Is new neighborhood landmark a bully's pulpit?

Wally's World on Northeast Fremont: Three stories high and rising.

While we prepare the brief for neighbors' appeal to the state Land Use Board of Appeals, the walls continue to go up for Wally Remmers's controversial project on Northeast Fremont between 44th and 45th avenues. He's at three stories now, eclipsing all other development on the street and the vicinity, but aims to get even higher.

The contested project begins to loom over Northeast Fremont on its way to 45 feet. If the building proceeds as designed and leases up, an additional 36 cars—as forecast by city data—will further drive up congestion along the thoroughfare.

Beaumont-Wilshire Neighbors for Responsible Growth, through the LUBA process, have tried to call attention to the project's issues since April. Numerous developer-led delays have stalled the appeal—but not construction—until now. 

As we delve deep into the issues behind the building, always wondering how the project was permitted from the get-go, the Bureau of Development Services grapples with a city audit that shows room for improvement.

The stumble toward Salem continues

A little light reading for LUBA, if it arrives.

When it seemed like the appeal to the state Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) was finally proceeding as normal, and that the permit would not be withdrawn by the city and developer a third time, it actually looked like we would sooner rather than later achieve our day in court.

After our third filed notice of intent to appeal, the next step in the process had been for the city to produce the record of its permit decision—the paperwork generated in issuing the building permit for the contested project, a four-story 50-unit building set for Northeast Fremont between 44th and 45th avenues. Twice before, as the deadline neared to deliver the record to LUBA, the permit was yanked, and Beaumont-Wilshire Neighbors for Responsible Growth had to restart the process from Square One.

It is unprecedented to experience so many roadblocks of this kind, and while the hammers ring at Wally's World on Fremont, we bemoan the delay in the chance to be heard at the state level, to ask that all developers follow the same code. Otherwise, why have one?

To make the long story longer, the good news is that we received the record. The bad news: LUBA didn't. Whether it's oversight by the courier or the city, the missed deadline brings another anomaly to an already interesting case.

Here we go again

Wally Remmers's contested development gets into the spirit of Fremont Fest earlier this month.

We couldn't have asked for a nicer day for the annual neighborhood festival.

Hundreds of people stopped by the Beaumont-Wilshire Neighbors for Responsible Growth's table to find out how the 50-unit 4-story project is far from a done deal.

We studied the revised plans for Wally Remmers's much-delayed project on Northeast Fremont between 44th and 45th avenues and are disappointed that they don't incorporate changes that would improve the investment in the neighborhood. That leaves us with the course of last resort, an appeal to the state Land Use Board of Appeals, and a list of items that are not to code. It's the only chance for neighbors' day in court, and something we've been asking for since April—before the permit was withdrawn twice for developer-led changes.

None of us expected to be working more than a year to defend the neighborhood, but it's worth it because this is a building we'll have to live with, and—as our membership made plain—if we have a glimmer of a hope of making it better, we better try.

Remmers dropped the Myhre Group, architects of the project on Fremont, for another building he has planned for Overlook. So that relationship is more tenuous than it's been—and/or these low-amenity high-impact buildings don't seem like such a great idea anymore. City Council effectively agreed by passing amendments requiring parking in these mondo projects.

Hopefully we can effect some change before Remmers starts printing up maps to the available parking in the neighborhood. In defense of all that perceived open space (of which there isn't much anyway) is that it deserves to exist, not something to be filled at every opportunity. We all need breathing room, Remmers's tenants, too, considering the hutchlike apartments designed for them, and especially so when tripling the number of households on the block in one fell swoop.

In even sadder news, veteran Northeast Portland journalist Lee Perlman has passed away. His willingness to delve into neighborhood issues big and small, attending meetings and hearings, and wrapping all of it up for community readers will be missed. I always looked for his byline first in the Hollywood Star. Hopefully he's at peace now, far from neighborhood debate and deadlines.

Another way to reduce parking in the neighborhood: park in the middle

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.