all day long.

Here are some photos taken during construction of the high-impact project on Northeast Fremont between 44th and 45th avenues. With two cars damaged so far, along with neighbors' fences and trees, as well as crew members running heavy trucks roughshod over Fremont sidewalks and a general disregard for allowed work hours, few friends are being made out there. It shows—among other things—how inappropriately small the site is for the size and ambition of the project, and makes us wonder how the rest of construction will go. If the crew can't take care of the little things, how will they finesse building infrastructure?

Looking south on Northeast 45th, not a lot of room for 36 additional cars.

Looking north, not a lot of extra space either. The street is so narrow that when both sides are parked up, through traffic becomes one-way only. 

Typical rush-hour morning traffic, backed up for three blocks and idling on the crosswalk.

The site's sidewalk closure poses a safety hazard to all.

With bungalows selling for $50,000 over asking and McMansions sprouting in their places, the hammers continue to swing around Beaumont-Wilshire as well as at the contested site of Wally Remmers's low-amenity four-story building on Northeast Fremont. The fact that such an out-of-scale project with outsize impact was given the city's nod makes me recall when, not long ago, the city was accused of being anti-business. Now, with developers exploiting communities across the east side, could the city have swung to the other extreme, to anti-neighbor?

Hopefully this case can be sorted out by the state Land Use Board of Appeals. If all goes to plan and process, the city will produce the record of the permitting decision this time around. When Beaumont-Wilshire Neighbors for Responsible Growth filed its initial notice of intent to appeal, which triggered the LUBA process, it was a day or two before the city's deadline when suddenly the permit was withdrawn for "strengthening."

With the Richmond debacle fresh in our minds, we hope this appeal goes smoothly, that all parties can fulfill their required duties in the time allotted. When I queried Mike Hayakawa, supervising planner at the Bureau of Development Services, about the permissibility of withdrawing the permit to tweak it thus, he said that what they were doing wasn't in the code at all, explaining: "The City of Portland withdrew the building permit decision for the purpose of the legal proceeding at LUBA. Because it is part of the LUBA proceeding, this is not in the city code." How handy that the permit can be fixed while the developer continues to build.

For some background to the no-parking controversy, listen to Rick Michaelson (sp?), testify at City Council last month (fast-forward to 104:55 of Part I), explaining how we came to be in this predicament. Basically, in 1975 as Portlanders saw ever more buildings demolished in the highly dense northwest part of Portland for parking lots, CS-zoned parcels were exempted from parking requirements. With one fell swoop, the city created a neighborhood known for parking hassle and an ongoing migraine for the city's east side. 

It's worth noting that Michaelson, one of the architects of limiting parking lots in Northwest Portland, testified in favor of the parking minimums recently passed by City Council, suggesting they should apply to buildings with as few as 20 units. It's also worth noting that the Northeast Fremont project wouldn't be permitted today as designed. Of course, Beaumont-Wilshire Neighbors for Responsible Growth maintains that it shouldn't have been permitted in the first place, for reasons of parking and many others.