Citywide Parks Team reviews hot issues Thursday

This post pretty much lifted from the announcement sent out by Linda Robinson, citizen chair of this citizen-organized ad hoc committee of parks enthusiasts. I deleted some of the more flowery language given to Linda by project staff, and made a few other changes. I don’t need to read the word “vibrant” in connection with “public spaces” any more than you do.

Tomorrow, Thursday, June 21, 2007, from 7:00 – 8:30 pm, the Citywide Parks Team meeting at Portland City Hall (1221 SW 4th Ave) in the Rose Room (3rd Floor) will focus on Parks System Development Charges (SDCs) and the proposed re-design of the north end of Waterfront Park to accommodate Saturday Market and other events.

Riley Whitcomb, Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) SDC/Acquisitions Program Manager, will report on the revenues, expenditures and performance of the Park SDC fees since they were implemented in 1998.

To date, PP&R has received more than $24m from SDC fees. The money from these fees stays in the sub-area in three categories – neighborhood parks, community parks, and community gardens. Fees used for trails, urban parks, habitat areas, botanic gardens and regional parks can come from any area of the city. Riley will provide information on where the fees have been collected, and where they have been spent. He will also provide information on how much land Portland Parks has acquired through sources other than SDC funds in the same time period.

In addition, City Council asked Parks to add an SDC fee on non-residential properties, so Riley has formed a committee to discuss this new fee. The committee includes representatives from various groups and has 20 members from outside PP&R. He will report on the progress of this committee.

Sandra Burtzos, Portland Parks & Recreation Project Manager, and Kevin Brake, Senior Project/Program Coordinator, Portland Development Commission), will report on the proposed re-design of the north end of Waterfront Park to accommodate Saturday Market and other events.

Redevelopment “opportunities” in the Skidmore/Old Town National Historic District “require” the Portland Saturday Market relocation soon. Through the Saturday Market Permanent Home Study (pdf) (2006), a site within Waterfront Park combined with Ankeny Plaza was selected for Saturday Market’s new home.

This project has taken the Ankeny/Burnside Development Framework and the 2003 Waterfront Park Master Plan (pdf) as a starting point. The design builds upon planning to date and incorporates the Park, Plaza, and rights-of-way. The goal is to create public spaces that respect the characters of both the historic neighborhood and the park, are multi-purpose, sustainable and functional in nature, and create safe pedestrian and visual corridors from the waterfront to downtown. The move is likely to result in additional maintenance responsibilities for PP&R.

All citizens are warmly invited to come learn more about and discuss these proposed changes at the north end of Waterfront Park, and to learn more about Systems Development Charges for parks.