Land Use Notebook (7/13): Classic Foods, Central City Concern, 5th Quadrant Grain Silo, Clearwire

Welcome. This is the first of many articles to come about development in the spaces near you. This column, which shall published every other week, will hopefully provide you with a general idea of what's going on in Portland's world of land use. Of course, if there's something specific you think your fellow readers should know about, let me know and I'll check it out.

Classic Foods Breaks Ground in Woodlawn

In mid-May, the city's premiere provider of specialty foods broke ground on its new digs in Woodlawn, where they're recycling, rehabbing, restoring and adding on to a 17,000-square foot Art Deco building at 817 Northeast Madrona Street. Classic Foods owner Jake Greenberg describes the space as a "sensational facility," and has boned up on the building's history (it's been a paper box factory, a brewery and, oddly—and simultaneously—an ice cream and coal factory). His plans are to preserve the building's histories when possible, while also ambitiously pursuing a Platinum LEED Certification.

The new space allows the company to grow (Greenberg says they'll be able to store up to 10 times as many foodstuffs as they do now). However, the new space will not, as has been previously reported, include a retail space to be open to the public. Greenberg says a plan to do so is in place, but that if it comes, it'll be during a second phase of construction at a time yet undetermined.

Greenberg would love to be settled in his new space in time for Classic Foods' Annual Open House, scheduled for September 18, estimating that their move-in could come as late as early October. A conservative estimate has the new doors opening by year's end.

When the doors do open, Greenberg says he'll open up the space for trade shows and neighborhood meetings. He says he's very satisfied with the new neighborhood in which he's settling, as well as the response his Woodlawn neighbors have been giving him.

Central City Concern Health and Wellness Clinic Moving Ahead in the Pearl District

Central City Concern, provider of a multitude of services that have transformed the lives of the homeless, the impoverished and the addicted, plans on breaking ground on a new health and wellness clinic at 707 West Burnside, near the North Park Blocks, sometime in August.

Before any ground is broken, the CCC will contract to have demolished the hut-shaped shell of a long-dormant Burger King.

CCC Director of Community Partnerships and Strategic Development Carole Romm confirms that the new clinic will stand three stories and, with the addictions recovery center in the Hatfield building across the street, will create what she calls "a virtual campus."

And to be on the safe side, they're planning for the future. Says Romm, "We hope to build above the new clinic in the future, and have designed the three stories we are planning to build now so that they can structurally and architecturally support further development. But we do not have the funding or the specific plans for the project at this point." Completion of construction is aimed for September, 2011.

On a side note, PSU recently published report that found that 71 percent of the homeless and addicted who participated in the CCC's Supported Employment program found jobs.

Grain Silo at 5th Quadrant in Boise

Contractors hired by Old Lompoc's 5th Quadrant brewery in the Boise neighborhood will soon be erecting a 27-foot tall, powder-coated charcoal gray steel grain silo on top of their brewery at 3901 North Williams. Once completed, the silo will hold up to 50,000 pounds of Great Western Pale malted barley, the base grain for most of Old Lompoc's microbrews. The silo shall be periodically filled by funneling to its top fresh grains from delivery trucks through a pipe mounted to the brewery's side. Owner Jerry Fechter says it should be completed and fully operational by September. (Approved, CASE FILE NUMBER: LU 10-132270 DZ)
 

Clearwire Antennas

Depending upon, for lack of a better phrase, your political persuasion, Clearwire's applications to partner with local landowners to install no fewer than five antennas in a neighborhood near you is either good (you subscribe or want to subscribe to Clear and you're game for stronger service, and/or you're happy that they're giving communications giants Comcast and Qwest and AT&T a literally run for the money) or bad (livability and health concerns). Either way, proposals have been submitted and approved to place them in a variety of spots.

Clearwire:

• Rose City Park: with Rose City Park Methodist Church proposes to mount an antenna on a plinth inside the bell tower atop the church's roof at the corner of Northeast Alameda and Northeast 58th Avenue (Approved, CASE FILE NUMBER: LU 10-126896 CU);
• Kerns: with the owner of the Dresden apartment building is appealing a previous denial to station six antennas atop the Dresden (which currently provides 39 antennas for three other wireless carriers) in the Kerns neighborhood at the corner of East Burnside and Southeast 26th Avenue (Denied, CASE FILE NUMBER: LU 10-122685 CU)
  
  Appeal Hearing
  July 19, 2010 at 1:30 p.m.
  1900 SW 4th Ave.
  Hearing Room 3000
• Mill Park: with the City of Portland proposes to add a wireless telecommunications facility on a water tank near the corner of Southeast Salmon and Southeast 117th Avenue in Mill Park (Approved, CASE FILE NUMBER: LU 10-122677 CU);
• Hillsdale: again with the City of Portland proposes to mount a similar facility in Hillsdale at the 60-foot level on the water tank near Southwest Canby Street, between Southwest 19th and 17th avenues (Approved, CASE FILE NUMBER: LU 10-123433 CU);

• Pearl District: with Park Northwest Condos proposes to erect an antenna atop the building at 323 Northwest Park Avenue in the Pearl District (CASE FILE NUMBER: LU 10-119827 DZ).

Want to Appeal These Decisions?

Please note that that the decisions for Rose City Park, Mill Park and Hillsdale have passed the 14-day deadline to file an appeal.

If you disagree with the Bureau of Development Services administrative decision, you can appeal the decision to the Design Commission. This review body will hold a public hearing for the appeal. When the decision is mailed, the criteria used to make the decision and information on how to file an appeal will be included. If you do not send any comments, you can still appeal the decision. There is a 14-day deadline to file an appeal beginning on the day the decision is mailed. The reason for the appeal must be specifically defined in order for the review body to respond to the appeal. If an appeal is filed, you will be notified of the time and location of the appeal hearing.

There is a fee charged for appeals. Recognized neighborhood associations and low-income individuals appealing a decision for their personal residence may qualify for an appeal fee waiver.

Have I overlooked something you feel is important going on in your neighborhood? Send questions, comments and tips to pdx.lands (at) gmail.com.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction (7.13.10):

Classic Foods' new location is located at 817 Northeast Madrona Street. Northeast 19th and Oregon is Classic Foods' current location. We regret the error.