For the past nine months during the construction process, HAND has continued to ask Safeway to: 1) participate in a “crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED)” review of its building plans, and 2) develop a “good neighbor agreement (GNA)” as a foundation for future communication between Safeway and the neighborhood.

At this time the CPTED review has not been completed and conversations have not begun on the GNA.

Both of these actions are important because of neighbor concerns about the effects of the significantly larger store on the neighborhood. Besides the potential for increased noise and traffic flow, the design and policies of the new store could exacerbate drug traffic, vagrancy, graffiti and litter, which were problems at the old store.

At the new store, the underground parking structure will always be open and the loading dock, garbage dumpsters and bottle return will be on the residential side of the building. Initially there will be no security guards and patrolling of the premises will be at the discretion of the store manager. Decisions about store hours (24/7?) and hours of alcohol sales will likely be based on profit potential not neighbor concerns. A GNA would help neighborhood and store representatives work together to face these issues proactively.

Other stores, like New Seasons, have taken the initiative to interact with the neighborhood when it builds new stores. With Safeway, all of the initiative to insure a good working relationship between a store and the neighborhood has come from neighbors. In early November Safeway was given a letter signed by 72 neighbors (from a casual signature-gathering effort) requesting action on the CPTED and GNA — and still there has been no response.

Although neighbors in the immediate vicinity of the store are most directly affected by store design and policies, Safeway’s lack of response should be of concern to everyone who lives in the HAND neighborhood and believes that businesses, especially large ones, should communicate with and show respect for neighbors — who also happen to be customers.

For continuing updates, send your name and email address to: Ralph@Schmoldt.us. – Ralph Schmoldt, 12/3/11

Feel free to weigh in with comments online.

Additionally, Safeway sent HAND a brief note this week with new drawings of the store and a construction schedule for November.

Attached are all three:
SAFEWAY 3 WEEK 11 11 11
A0 upper level site plan
3134_BasementParking

The garage drawing appears to be outdated (it depicts the old exit lan). We’re still evaluating the other drawing. It appears to show a “10-foot wall” on the south side of the store, which according to Safeway’s own consultants does not conform to city code for blocking noise from the trucks driving up to the loading dock. Safeway has promised a wall 14 feet high on the south side of the store. HAND is following up to learn more about the drawing. There may be features planned for the property that aren’t evident on the drawing.

Finally, Safeway included a brief follow-up note regarding the crime-prevention meeting earlier this month:

We appreciated the opportunity to discuss the safety and security concerns regarding the new neighborhood Safeway. The review of our store design and presentation by our Security Manager addressed many of the expressed concerns about the store operation. We are also internally reviewing suggestions that were made, e.g., graffiti-resistant paint on the 4 foot wall adjacent Clay.

As requested, I have attached the drawings that were the focus of our discussion. In addition, I have attached the most recent 3-week construction schedule.

Thank you again.

Diane Phillips
Real Estate Manager
SAFEWAY INC.

Any questions, comments or concerns can be forwarded to Mike Rogoway, rogoway@rainycity.com

SE Uplift encourages you to take a look at the Portland Plan and attend the hearings occuring during the month of November. You can find both the summary and full-length documents along with the hearings schedule here- http://www.portlandonline.com/portlandplan/ . In order to assist your review of the documents, SE Uplift has prepared a “cheat-sheet” pointing out the sections of the Portland Plan we think our coalition neighborhoods will be particularly interested in. If you have questions or concerns about the Portland Plan, please feel free to contact Leah Dawkins – leah@southeastuplift.org/ 503.232.0010

This meeting is required by Portland City Code 33.219, the Convenience Stores chapter of the Portland Zoning Code, which you can read here: http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/index.cfm?c=34561&a=53306. The meeting is to allow neighbors to share concerns with the store owner and learn about Plaid Pantry’s plans for store operations.

You can read the DRAFT Good Neighbor Plan between HAND & Plaid Pantry here: HAND Draft Good Neighbor Plan Store 225_081711

It’s important to note, there will not be a vote of the HAND board or membership. Also, the meeting is not an opportunity to prevent the store from operating or to place restrictions on the sale of alcoholic beverages at the store. This meeting is an opportunity for neighbors to identify livability concerns and to suggest strategies for addressing them.

This is a great chance for you to talk face to face with the business managers and your neighbors. We hope you’ll join us on the 14th at 7pm at St. Philip Neri.

If you have questions about the meeting, you can contact Linda Nettekoven, Acting Chair of HAND at linda@lnettekoven.com, or Chris Girard at chrisg@plaidpantry.com.

There are three new applications up for review related to the Ladd’s Addition Conservation Guidelines. They can be found here under the South East Uplift Header and Hosford Abernethy designation: http://www.portlandonline.com/bds/index.cfm?c=35625

Wednesday, June 22 6-7:30 p.m.
St. Philip Neri Parish, Carvlin Hall
2408 SE 16th Ave., Portland
This location is served by bus line 4-Division/Fessenden.

For more information on the project, visit: http://trimet.org/pm/getinvolved/index.htm

Hi neighbors,
I have three updates for your on Safeway’s rock crushing at the Hawthorne site.

First, several of us received an e-mail yesterday from Jim Nicks, Inspection Services Manager for the city, who writes that Portland considers rock crushing a construction activity, not an industrial activity:

Hello Mr. Rogoway.

I am responding to your concerns about the Hawthorne Safeway project on behalf of BDS and Director Paul Scarlett. I have looked into the questions raised on your June 3, 2011 e-mail to Mr. Ponce, and and would offer the following in response.

I have consulted with our Land Use Services Division and it has been determined the temporary activity of crushing concrete/on-site recycling of construction debris is consistent with acceptable construction activities associated with the demolition and construction permits. In short, this is considered a construction activity vs. an industrial use.

Regarding the demolition permit review process, there is not a required review for means and methods of on site recycling activities, so the activity of crushing concrete on site would not require a specific approval.

While this activity is allowed as part of the construction process, it will also be subject to the provisions of the City Noise Control Code, Title 18. Our Noise Control Officer has made contact with the Safeway construction team in order to discuss the neighborhood’s concerns and compliance with the noise code.

The contractor has indicated they will utilize a watering system to control dust during the crushing operations The crushing operation is planned to last for 5 days, from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

I hope you find this information helpful. Please feel free to contact me if you have further questions.

Sincerely

Jim Nicks
Inspection Services Manager
City of Portland
Bureau of Development Services
503-823-1054

Second, Safeway sent a brief note to HAND’s Joanne Stainbrook yesterday:

Joanne, we know that there has been concern about the scheduled grinding of concrete at the construction site.

To address this issue, the City Noise Inspector visited the site earlier today and tested the noise level of the grinding machine. He determined that a special noise permit would not be necessary.

We will be limiting the concrete grinding work to the hours of 8 AM to 3 PM for 5 days, excluding Saturday and Sunday.

If there are any subsequent complaints about noise levels, please direct those to the following party:

Paul Van Orden – 503-823-5829
Noise control officer
Compliance Services
City of Portland

Thank you.

Diane Phillips
Real Estate Manager
SAFEWAY INC.

And third, I heard from the state Department of Environmental Quality this morning regarding complaints about the rock crushing. He said the DEQ will look into dust control at the site — specifically, how dust will be controlled during off-hours — and inquire as to whether any testing has been done of Safeway’s concrete to determine whether it contains health hazards.

So that’s where it stands. I sent an e-mail to the city this morning asking how it reached its conclusions and how dust will be monitored during off-hours.

I know there’s enormous frustration within the neighborhood about this. We’ll continue to pursue it, but certainly wouldn’t discourage anyone from filing their own complaints.

You can file noise complaints with the city here:
https://www.portlandonline.com/bds/index.cfm?login=1&show_message=1&c=42240

You can file dust complaints with DEQ here:
http://www.deq.state.or.us/programs/enforcement/docs/PollutionReportingform.pdf

Thanks to all for your interest. We currently have 80 households on our mailing list. If you know of others who would like to be included, please pass along their information so we can keep them up to speed.

Mike Rogoway

Here’s the latest Safeway construction schedule – SAFEWAY 3 WEEK 5 27 11 Apparently, ecavation work is the main task for the next three weeks.

Some neighbors have complained about the vibrations from demolition. Our neighbor Doug talked to Safeway’s contractor, Frank King, and got this report: “He said that they have the jackhammer on a backhoe, rather than a trackhoe, and that they aren’t using a hoe ram (all of these terms are new to me), in order to minimize the impact on the neighborhood. The workers have been instructed to avoid dropping slabs. They’ve also been monitoring the funeral home wall for damage, because it was in bad shape to begin with… Finally, he said that they wouldn’t be using the jackhammer for more than a few more days.”

Will continue to keep you posted.

If you have any questions or concerns, please send an email to our Land Use Chair Joanne Stainbrook: joanne@handpdx.org. She is a volunteer who is working hard to help everyone stay up to date on projects in our neighborhood.

In April 2009, Environmental Services Sustainable Stormwater Division, in partnership with other city bureaus, completed planning and conceptual design work for the SE Clay Green Street Plan.

The SE Clay Green Street Plan encompasses 12 blocks of SE Clay Street from SE Water Avenue to SE 12th Avenue . The project was conceived to provide an urban green connector to link outlying neighborhoods to the Central Eastside Industrial District (CEID) and the Willamette River . The proposed SE Clay Green Street Plan includes improvements within the public right-of-way that will sustainably manage stormwater and enhance pedestrian, bicycle and motorist safety, while serving the business and freight needs of the CEID.

The design of SE 9th Avenue and SE 10th Avenue of the SE Clay Green Street project has been completed. A design team has been hired to begin design this summer of the green street for the remaining intersections on SE Clay Street from SE 8th to Water Avenue . Construction of the SE Clay Green Street from 10th Avenue to Water Avenue is anticipated to begin in the summer of 2012.

This summer, you may see surveyors and geotechnical exploration on SE Clay Street . If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at any time. More information to come your way soon.