Coming off of a successful, if a bit snow-bound, February State of the Neighborhood event hosted by generous neighbors, Beaumont-Wilshire Neighbors for Responsible Growth (BWNRG) continues its work to defend the Beaumont-Wilshire (BW) neighborhood, whether it’s from teardowns, loss of affordable housing, out-of-scale development, or the still-noncompliant building going up on Northeast Fremont in the heart of Beaumont Village. While gathering momentum for development standards and seeking to more proactively shape the future of the neighborhood, Beaumont-Wilshire residents and business owners regularly gather to share ideas and experiences and to raise money toward BWNRG’s legal bill for taking Beaumont-Wilshire neighbors’ appeal to the state Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA).
After the success in winning a remand from the state body in December, which required fixes to the Beaumont Village Apartment project on Fremont, the city staff waited until one day after the appeal period ended—during which any of the parties to the case could have disputed the requirements of the ruling—to have a secret meeting where they decided the building is fine as is. Nonetheless, all evidence points to a building built too big for its site and to the lack of scrutiny or ability to apply city code to such a massive project. Since its inception BWNRG has worked to reduce, minimize, or mitigate the safety and traffic impacts of the 4-story 50-unit development. Reducing the size of the building would bring the project to code, and similarly reduce the impacts. For instance, fewer apartments means fewer homeless cars, as parking is not included in the building.
The BWNRG leadership thanks those neighbors who braved the snow and ice pellets last month in support of the neighborhood’s commitment to responsible residential and business development in our community. More info and a link to contribute to the BWNRG legal fund are at http://bwnrg.blogspot.com. Donations can also be made directly to the BWNRG account at the Fremont branch of Umpqua Bank, or send a check (made to BWNRG) to:
BWNRG Treasurer Will Price 4300 NE Fremont #250 Portland, OR 97213.