CommentaryThe tale of two occupancies
 You no doubt see the irony that while "Occupy Portland" protesters bewail the insensitivity of Wall Street to societal needs, JP Morgan Chase representatives are set on "occupying" a parcel of ground in Hillsdale.
The bank, which wants to build a branch on the empty lot next to the Baskin Robbins Ice Cream parlor on Capitol Highway, had its first plans rejected by the Hillsdale Neighborhood Association and the City's Bureau of Development Review.
The rejection had nothing to do with protests about Chase's political influence and everything to do with plans for the future of Hillsdale.
Chase's Hillsdale Town Center aspirations were announced in August, weeks before protestors gathered on Wall Street to protest a political and financial system that that seems at odds with democratic ideals.
Here in Hillsdale, the big bank seemed ignorant of years of citizen-based planning. Now that Chase has been forced to deal with the neighborhood, it is tweaking its plans and, at last, inviting comment from the community.
The outreach should have happened last spring, long before plans were ever submitted to the City.
Better late than never.
One wonders whether the protestors, who, significantly, have no list of demands, will be able to make equivalent progress. Will Chase reach out to them?
Unlike Hillsdale folks, the protestors have no plans for what they want. And, also unlike Hillsdale, they have no elected body endorsing their cause.
That's a big difference.
The Portland City Council, for all its weaknesses, seems much closer to the public interest than does Congress, a captive to moneyed lobbying interests.
In Hillsdale, Chase still has a long way to go. Its initial counter-proposal, while much improved over its original, seems more worthy of the Beaverton Mall or Bridgeport Village than the Hillsdale Town Center.
Hillsdale zoning requires a much larger building footprint on the site than Chase originally proposed. Chase addressed much of that requirement by throwing an awning over its parking and calling it a building.
To its credit, the bank proposed a large community space, something proposed here in the last issue.
Whether the common space will be open after banking hours isn't clear.
I'd like to think that Chase could demonstrate a new sensitivity to local economies by what it does in Hillsdale. The word might filter down to Chapman Square where the demonstrators are encamped.
So far, what we have seen happen in the Hillsdale negotiations has been piecemeal at best. The real test will be in the results. Will Chase truly work with this community, or will it simply try to get by with the least required to win City approval for its branch?
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New plans call for community space
Chase invites public comment
on proposed branch building
Determined to build a branch in the Hillsdale Town Center, Chase bank officials and their architects got serious about listening to neighborhood concerns at a by-invitation-only evening meeting Thursday, Oct. 13.
The bank, whose original plans were nixed by both the Hillsdale Neighborhood Association and the City's Bureau of Development Services, arrived with revised plans for a branch on the lot just east of the Baskin Robbins Ice Cream parlor.
Based on what they heard at the Oct. 13 meeting, Chase architects will submit yet another set of plans for a Hillsdale Main Street Design Committee meeting to be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18, at the Watershed Building meeting room at Bertha Court and Capitol Highway.
The meeting is open to the public. Comments are expected to influence a final set of plans to be brought before the Hillsdale Neighborhood Association on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 7 p.m., at The Watershed.
Whether final plans are accepted is up to the City, which is using City zoning and the Hillsdale Town Center Plan to determine acceptability. Any decision by the City can be appealed.
Building size increased
Neighborhood representatives at the Oct.13 meeting were pleased to see that Chase had increased the size of the building as required by zoning. Much of the expansion is a community room. However, it was not clear whether the room would be open for use after banking hours.
The addition of the room got the bank closer to the requirement that the building cover at least 50 percent of the lot. The bank's first proposal covered 23 percent. The newest plans seemed to address the 50 percent standard by also placing an awning over parking, but some, like designer Richard Stein, a co-chair of the Hillsdale Main Street Design Committee, said that awning-covered parking didn't meet the intent of the zoning.
Stein also faulted the new proposal for being "generic." "It could be for anywhere. It bears no relationship to Hillsdale." Others described it as "ho hum." Mikal Apenes, president of the neighborhood association, called the appearance "pretty bland."
Architect Paul Pawlowski of SERA Design, which worked on a 2009 Hillsdale plan, said the building as presented was something one might find at a shopping center. "It is a free standing bank that could be in any suburb," he said.
Still, everyone interviewed agreed that Chase had made progress with the design. At the meeting, the six-person Chase team, which included three Seattle architects, a contractor, an attorney and an executive, took notes as comments were made.
The delegation from Chase reiterated that the bank is not interested in acting as a developer for the site by creating retail spaces to be rented. Neighbors have asked that the site be developed for diverse retail operations.
Chase sticks with one story
The desire for a two-story building was also unmet. Instead the building's facade only gives the appearance of having two stories. Richard Garfinkle, co-chair of the Main Street design committee with Stein, said, "We want people up there on a second story."
Greta Pass, a Chase vice present and part of the delegation, did not return calls for comment. But the Chase officials reportedly invited the Hillsdale group to submit written comments as well as drawings for the desired appearance for the building.
Mike Roach, co-owner of Paloma Clothing and president of the Hillsdale Business & Professional Association, was impressed with the community space. "They are proposing a community room bigger than our store. You can do a lot with 1700 square feet."
He also pointed to the new plan's combining the entry and the exit rather than having them at separate ends of the lot as presented in the original plan. "It's one less place for pedestrians to worry about being run over," he said.
But Pawlowski asked, "Does this really reflect the essence of what Hillsdale is about? If what we saw were built, the community would feel they had lost. It doesn't fit the model of where we should be headed."
He praised those who represented the neighborhood for their involvement and comments, and he called the dialogue "very civil, very Portland. It was people finding their voice and using it." |
 | | Most shoppers will enter the refurbished store through this new entrance on the southwest corner of the building. |
Freddie's prepares to reopen Oct. 21
When the refurbished and enlarged Burlingame Fred Meyer reopens on Friday, Oct. 21, it will have created 100 new jobs for a total of 220 employees.
A week before the re-opening, employees were treated to a welcome-back luncheon in the sprawling store. Store Director Jack Molenkamp shared the employment numbers before he circulated among the group.
Most Burlingame Fred Meyer employees were reassigned to other
 | | A week before opening, workers poured concre |
Fred Meyer stores when the store closed in early May to make way for construction.
Outside, construction workers were still pouring concrete for sid ewalks. Scaffolding and portable toilets remained in place. Inside, clerks stocked new shelves in a massive store that is clearly dedicated to a public that wants lots of food choices.
Amanda Ip, from Fred Meyer's public relations office, pointed out a wine bar that will host wine tastings. The housewares section has been consolidated to make room for more food and wine selections. The store's main entrance is on the southwest corner and features a two-story tall, airy atrium. Most of the parking is to the west on two levels. Two elevators transport customers between the first-floor entrance and parking.
Long gone is the old Burger King, but Chase Bank will maintain its branch at the Burlingame Fred Meyer even as the bank moves forward with plans for a branch in the Hillsdale Town Center (see the lead story in this issue)
The whole Fred Meyer building has been expanded by 15,000 square feet, up from the old 76,600 square feet of the o
 | Store Director Jack Molenkamp welcomes
human resources coordinator
Miranda Jacob back to the store. |
riginal, which was built in 1950. The entire renovation and expansion cost $19 million.
The pharmacy, which is in approximately the same location as before, has an outside walk-up window. The garden section and the seasonal sections are to the north end where the baked goods once were. Both sections are noticeably smaller.
"We decided we needed more groceries and more food choices for customers," Ip said. That's what returning shopperswill seek out as they trek the long aisles of the expansive store. The considerable changes will take getting used to.
Fred Meyer, which is owned by Kroger, has 131 stores in its chain. |
 | | Science teacher Thom Powell displays Bigfoot plaster casts. |
Applying the scientific method
Robert Gray science teacher
writes Bigfoot books
Both are middle school science teachers. (Powell has taught at Robert Gray Middle School for 28 years.)
Both have young sons who play baseball.
Both live in near Estacada, where the Cascades rise east of Portland.
Both are fascinated by, and believe they have had encounters with Bigfoot, or Sasquatch.
Say what?
Yes, Sasquatch, that elusive hairy giant said to roam widely in our wilds. Those "Shady Neighbors" of Powell's new novel of the same name are members of an ancient tribe that Estacada residents believe is working mystical and mystifying magic on the rugged mountain community.
Powell has taught in the same science classroom at Robert Gray for 28 years. He drives his no-nonsense pick-up on the 35-minute commute from his distant house. The rugged looking, nimble-minded, easy-going Powell dresses in jeans and brings mountain lore with him to the City.
Talking to him, you wish you were decades younger. You want to be perched on a stool in his classroom with its charts and posters, guitars and telescopes. Powell has been at Gray so long that he is now teaching the children of former students.
He has learned, he says, not to underestimate Gray's energetic kids. "We've got a lot of bright kids around here," he exclaims. "They are really interested in the frontiers of knowledge."
It's most apparent when Powell and his classes delve into astronomy and the wonders of deep space with its theories about how the universe began, he says. "They love astronomy because of the kinds of thoughts it forces them to think."
And so it is with Sasquatch, he says. On a "throw-away" day just before spring break, when many students have already left on family get-aways, he brings out the casts that have been made of Bigfoot impressions. The massive slabs are presented as exhibits to be considered scientifically.
Are they real? Are they a hoax?
Powell uses the casts as the fictitious Sam Ward does in the novel - to present the scientific method. Like Ward, Powell shares Sasquatch stories that Native Americans tell. Like Ward, he has had Native American students who have confirmed the stories.
Every Indian tribe has its own name for the creatures, Powell notes.
Like Ward, Powell reports on sightings and studies. He tells of his own failed and, he believes, purposely foiled, "camera trap" efforts to photograph the creatures.
He's concluded that there's something to the evidence that armies of Sasquatch researchers have assembled. "The patterns seem to support the view that there is something to it," he says.
And there's more. In the forests where has he has tracked the creatures, he says he has felt their presence, sometimes frighteningly so.
"We are dealing with something intelligent and it isn't playing ball with our little agenda," he says. Sasquatch is unsettling to contemplate. "It's hard to look at the world other than through our own eyes."
Still, for most of us, Sasquatch is no more than a mythical legend, a cultural icon. Powell says the colossal beasts are a "running joke" in his class, but one told with a knowing wink. "There's no Sasquatch anti-defamation league," he jokes.
The new Sasquatch Brew Pub opening in Hillsdale is being founded by Tom Simms, the parent of two former students of Powell's. Later this Fall, the school is putting on a play, "Big Foot." Halloween also brings out the Bigfoot in his students.
And then there are the forest corridors that connect Hillsdale with the wilderness. Might we one night be visited by these noctural creatures?
Powell smiles. It's possible. The night changes reality. "I like to say you only own your property during daylight."
For those interested in learning more about Powell's work, his first book about Sasquatch "The Locals, a Contemporary Investigation of the Bigfoot/Sasquatch Phenomenon" is non-fiction. It and "Shady Neighbors" are available on Amazon. You can learn more at Shady-Neighbors.com
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In the neighborhood:
Bike Coalition closes books on projects
How do you turn $5,000 into $40,000 in two years?
Ask the Hillsdale Bicycle Coalition.
In 2009, the newly formed coalition was given a $5,000 grant by the Hillsdale Community Foundation to make bike improvements in the Hillsdale Town Center. The group set about leveraging the grant and bringing in another $35,000. The extra money, plus hours of volunteer time, came from Hillsdale residents, commercial property owner Ardys Braidwood, the Association of Portland Business Associations and the City of Portland.
With the money, the group completed the plaza between Baker & Spice and Food Front and installed bike racks at the Farmers Market, the Wilson Swimming Pool, a site near the Library on Sunset Boulevard and near Om Base Yoga on Capitol Highway.
Dave Johnson of the coalition reported that $500 remains to "tie up loose ends."
"What started as a bike parking project grew into a far more valuable community renewal effort thanks to the infusion of energy by the residents of Hillsdale," he said in his report to the foundation board.
Open House seeks sidewalk preferences
The future of a new sidewalk on Sunset Boulevard between Dewitt and SW 18th Drive could be in the balance as the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) holds an open house from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 25, at the Multnomah Arts Center, 7688 SW Capitol Highway.
PBOT expects to spend $8 million in state funds for city-wide project design and construction in 2012.
Projects under consideration in Southwest Portland are:
* SW Huber Street: 37th Avenue to 43rd Avenue
* SW Multnomah Boulevard: SW Barbur Boulevard to 34th Avenue (partial funding)
* SW Spring Garden Road & SW 19th Avenue: SW Barbur Boulevard to Taylors Ferry Road
* SW Sunset Boulevard: SW Dewitt Street to SW 18th Drive
* SW Vermont Street: SW 30th Avenue to SW 37th Avenue
* SW 11th Avenue on Marquam Hill: SW Gaines Street to Gibbs Street (partial funding)
At the open house, PBOT staff will be available to answer questions and take comments.
The Sunset sidewalk would go on the east side of the street and is estimated to cost $800,000. Leaders have long sought a safe sidewalk on Sunset, but several Sunset homeowners have disagreed with the new sidewalk's being built in front of their homes in the two-block stretch. The construction would take place in the public right-of-way.
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Date Book
Sunday, Oct. 16
Planting Native Species
11:30 a.m. Hillsdale Community Church UCC, 6948 SW Capitol Hwy. Jen Seaman of the Southwest Watershed Resource Center will lead a presentation on planting with native species. Sponsored by the church's "Back to Eden" project. Free of charge.
Tuesday, Oct 18 Design meeting considers latest Chase plans
6 p.m. The Watershed meeting room, Bertha Court at SW Capitol. The design committee of Hillsdale Main Street invites comment and will propose changes to Chase Bank's latest plans for a Branch on SW Capitol Highway. Open to the public.
Saturday, Oct. 22
Comedy to benefit Neighborhood House 7:30 p.m. Multnomah Arts Center, 7688 SW Capitol Hwy. A group of local "mom comics" from Portland's TIME OUT Comedy will appear in a special performance to benefit Neighborhood House's Emergency Food Box Program. The group will present: "Back to the Old School-Parenting from the Retro Zone," a humorous look at the parenting techniques of previous generations.Tickets $18 if purchased online through the Neighborhood House website www.nhpdx.org by Oct. 15, or $20 at the door. A group rate of $15 per ticket is available for parties of five or more. Group-rate tickets must be purchased by calling (503) 246-1663 x2118 by Oct. 14. For more information, contact Laura at latkinson@nhweb.org. Tuesday, Oct. 25
Open House seeks input about sidewalk funding
6 p.m. to 8 p.m.. Multnomah Arts Center, rm. 30, 7688 SW Capitol Highway. See story above, "Open House seeks sidewalk preferences." Friday, Oct. 28
Librarian Virginia Tribe's retirement gathering
1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Hillsdale Branch Library meeting room. An occasion to thank Tribe for her service to area readers and residents. Wednesday, Nov. 2 Hillsdale Neighborhood Association
7 p.m. The Watershed, 6388 SW Capitol Highway. The latest Chase Bank plans will be considered for approval or rejection. Friday, Nov. 4 MAC Open House celebrating the arts and artists5 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Multnomah Arts Center, 7688 SW Capitol Hwy. Performances, art demonstrations and hands-on art activities for all ages. Free 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.: Gallery reception, MAC Instructors' Show, Art demos and hands-on art activities. 7:15 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.: Faculty Music and Dance Recital- World Premiere Choreography and Music. Saturday, Nov. 5 SWNI-SOLV Fall Clean-up & Litter Patrol
9 a.m. to noon. Portland Christian Center parking lot. Drop-off for recyclables and gathering point for volunteer litter patrols. The Christian Center is on Dosch Road near Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway. Friday, Nov. 11
Rieke School Auction
6:30 p.m. at The Scottish Rite Center (Near Jeld-Wen Field and Lincoln High School). 50th Anniversary celebration. Proceeds support the school. Also, check web site for on-line auction schedule. http://www.pps.k12.or.us/schools/rieke/356.htmSunday, Nov. 13
Wilson Area Arts Council Benefit Bag sale
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. O'Connors at the Vault in Multnomah Village. Silent Auction too. All monies raised benefit choir, band, orchestra, drama, and visual arts at Wilson. There is still time to donate purses, handbags, messenger bags, wallets, and clutches. Link for drop-off sites: http://www.wilsonarts.org/events.htm. Thursday, Nov. 24
Traditional Thanksgiving Morning Walk
9 a.m. Meet at the "Hillsdale Oak" near the dance studio near the Capitol Highway entrance to Wilson High School for a leisurely two-hour walk. Scones and coffee served at mid-point. |
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