Interstate Avenue rezoning: A citizen tries to participate

That was the subject title of an e-mail in my in-box a few days ago. Wondering whether that meant something akin to a bad hair day, or maybe the unforgettable experience of being punched in the face by a mentally ill person, I was relieved and interested to read something like the following (amended slightly, emphasis added, and and printed with permission).

My partner and I bought our first house early this summer – big event, and very overwhelming. We bought in a North Portland neighborhood, and I, being an amateur wonk, really tried to do my research before buying – on planning and zoning issues, upcoming large projects, and other things that might impact our soon to be little slice of heaven. Couldn’t really find much that overly concerned me. I, like many others, looked first to PortlandMaps for basic information. I saw that our Comprehensive Plan zoning was high density (a block off of Interstate to the east), but given the pattern of existing development, figured that the larger changes were a longer time in coming because the existing zoning was Residential 5,000. (I’ll also note that the planning page under the maps function provides links to everything EXCEPT the “Comp Plan” information, so, if you’re at all in a rush or overwhelmed, where are you to know to look for “Comp Plan” info? And really to the uninitiated, what’s a “Comp Plan”?)

Oh, and hey, PortlandMaps says I’m in an Urban Renewal Area – so I follow those links to find out about Urban Renewal Areas in general. Cool, I support economic development. But it doesn’t look like there’s anything there that would directly impact me, so, again, I’m not overly concerned.

I read the Albina Community Plan, the Neighborhood Plan, and as many Interstate Urban Renewal Area documents as I can before my eyes spin out of my head. Well, I’m not sleeping anyways (first house, remember), so I’ve got some time.

And my take on all of these is that the high density designation was sort of a “broad brush” approach because they knew light rail was coming, but they didn’t know exactly where, and especially between Interstate and I-5, this was a housing stock that was mostly rentals at the time (but no longer). No big loss, right? And when they figure out the alignment, they can refine at that time. I figure there’ll be a public process, right? Because changing from a mostly single-family housing stock to high density should need an open process, right? Again, not so concerned.

After getting settled in, we both tried to get involved in with our Neighborhood Association. Looked online at the Office of Neighborhood Involvement website to get contact info, sent some emails, heard nothing. So, we moved on to house projects this summer and thought we’d try back later.

And, here is it just a few months later and I find that there’s been an ongoing re-zoning study that includes our property. (I had found out about this only a few weeks ago, so it was before last Friday’s Tribune article – but I’ll still note that the article included no links or contact info for people to get involved. Again – how hard (or easy) does this need to be?). Now, when I went searching for this information, I couldn’t find it. It wasn’t on the Planning Bureau main web page at the time, but I find it was buried at: Planning => Programs => District Planning+Design => District Planning => District Liaisons => North Portland => Interstate Light Rail Corridor Zoning Project.

C’mon!

And lo and behold, there’s an ongoing citizens group that’s providing feedback. Not counting alternates, I count three Neighborhood Association representatives, THIRTEEN developers, commercial representatives, or property owners, and one member-at-large whom I couldn’t classify one way or the other. Therefore, I’m not feeling overly secure that neighborhood interests are being spoken for, regardless of how effective the neighborhood reps may be.

Meanwhile, there’s been no direct mail, no contact from Neighborhood Associations, and barely any press. Could they put up posters on the Yellow Line Max? Mount displays at MAX stations? Canvass MAX riders? Sponsor yard signs? Work with community groups that have ongoing programs in these neighborhoods (Friends of Trees, Hands on Portland, etc.), or even Portland Public Schools (just a few schools within the boundaries, but still!). Sure, the meetings are open to the public, but if you take a look at the meeting minutes, no “public” is attending. Could it be that no one knows about it? And there’s no clear way to providing feedback (how, and on what?).

So, in comes “the Amanda Fritz moment”. I stew for a while, and not about my own property (the NIMBY moment comes later), but about process. Is there genuine interest in engaging citizens about the future of their community? Your blog post several weeks ago (or could it be months already? sheesh – summer) about genuine process involvement has been rattling around in my head, so the phrase “I’m having an Amanda Fritz moment” flew through my mind. Because if I, as someone who is relatively well informed, who actively seeks out this kind of information, couldn’t find it and only found it because of chance, then what chance is there for the homeowner that isn’t looking?

These could be opportunities to (re)build community goodwill towards our local development commission, truly engage citizens at the local level, and strengthen connections between “vision” and reality. Even if the advisory committee was a balance of neighbors and commercial interests, if those neighbors are being asked to be on citizen advisory groups to represent the neighborhood, isn’t that still somehow missing the point? It seems like a short cut to “representation” without truly valuing the process of public engagement. The sometimes ugly, definitely slower, potentially consensus building and somewhat more genuine process.

The Portland Development Commission is said to have a public involvement process, but they just don’t have the staff or resources. They’re going to send out a postcard soon for a fall public meeting.

And again, I think this also proves the larger point. If public involvement and engagement is a priority, shouldn’t there be resources? For something potentially as community-altering as this?