Livable Portland News: 06/19/2022
Happy Pride, Juneteenth, and Father's Day Portland! It's been an interesting two weeks for Livable Portland and it is shaping up to be another interesting two weeks! The last newsletter went to spam for a lot of people because of some misconfiguration with the sending address but I got to the bottom of it and it seems to be working now. We also had a lot of new members join so I put together a doodle poll for good dates for people to meet. The poll has specific dates but hopefully we can make it a regular thing at that time.
The Next Two Weeks
Livable Portland
- Let us know when you are available for our regular Zoom meetings with our Doodle Poll
- We are putting together a wish list for changes we would like to see in Re-Code so we can advocate for them as a group. Got some Re-Code opinions? Add them, or vote on others' on our Re-Code Wish List. The Re-Code exercise conducted by the official process mostly involved choosing between ideas that were already laid out for us but on the Re-Code Wish List feel free to go wild with what you'd like to see!
- Follow us on our new Twitter (@lvbleportlandme) and Instagram (livableportland.me)
City Meetings
- Housing & Economic Development Committee Meeting on 06/21/2022 at 5:30 PM (Agenda Link, Zoom Link)
- Presentation of Part II of the 2021 Housing Report, including an interim review of the Green New Deal impacts on housing production (Report)
- City Council Meeting on 06/21/2022 at 5:00 PM (Agenda Link, Zoom Link)
- Voting to amend the zoning code based on the planning board's recommendation to rezone an R-5 to R-5A + B-2 for a housing project by the Portland Housing Authority
- Voting to amend the zoning code based on the planning board's recommendation to amending the zoning code to allow places of assembly as a conditional use in the R-5a zone for the same project
- Voting to amend the zoning code based on the planning board's recommendation to repeal the Munjoy Hill Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District
- Voting to amend the Traffic Schedule based on the Better Bikeways Initiative's recommendation to remove some on-street parking along Brighton Avenue and Deering Avenue for add enhanced buffered bike lanes
- Portland Westbrook Gorham Rapid Transit Study Discussion on 06/23/2022 at 10 AM (Zoom Link) (Agenda Link, Zoom Link)
- Planning Board Meeting on 06/28/2022 at 4:30
- Executive Session – Corporation Counsel (4:30 - 5:30)
- Workshop to consider rezoning the County Jail and Law Enforcement Center property from I-L to B-2 to enable office and medical uses (5:30 - 6:30)
- Application for subdivision for a townhouse condominium development of 9 units on 102 State Street, no new development is proposed
- Application for subdivision for the Rock Row development
The Last Two Weeks
Livable Portland
- Published some results of our Bus Stop QR Pilot
- We got some new members joining the Discord server
- Members attended the planning meeting and spoke in favor of the Roux Institute zoning changes
City Meetings
The City Council ended up not discussing re-zoning for the new Portland Housing Authority development and repealing the Munjoy Hill Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District
The Planning Board conducted a workshop with public comment on re-zoning the Roux Institute Campus to IOZ.
Our official position is in support of the Roux Proposal as is. The support for the project at the meeting was overwhelming. The Press Herald piece seems to represent the outcome of the meeting as less positive than it was. The majority of public comment was in favor, including residents in the nearby neighborhood. The Planning Board also seemed supportive of using the IOZ zone and the primary issues raised seemed to be about legal technicalities surrounding ownership of the property.
In the News
- Roux Institute campus development plan scaled back after neighborhood outcry
- Our View: NIMBYs winning fight over Roux Institute plan
- Letter to the editor: Roux neighbors have a right to challenge
- Portland Planning Board questions Roux campus developers at proposal’s first public airing
- Portland looking for alternatives after site targeted for temporary shelter falls through