December 2009 Advocacy

DATE:  December 9, 2009

TO:  Chair Scott Andrews
PDC Board of Commissioners

FROM:  League of Women Voters of Portland

CC:  Commissioner Nick Fish
Margaret Van Vliet
Kate Allen
Steve Gray
Michael Anderson
Steve Shain

RE:  Action item:  Agreement of Assignment and Assumption of PDC's Rights in Block 33 of the South Waterfront Project of the North Macadam Urban Renewal Area to the Oregon Heath Sciences University and the Ninth Amendment to the Central District Development Agreement

Public Process
This item has been added to and withdrawn from the meeting agenda more than once in the last few days. Yesterday evening we received an email from staff notifying us the item would be dropped from the agenda, but it currently appears on the agenda posted at the PDC website.  We are submitting our comments in the event you do consider it at today's commission meeting.  It deserves thorough discussion with all the information at hand and the public notified in advance.

The lack of public involvement and notification with respect to this issue is of great concern to the League.  As the staff report notes, the North Macadam Urban Renewal Advisory Committee was informed of the basic provisions included in the Ninth Amendment in August.  The committee was not provided with a copy of the amendment nor was it asked to vote on it.  The League requested a copy of the amendment last summer but none was provided until it appeared as an attachment to today's meeting agenda.  This is an important decision that changes the vision of the district.  

Further, the public was not advised of the pending commission vote on this issue until last Thursday.  The public then was notified by email Monday that this item had been dropped.  No notice was sent, however, when the item was added back to the agenda.  Tuesday evening the League received an email from PDC staff notifying us that the agenda item had been dropped again, but the item is currently posted on the PDC website.  We don't think the general public can be sure of what will happen this afternoon.  Keeping the public informed on a timely basis of the commission's agenda is critical.  We trust you will make every effort to do so in the future.

The Proposed Amendment
The League of Women Voters of Portland has followed the North Macadam Urban Renewal Area development since the inception of the steering committee responsible for the district's 1999 Framework Plan.  Over the years, we have encouraged PDC to leverage effectively urban renewal dollars with an emphasis on funding amenities that private developers would not undertake, including parks, the greenway, and housing affordable to a broad spectrum of incomes.

Four hundred units of housing affordable to households earning between 0 and 60 percent of MFI were planned in the air space over the Block 33 parking garage.  That agreement will be cancelled in the Ninth Amendment and PDC will give up these rights in return for $1 million in transportation system development charge credits currently owned by OHSU plus 10 percent of any profits realized by OHSU should it sell the property within five years, up to a maximum of $2 million.  It is worth noting that PDC paid $3 million for the air rights.

The League urges PDC to demonstrate confidence in the vision and long term success of the district by maintaining ownership of the air rights over Block 33.  The property is located adjacent to the new Elizabeth Caruthers Park and is close to the tram and streetcar.  It has proven extremely difficult and prohibitively expensive to acquire property in the district for affordable housing.  It will be even more difficult after the market improves.  Given the minimal and perhaps illusory compensation PDC will receive in return for releasing the air rights, the difficulty in securing developable property, and the block's desirable location, we believe the best strategy is to stay the course on Block 33.  Once the economy improves, it may be the best chance we have to realize the district's promise and provide housing affordable to a wide range of incomes.