Mayor Potter and Commissioner Fish should take a step back and not force through their plan to develop mixed-income housing at the Sears Armory site. Fish says it best; "We need to study where the best location (for an emergency response center) would be." That study should include the Sears Armory site.
The Westside lacks such a response center leaving it particularly vulnerable in the event of a major disaster. We don't know the best location for such a facility. So why not take the time to perform the study and make an informed decision. In the end mixed-income house may be the best use for the Armory, but we won't know that until the best location for the emergency response center is determined.
From the Portland Tribune:
The City Council will consider redeveloping a Southwest Portland Army Reserve center into a mixed-income housing project this Wednesday.
A resolution designating the nonprofit Community Partners for Affordable Housing as the preferred developer has been submitted to the council by Mayor Tom Potter and Commissioner Nick Fish, who is in charge of city housing programs.
Neighbors living around the four-acre Sgt. Jerome Sears United States Army Reserve Center, 2730 S.W. Multnomah Blvd., near Multnomah Village, prefer it be redeveloped as a city-owned emergency response and maintenance center, however.
During a series of votes at a neighborhood meeting on the center's future, 63 percent of those present preferred the emergency response and maintenance center over a housing or educational project.
Read the full story.
