SPRING 2015 FREE

Spring 2015 HISTORIC IRVINGTON NEWSLETTER PAGE 1

HISTORIC IRVINGTON ¶ NEWSLETTER ¶A P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E I R V I N G T O N C O M M U N I T Y A S S O C I AT I O N

By Susan Stringer

Two representatives from the steering committee of Demand Redesign, Susan Stringer and Montse Shepherd, presented a statement to city council

on Wednesday, January 28th regarding the development by Dan Neal of Paradigm Properties at NE 7th Avenue and NE Russell Street. Mayor Hales and all four commissioners were present and were very attentive to Demand Redesign’s issues, concerns and recommendations. Demand Redesign addressed the potential impact on street parking, dangerous congestion at the entrance and exit to the parking garage, traffic speed issues South of Knott Street and the lack of a visible crosswalk at Brazee Street. Demand Redesign also requested that the city ask the developer to reduce the height of the building to 45 feet which is the maximum allowed per the proposed Portland Comprehensive Plan’s downzoning of the lot to R1 medium density . Without any action from the city council the adjacent neighbors are facing a 6 story 62 unit apartment building which is grossly out of scale and character with the rest of the neighborhood.

Demand Redesign is awaiting a response from the Mayor’s office but in the meantime it urges residents to email or call the city council members and express their concerns. Also, the comment period for the Portland Comprehensive Plan has been extended to March 13th if anyone wishes to comment on that lot.

The contact info for the city council and the website for the comprehensive plan are listed below:

Portland Comprehensive Plan map app for comments - http://www.portlandmaps.com/bps/cpmapp2/

Charlie Hales • 503-823-4120mayorcharliehales@portlandoregon.gov

Amanda Fritz • 503-823-3008amanda@portlandoregon.gov

Nick Fish • 503-823-3589nick@portlandoregon.gov

Dan Saltzman • 503-823-3589dan@portlandoregon.gov Steve Novick • 503-823-4682novick@portlandoregon.gov

Demand Redesign: Update on the development at NE 7th Ave and NE Russell St

By Jim Heuer

Have you been thinking about adding an ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) to your property? Have you heard the term but wonder exactly

what it is and if it’s something you should think about? Are you questioning whether an ADU might be allowed in the Historic District? I’ve been doing some research, hoping to add an ADU to our home in the next year. Here’s what I’ve been learning.

First, ADUs are not only allowed in the Historic District, but a number of them have already been con-structed, either as stand-alone structures or as rehabs of basements. So much for the Cassandras who claim that the District is a “museum” or frozen in time. Typically, a stand-alone ADU or a remodel of a garage or other existing secondary structure on your property into an ADU will need to go through Historic Resource Review, but this will be just one of a number of permitting steps that you’ll work through in the pro-cess.

So what, exactly is an ADU? According to City Code it is “a smaller, secondary dwelling unit on the same lot or within a house, attached house or manufactured home. The unit includes its own independent living facilities with provisions for sleeping, cooking, and sanitation, designed for residential occupancy independent of the primary dwelling unit.” Some folks call this a “granny flat” or an “inlaw flat” – basically a small apart-ment on your property that you can rent out for extra income or can make available to friends or relatives who are visiting the area. Basically, you can build an ADU in your back yard or convert your basement or attic to ADU use.

While small apartment additions to homes are common all over the country, Portland is the first major US city to completely legalize them in single family residential zones and to set up a clear set of rules for how they should fit into the fabric of their neighborhoods. Here are the basic ground-rules:

No larger than 75% of the floor area of the main house up to a maximum of 800 square feet

If stand-alone, they must be built at least 60 feet from the front sidewalk and 5 feet from the side and rear prop-erty lines

Stand-alone ADUs must be compatible architectur-ally with the main house, including matching roof pitch,

matching siding materials, proportional roof eaves, and similarly sized and proportioned windows (Note that this is a city-wide requirement, not just something imposed in the Historic District, although these considerations will come up during Historic Resource Review.)

They must have independent electrical systems with separate electric meters

Single family homes in all residential zones in Irvington (R5, R1, RH) are eligible

You do not need to provide additional parking, but if you eliminate some of your existing parking area to build your ADU, you may need to create new off-street parking elsewhere on your lot

If you are thinking of building an ADU, you should get moving now. If you file for your permits between now and July 31, 2016, the City will waive its System Development

Charges, amounting to a savings of upwards of $10,000. This waiver has been extended once already; don’t count on another extension!

Is adding an ADU worth the cost? All-in costs for building a stand-alone ADU may run from $75,000 to $100,000 and for in-house construction from $40,000 to $80,000, according to some experts. Plus you’ll find that the tax assessor will take an additional bite in property taxes. Still, with rents for 500 square foot apartments in the inner Northeast area running upwards of $1000 per month, ADUs may potentially pay for themselves in from 4 to 8 years – not a bad payback in these low interest rate times.

Can you use an ADU for AirBnB? Yes, you can. But I’d urge you to plan to go through the necessary steps to get your short-term rental license. It’s a modest cost compared to the cost of the unit itself, and gives you the peace of mind of being in compliance with city and insurance company regulations. Also, experts warn

that with the ever increasing number of ADUs being built around the city, you may not be able to count on AirBnB revenue year round, due to expanding competition.

If you want to learn more, check out the City’s ADU Program Guide downloadable here: http://www.portland-oregon.gov/bds/index.cfm?a=68689

For questions about how Historic Resource Review might impact your ADU plans, including issues of base-ment egress window exemptions and other considerations, get in touch with the ICA’s Land Use Chair, Dean Gisvold. Finally, for inspiration and ideas for how ADUs can be designed to create great small living spaces, browse www.accessorydwellings.org, a Portland-based website devoted to all things ADU.

ADUs Are Coming of Age in Portland (That’s “Accessory Dwelling Units”)

Can you use an ADU for AirBnB? Yes, you can. But I’d urge you to plan to go through the necessary steps to get your short-term rental license.

Page 2 HISTORIC IRVINGTON NEWSLETTER spring 2015

OFFICERSPresident: Steven Cole stevencole86@gmail.com 503-754-7713Vice President: William Archer archerwilliam26@gmail.com 503-287-3804Treasurer: Jeff Jones jcjones@pacifier.com 503-281-1023Secretary: Susan Hathaway-Marxer susan.marxer@comcast.net 503-281-5629

DIRECTORSJim Barta jbarta@securesite.net 503-544-2429Nathan Christensen nchristensen@gmail.com 503-727-2172Barb Christopher barbfc@comcast.net 503-740-5216Christine Coers-Mitchell coers@comcast.net 503-335-1476Nathan Corser nathan.corser@ch2m.com 503-493-0671Dean Gisvold deang@mcewengisvold.com 503-284-3885Susan Hathaway-Marxer susan.marxer@comcast.net 503-281-5629Pam Lindholm-Levy pamlarrylevy@yahoo.com 503-460-3100Michela McMahon michela_mcmahon@yahoo.com 503-287-6196Thomas Mertes tmertes@linfield.edu 310-990-9786Jason Messer j.messer@comcast.net 503-312-4175Peter O’Neil peteroneil@cbseal.com 503-471-3402Tiffanie Shakespeare tshakesp@gmail.com 503-680-2840Kysa Kelleher kalport@hotmail.com 503-680-2840Beverly Burn beverlyburn@gmail.com

COMMITTEE CHAIRSBeautification Jason Messer • j.messer@comcast.net Charitable Giving Susan Hathaway-Marxer • susan.marxer@comcast.net

Historic Preservation Barb Christopher • barbfc@comcast.netHome Tour Kim Bissell • kim_bissell@msn.comLand Use Dean Gisvold • deang@mcewengisvold.comNECN Representatives Steven Cole • stevencole86@gmail.com Peter O’Neil • peteroneil@cbseal.comNewsletter Steven Cole • stevencole86@gmail.comNewsletter Advertising Nathan Christensen • nchristensen@gmail.comParks Jason Messer • j.messer@comcast.net Jeff Jones • jcjones@pacifier.comWebsite Tiffanie Shakespeare • tshakesp@gmail.com

NEIGHBORHOOD RESOURCES

Abandoned Vehicles (24-hour hotline) 503-823-7309Abandoned Vehicles (daytime) 503-823-6814Animal Control 503-988-3066Bicycle Program 503-823-2925Garbage Service Info/Problems 503-823-7202Graffiti Cleanup (Info/assistance) 503-823-5860Graffiti Hotline (Police) 503-823-4824Landlord/Tenant Mediation 503-282-1964NE Coalition of Neighborhoods 503-823-4575NE Crime Prevention 503-823-4763NE Precinct (Police) 503-823-2122Neighborhood Mediation 503-823-3152Noise Reporting & Control 503-823-7350Office of Neighborhood Involvement 503-823-4519Parking Enforcement 503-823-5195Rider Advocates 503-823-4223Street Light Outages & Tree Trims 503-823-5216Tree Planting Information 503-823-4489Zoning/Code Enforcement 503-823-7526

LEGISLATORSState RepresentativesLew Frederick Rep.LewFrederick@state.or.us 503-986-1433Barbara Smith Warner Rep.BarbaraSmithWarner@state.or.us 503-986-1445State Senators Michael Dembrow Sen.MichaelDembrow@state.or.us 503-986-1723Chip Shields Sen.ChipShields@state.or.us 503-231-2564

ica board members • 2014-2015

From the PRESIDENTSteven Cole

Great Gifts For Gardeners!

R E S O U R C E S

MORTGAGEremierP

Thank you to everyone who attended and helped with the Holiday Party. I think it was a resound-ing success given that there were multiple power

outages in the neighborhood. We probably had about 75 peo-ple in attendance. A big thank you goes out to the 15th Street Hophouse for donating a micro keg of Laurelwood Workhorse IPA and the Grant Park Village New Seasons for giving us a substantial discount on two Turkeys. In addition to great food, we had a youth jazz band, the Innovation Project, who pro-vided great entertainment.

It is probably obvious that someone has once again been filing complaints with the city about sidewalks. I spoke to the city sidewalk inspector who acknowledged that it was largely a single person making the complaints. Once the city receives a complaint, they have to address it. Multiple homeowners have expressed dismay that they have been ordered to make thousands of dollars of repairs in many cases where a repair does not appear warranted.

There has also been an increase in car prowls. I notified our community officer, Joshua Buller. He was aware of the issue. As always, if you are unfortunate enough to be the victim of a crime, please report it to the police so that they will increase patrols.

Many of you may have seen news stories related to a small group of people challenging the National Historic District designation. They are attempting to “delist” 24 blocks in the northeast quadrant of the historic district from the historic district. Their argument is basically that the homes in that neighborhood are more like Alameda and not like Irvington. They rely on the fact that there are

a larger number of newer homes which are often smaller than the majority of homes in what they refer to as “true Irvington” or “the heart of Irvington.”

While it is true that the further north you go, the newer the homes get, on average, that fact is not a basis to challenge an historic district based on its being a streetcar suburb. The historic period lasts until 1948, when the streetcars were removed. All of the contributing homes fall within that period. The area in question is not any less Irvington than the part of the neighborhood west of the “heart of Irvington” or any of the other quadrants of the historic district. As the accompanying story notes, at the time the homes were being sold, the area in question was either always Irvington (west of 24th) or known as an extension of Irvington (east of 24th).

While it has no bearing on the legitimacy of the his-toric district, it is worth noting that living within the chal-lenged section, there are three ICA board members, includ-ing the current president, as well as members of the home tour committee.

The group that is challenging the legitimacy of the historic district held a meeting at the Fremont Methodist Church where they presented their argument and had a couple officials present to inform people of the process. The group subsequently sent out several emails asking for people to attend the landmarks committee meeting to testify in opposition to the historic district. Unfortunately, as has been the case in the past with this group, there was some misinformation contained in their subsequent emails. For example, it was claimed that homeowners cannot add a new laundry room to their home. This is simply not true as can be attested by the many homeowners who have enlarged their homes by adding new additions or new dor-mers. It was also implied that the group, United Neighbors for Reform (UNR), supported the overlap group’s efforts to delist the contested blocks. The UNR had to ask the author of the email to send a retraction.

On February 9th, a hearing was held before the Portland Historic Landmarks Commission. The petition-ers and the ICA each made presentations and each side had seven people sign up to offer public comment. Depsite there being approximately 200 homes in the challenged area, the petitioners only had about 12 people present to contest the boundary. This was in stark contrast to the over 100 people who were in attendance during the Mt. Tabor Reservoir discussion which occurred before our issue.

The Commissioners determined that the petition failed to meet certain technical requirements and had certain logical flaws. One commissioner agreed with Fred Leeson’s comment that smaller, working class bungalos were no less worthy of historic preservation than a large Irvington mansion. The smaller, more modest homes were also an important part of Irvington’s and Portland’s history. While Irvington’s boundaries existed long before the Alameda/Irvington overlap came into existence (1975), it was noted that neighborhood association boundaries and school boundaries were not a basis for challenging an historic dis-trict.

The commissioners voted unanimously to recommend that the petition to “delist” the 24 blocks be denied. Based on their comments, we are confident that the State Historic Preservation Office will reach the same decision.

Because I still hear complaints that the district prevents adding a new roof, painting a home, putting in a new fence, putting in a new patio, adding an ADU, or mak-ing some other change, it is clear that some homeowners are still not clear how the historic district impacts them. Whether that is due to disinformation being dissemi-nated, or an inadequate job by the ICA to educate people, or, likely, a combination of the two, it is clear that some people are upset about perceptions which are not accurate. Hopefully, we can remedy that going forward.

Spring 2015 HISTORIC IRVINGTON NEWSLETTER PAGE 3

HISTORIC IRVINGTON NEWSLETTERP.O. Box 12102

Portland, OR 97212

For advertising inquiries, contact: newsletter@irvingtonpdx.com

For editorial contributions or comments, contact: newsletter@irvingtonpdx.com

Published four times a year.Comments, suggestions, and/or contributions

are welcome. This is your newsletter!For general ICA info or questions, contact:

StevenCole86@gmail.comDon’t miss the ICA Web pages:

www.irvingtonpdx.comwww.irvingtonhometour.com

Deadline for Summer Issue: April 1, 2015

HISTORIC IRVINGTONNEWSLETTER

The ICA meets on the second Thursday of every month (except July and August), 7 p.m. at the Irvington Elementary School, 1320 NE Brazee St.

Local issues are discussed and all Irvington residents are welcome to attend.

THEIRVINGTON

COMMUNITYASSOCIATION

P.O. BOX 12102, PORTLAND, OREGON 97212

Are you looking for the minutes from our recent board meetings? Minutes are posted in full on our Web site at www.irvingtonpdx.com.

By Peter O’Neil

We pride ourselves on our beautiful Irvington trees – our canopied streets, our freshened air, our stunning fall colors, and the lovely fee

we pay to have the leaves removed once they hit the streets. Okay, maybe not so much the last part, but we do love our trees! But how many trees do we have? Where are they? What species? Are they healthy (and safe)?

Portland Parks & Recreation Urban Forestry is taking on an ambitious project to survey the city’s trees and cre-ate plans for their stewardship. The Irvington Community Association is heading up our neighborhood’s involvement, and of course, we want volunteers from all over the neigh-borhood to help out. You don’t need to know anything about trees to participate, but you may learn something along the way.

Here’s what’s involved. Over the summer, volunteers will spend three or four half-days surveying our trees. We’ll count, measure and locate them; we’ll identify species; we’ll comment on each tree’s general condition; and note site conditions and available planting spaces. After the raw data is gathered, we will work with PP&R to create a Neighborhood Tree Plan.

In the long term the Neighborhood Tree Plan will set strategies to improve and preserve existing trees, expand the tree canopy, and connect Irvington with city and nonprofit resources. It will include recommendations for specific neighborhood actions to improve our urban forest for the entire neighborhood. The immediate need is to get the trees surveyed, and that’s where you can help this summer.

The Irvington part of the project is in the planning stage, but so far we know that on Saturday March 14 our tree survey volunteers will attend a training workshop in SE Portland. This training is primarily for those who want to help organize the survey. All other volunteers are encouraged, but not required to attend. The training will cover inventory logistics, planning tools, and responsibili-ties of our group and PP&R.

Three or four inventory work days will be scheduled for Saturdays 8:30 AM to noon along with Wednesdays (morning or evening) between June 20 and September 28. The exact dates will be decided when things are a little more settled.

So what do you say, can you give us a hand? We have a large neighborhood with a lot of trees, and we need many people to cover it all. If you’d like to get involved or if you just want to find out more, contact Peter O’Neil at 503 863 7877 or peteroneil@cbseal.com. Or see www.port-landoregon.gov/parks/53181.

Counting Trees

By Laurie Harquail

To create a safe and vibrant community, its been said it takes a village. Or, you might say it takes a neighborhood – perhaps one assisted by 21st

century technology. Maybe it takes something like Nextdoor, a free and private social network designed to serve specific neighborhoods.

Unlike Facebook, which consists of “friends” from near and far, Nextdoor is focused on the people in your back-yard. In the company’s own words, Nextdoor was designed to “use the power of technology to bring back a sense of community to the neighborhood”, and to “enable members to easily connect and communicate with each other.”

The medium might be relatively new, but the idea is not. Nextdoor is basically the online sweet spot where the community bulletin board meets the neighborhood watch program. It’s a virtual place where you can find a close-by babysitter, plan a neighborhood block party, and sell and exchange things. It’s also a place to stay abreast of suspi-cious activities in the neighborhood.

So how does Nextdoor work? A neighborhood (or person representing a neighborhood) creates a private Nextdoor website accessible only to that neighborhood’s residents. Neighbors must verify their addresses to join. Once a member, they can invite others to join. There’s also a feature that taps into “nearby neighborhoods” – the idea being that it’s helpful to know what’s happening in areas adjacent to your own. (For example, why did five fire engines just barrel down a nearby street? Or, did the new pizza place open yet, and if so, is it any good?)

And although I’m the first to admit I don’t need anoth-er password or any more emails in my life, from a commu-nity engagement standpoint, I do find Nextdoor intriguing. Plus, as a homeowner, I’m concerned with home safety. So I signed up.

After being logged in for only a few minutes, I imme-diately experienced that Nextdoor does do a good job of

keeping you posted on what’s happening in the ‘hood. In fact, almost too good of a job – a few minutes after join-ing, the email alerts started rolling in. If and when you do join, I suggest you set your email preferences right away, so that you only receive information you find relevant.

In a world overloaded with all kinds of online ser-vices, there’s another reason I found Nextdoor compelling. Several statistics on the site underscore how modern life doesn’t always encourage community, but that people actu-ally do feel better when they’re acquainted with their neigh-bors and friends.

For example: 67% of homeowners feel safer in their home/neighborhood because they know their neighbors (August 6, 2012 Harris Interactive Survey)

And my favorite: 93% of Americans say it is important for neighbors to look out for one another (July 13, 2011 Harris Interactive Survey)

If you can handle another password, that just might be reason enough to join.

For more information about Nextdoor, check out next-door.com. There’s also a downloadable PDF available at the site that goes into greater detail about the company and their plans for the future.

Nextdoor Story

PAGE 4 HISTORIC IRVINGTON NEWSLETTER Spring 2015

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By Jim Heuer

Politics has been called “the Art of the Possible”, and this has been in vivid display in the effort by the grass roots organization United Neighborhoods for

Reform (UNR) to better regulate and slow down the pace of demolitions of single family homes – currently exceeding 300 per year. As a member of the ICA’s Land Use Committee who is volunteering as a member of the UNR steering committee, I’ve been a close observer of the work the group has done since its formation in the summer of 2014.

As this article is going to press, the City Council is pre-paring to vote on a package of changes to city code that are backed by UNR – but not without considerable misgivings. You’ve likely heard or read some recent coverage of the “epidemic of demolitions” affecting many Portland neigh-borhoods. So what’s the City Council voting on, and how does it affect Portland’s neighborhoods?

The package the Council will adopt was developed by city officials with heavy lobbying by UNR that was only partially successful in countering political pressure by the home building industry. There are four key changes being adopted:

1. A 35-day delay will be imposed on all residential demolitions. Prior to this change, a demolition involving a replacement by another single fam-ily house required no notice or delay – with the result that neighbors might come home from work and find the house next door gone and their own property covered with demolition dust and debris.

2. Notice will be required for all demolitions and “virtual” demolitions – the latter newly defined as “major remodel”. This means that nearby neigh-bors and the neighborhood associations will be notified by mail of the impending demolition and will have time to prepare for the inevitable disrup-tion it will cause.

3. A definition of “demolition” is established which is more stringent than the informal one applied previously. Under the old rules, a house could be demolished down to a partial basement wall, a new house built with that wall included, and the result was called a “remodel”. The new rules include not only a definition of “demolition” but one for “major remodel” in which most of the house is removed and the house altered beyond recognition.

4. During the 35-day delay the neighborhood association or “any interested party” can apply to the city for a 60-day mandatory delay in the demolition to seek an alternative such as mov-ing the house, or purchasing and rehabilitating it. The rules are strict for granting the delay, with the result that this delay provision is much more restrictive than the previous rules.

While UNR is supporting these changes, the last one on demolition delay has caused a lot of debate, with many neighborhoods demanding a longer delay period and more flexibility in the rules for granting it. On the other side were the homebuilders who fought against any kind of delay beyond 35 days, and really didn’t even want the 35-day delay. “Possible” was the best way to describe the compromise that resulted. The City Council has promised a full-scale review of the new rules in 18 months, and we hope that will give us a chance to fix any major problems that surface between now and then.

Does this solve the demolition problem? Absolutely not. The new rules simply alleviate some of the worst problems with the current system. Big issues remain:

• Older houses (the average age of a house demol-

ished in Portland is 87 years) contain significant amounts of hazardous materials including lead-based paint and asbestos. With current demoli-tion practices and the near total lack of regulation of hazardous materials at demolition sites in Ore-gon, studies have found these highly toxic materi-als can be scattered as far as 300 feet from the site. UNR is working with the City Council on recom-mendations for new regulations to contain hazard-ous wastes from demo sites.

• Portlanders object as much to what is being built after a demolition as they do to the demolition itself. Typically, the replacement houses are 2.4 times as big and cost 2.3 times as much as the house that was demolished. They tend to over-whelm the surrounding homes, blocking light, invading privacy, and disrupting the streetscape. Worse yet, they exacerbate Portland’s problem with housing affordability. UNR has proposed a city-wide task force with a mission to craft regulations for the size and mass-ing of replacement homes in established neigh-borhoods. Mayor Hales says he agrees with this idea… We’ll see! Agreement by a majority of the Council is not a given.

• If a house must be removed from its site – how can at least some of the embodied energy in its materials be saved for re-use? We don’t mean grinding up the woodwork for garden mulch or heating fuel… we mean removing it and much of the rest of the house for salvage and re-use in remodeling or new construction. This is called “deconstruction”. It costs a bit more than “smash and haul” demolition, but is vastly more environ-mentally responsible. The City Council, UNR, and advocates for deconstruction are deep in discussions to find a way to make deconstruction the norm rather than raw demolition.

Will all of these initiatives eliminate residential demoli-tions? Hardly. There are tremendous economic pressures including limited available suburban land, bank preference for lending in the city, and chronically low inventory of homes for sale in Portland’s highly prized traditional inner city neighborhoods. No legislation or regulation under consideration will ban demolitions. Regulations on size and scale of replacement homes might slow them down – but crafting meaningful rules will be extremely contro-versial considering they must apply throughout a highly diverse city. What, if anything, is ultimately adopted will likely still allow builders to demolish homes in our tradi-tional neighborhoods and build replacements that many neighbors will feel don’t belong.

The ICA has been supportive of UNR throughout its brief history and has signed on with its key principles – along with 40 other neighborhood organizations. But that has been in a spirit of neighborliness rather than in hope of protecting Irvington itself. Fortunately, the rules which protect the integrity of the Irvington Historic District effec-tively prohibit demolition of our contributing properties (about 89% of our houses) and apply compatibility crite-ria on any replacement construction that broadly include size, scale, massing, and architectural features. State law prevents cities from applying such broad rules outside his-toric districts, so for the foreseeable future, only a historic district designation provides complete protection against the ill-conceived demolition and replacement afflicting so many nearby Northeast neighborhoods.

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Green Baggers of Irvington, pat yourselves on the back! With your participation in the Portland Food Project, over 18,000 pounds of food found

its way to hungry families in our Portland communities last December alone. And that’s something to celebrate.

Truth is, the Portland Food Project makes it easy to make a real difference in the lives of hungry Portland families. Here’s how it works, one green bag at a time. Neighborhood Coordinators head groups of donors of what-ever size they feel comfortable with – a couple, a dozen, a couple dozen – usually in their own neighborhood. Each donor is given a reusable green bag to fill with nonperish-able food and personal items like toilet paper, paper towels, toothpaste and the like. Then, on the second Saturday of every other month, donors put their full green bag out for collection -- and go back to bed if they like! Coordinators pick up the bags, drop off new ones, and deliver the full bags to a NE collection center. Hard to believe something so simple can make such a difference – but it does. Last year, it’s estimated that because of the Portland Food Project, over 74,000 meals were consumed people in our community who otherwise would have gone hungry.

My husband, Peter, and I became neighborhood coor-dinators last year, with a group of about 24 donors. We thought we’d probably do the coordinator job for a year, but now we can’t imagine giving it up. I think we were surprised at first by how much we enjoy it. It’s been such a joy to work with our donors and so satisfying to see our own bag fill up with food and then our car fill up with bags. Our Irvington donors are so generous! One asked guests at her annual holiday party to bring a donation food item -- and surprised us with an extra three very full bags that month! Another donor fills two green bags every col-lection, one from her and one in memory of her mother. People who aren’t going to be home on collection day try to make other arrangements to get their bags included. Sometimes they choose to give a check instead of a full bag, and that’s a huge help too, to an all-volunteer organization without one paid position and a serious need for more and more green bags. We come home from every collection day feeling a little more positive about the world in general and our Irvington neighbors in particular.

The Food Project began in Ashland in 2009 and has spread across the country. Richard Nudelman brought the 501(3)(c) organization here as The SE Portland Food Project in 2012. That year 12 donors gave a total of 237-lbs of food to two food pantries. About a year ago they expanded into North and Northeast Portland, and things have really taken off since then. It’s The Portland Food Project now and it boasts more than 1,000 donors and 15 Portland recipient food pantries, which received 106,766-lbs of food from them in 2014. And the program is grow-ing all the time. Affiliate Food Projects have just started up in Milwaukie, Hillsboro and Beaverton, and an upcoming partnership with Partners for a Hunger Free Oregon should help the Portland Food Project spread its word even further and increase its volunteer base.

You can learn more at www.portlandfoodproject.org, where you can also sign up as a volunteer neighborhood coordinator or donor, learn how to make a cash donation or how you could help them in other ways. If you’d like to be a donor in our Irvington group, just email and we’ll get you set up with a green bag and the information you’ll need: peggy@blackrabbit.com or peteroneil@cbseal.com

IRVINGTON GIVES (Green Bag Program)

Barb Christopher

Did you know that about ten percent of all the Heritage Trees in Portland are located here in Irvington? Heritage Trees are formally recog-

nized by Portland City Council for their unique size, age, historical or horticultural significance. The Heritage Tree ordinance became part of the Portland City code on May 19, 1993, and the first Heritage Trees were designated in 1994. Now, there are nearly 300 Heritage Trees throughout Portland.

The Irvington Community Association website, www.irvingtonpdx.com, has a neighborhood list of all the Irvington Heritage Trees. Check it out and then impress your friends when you point out the canopy of Caucasian Wingnut trees on Knott St. Or visit the amazing Weeping Cherry on 18th Avenue when it blooms each Spring. You can go to http://pdxtrees.org to learn more about the free app for iPhone and iPad that will let you explore all the Heritage Trees.

Heritage Trees are protected by City Code; once designated, no Heritage Tree can be removed without the consent of the Urban Forestry Commission and the Portland City Council. No tree on private property can be designated without the consent of the property owner. This consent binds all subsequent owners as well. The Heritage Tree Ordinance further states that it is unlawful for any person, without a prior written permit from the Forester, to remove, destroy, cut, prune, break or injure any Heritage Tree.

Once accepted by City Council, Heritage Trees are given a small plaque so they can be identified by the pub-lic, and they are listed in the Heritage Tree Database. Go to http://www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/41049 to see the entire database. New trees are added each year. Anyone can nominate a Heritage Tree! Maybe there is one in your yard worthy of this special honor?

Nominating a Heritage TreeThe Heritage Tree ordinance calls for the City Forester

to annually prepare a list of trees that - because of their age, size, type, historical association or horticultural value - are of special importance to the City. A group of citizen volunteers visit each nominated tree, confirms the species, measures the tree, and determines whether the tree meets the criteria. Upon recommendation of the Urban Forestry Commission, the City Council may designate the tree as a Heritage Tree provided the tree’s health, aerial space, and open ground area for the root system have been certified as sufficient.

Complete and return the form at: http://www.portland-oregon.gov/parks/article/293314 to nominate a tree.

The nomination deadline is May 1 each year. It takes about a year from nomination to receive Heritage Tree des-ignation if the nomination is accepted.

Caring for a Heritage Tree:A permit from Urban Forestry is required before

pruning, removing, inoculating, or doing any other tree work on a Heritage Tree, whether the tree is in the City

right-of-way or on private property. Permits for tree work excluding tree removal are free and include a consultation by an Urban Forestry Tree Inspector. Go to: http://www.portlandoregon.gov/trees/59507 for more information on tree permits. Several local tree care providers offer discounts on Heritage Tree work. The City’s website provides a list of these arborists: http://www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/article/443667 Call Urban Forestry at 503-823-4489 to obtain your free permit prior to beginning any work on a Heritage Tree.

A Heritage Tree can only be approved for removal if it is dead, dying, or dangerous. The Urban Forestry Commission and the Portland City Council must formally decommission the tree before a permit can be issued for removal.

Irvington’s Heritage Trees

PAGE 6 HISTORIC IRVINGTON NEWSLETTER Spring 2015

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By Jim Heuer

If you’ve ever looked closely at the title to your prop-erty here in Irvington, you may be puzzled about the “official” description and where it comes from.

Typically, it will indicate a plat name plus a lot number and a block number. For many of us, the plat name is “Irvington”, a sizeable tract developed by or under the influence of Elizabeth Irving, whose husband, William Irving acquired the land in the 1850s as a Donation Land Claim. That certainly explains how your house is in “Irvington”, but what if your title says “Edgemont” or “Gleneyrie”? There are actually about 13 plats included in the present Irvington Historic District. Are they really part of “Irvington”?

To help answer this question the ICA’s Historic Preservation Committee has dug into the history beyond what was uncovered during the original historic district nomination. In some cases, the connection between the plats and the original Irvington is obvious: in the case of John Irving’s First Addition, John Irving was Elizabeth Irving’s son, and the plat was filed at about the same time as Elizabeth sold 288 acres of her land to developers to create the Irvington tract. In others, the connections have been more difficult to tease out.

Take Edgemont for example. Edgemont was platted as early as 1890, but few lots were sold. Many lots were held by investors awaiting the growth of the city being

What’s in a Name? What Makes Irvington “Irvington”?spurred by the expand-ing streetcar network. The connection with Mrs. Irving and the Irvington development turns up in large land holdings in Edgemont by one Oscar Heintz, president of Pacific Iron Works. Mr. Heintz was related by marriage to Elizabeth Irving’s daughter, and lived with her daughter’s family over a period of many years.

One of the largest tracts outside of the original Irvington plat was Gleneyrie. It was platted in 1911 along with the much smaller Stanton Street subdivi-sion by members of the Taggert (sometimes spelled Taggart in the documents) family. But once development started in 1913, the promoter and owner of a great many of the lots was the Tate Investment Company. In their marketing campaign, they set out deliberately to link their new tract to its suc-cessful neighbor to the west, Irvington, as made clear in their fanciful advertisements claiming Gleneyrie to be the “natural outgrowth of Irvington” like this example from The Oregonian on April 9, 1913:

Odd, you might think, that a developer would so shamelessly link its own tract with that of a successful neighbor. Perhaps, but in this case the Tate Investment Company was simultaneously marketing an equally large tract named Dixon Place, just north of Irvington. Dixon Place, like a number of similar tracts, was controlled by more of Elizabeth Irving’s relatives, the Shavers – Sarah Dixon Shaver, whose maiden name was “Dixon”, not only owned the land but gave her name to it. Clearly, this Gleneyrie linkage to Irvington via the Tate Investment Company was not an accident.

Did these initial connections stick? Did the folks who lived in these satellite tracts consider themselves to be living in Irvington? It turns out that the answer is overwhelm-ingly “yes”. Using the full-text search capabilities in the Historical Oregonian Archive, we checked out all the real estate ads for homes in the area composed of Edgemont and Gleneyrie and a few other plats to the immediate east of the original Irvington plat – covering a period from 1900 to 1948. We found a total of 344 advertisements during that period that mentioned specific addresses, of which about 2/3rds mentioned the area where the house was located. Of those, 94% indicated “Irvington”. So, for years after the original marketing efforts linking Edgemont, Gleneyrie, and other tracts to Irvington, these areas retained their Irvington name and connection to Mrs. Irving’s bold project to build a “high class” neighborhood on Portland’s East Side.

So, to lay your mind at rest, if your title doesn’t say “Irvington”, that doesn’t mean that the area you’re in wasn’t considered “Irvington” in historic times – not all the his-toric connections are visible in that official title!

I’ve lived in and loved Irvington for 23 years – you’ve probably seen me around the neighborhood! I’d love to help you buy or sell in Irvington and beyond!

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By Peter O’Neil

Congratulations to the Irvington Tennis Club and Scott|Edwards Architecture and P&C Construction on being honored with Restore

Oregon’s 2014 DeMuro Award for the astounding renovation of the tennis clubhouse. The prestigious award recognizes extraordinary historic renovation and rehabilitation projects across the State of Oregon – residential and commercial, urban and rural, private and public. To be one of just five recipient projects in the entire state is a tremendous distinc-tion.

The DeMuro Award is named in memory of Art DeMuro, a long time Irvington resident, developer and champion of historic preservation. Tragically, he died far too young in 2012 at the age of 57. A history major at the University of Notre Dame, he had become a teacher when he realized his true passion: historic redevelopment. He brought that passion to Portland in 1991, and set the stan-dard for quality and creativity in preserving and revitalizing many of Oregon’s important historic properties.

Many of our readers will have toured the newly reno-vated Irvington Tennis Club as part of the 2014 Irvington Home Tour and saw firsthand what the award committee describes: “Beautiful and functional, a reconceived addi-tion to the original Ellis Lawrence designed clubhouse is highly compatible with the historic main building and the surrounding National Register listed neighborhood.”

The Irvington Club, one of the oldest tennis clubs in the country, was founded in 1898. The first clubhouse on the current site was a one-story affair built in 1905. Ellis Lawrence was commissioned to design a renovation and addition to the clubhouse in 1911-12 and another, nonconforming addition was constructed in 1957. The challenge that the design and construction firms now faced was to completely renovate the exterior and interior of the newest addition to make it compatible with the neighbor-hood, the historic buildings and with its place in American tennis history.

Along with extensive interior renovation, structural challenges and other exterior adjustments, new windows were designed, siding went up, a new main entry was cre-ated, exterior ADA upgrades were installed and the flat roof became hipped. The exterior façade changes were subject to a Type II Resource Review, and the ICA’s Land Use Committee was asked to consult with the designers to help them meet the requirements of both the National Historic District and the City of Portland in this challeng-ing project.

Tennis Club representatives and their architect and builder met with the ICA Land Use and Historic Preservation Committees several times to discuss their plans and to look for comments and advice.

From the committees’ point of view, it was a pleasure to work with them. The architect created a project that func-tions well for the Tennis Club and also complements the historic character of our neighborhood. In several meet-ings, interspersed with many emails and phone discussions, the ICA worked with the architect and Club representatives while they came to a final design that deserves all the praise it’s now receiving.

When the process was complete, Land Use Chair Dean

Gisvold wrote to the Portland Bureau of Development Services (which does the final approval of Historic Resource Reviews) to summarize our experience:

We wish all applications would take the same course as did our several encounters with the Club and its architect. At the first meeting, we made several comments, some of them negative. To their credit, they took all of our recommendations and went beyond our comments to create a final product that we think will enhance the neighborhood and the district. We sincerely thank the Club and its architect for a job well done.

The Committee has no objections to this application. We look forward to a fine finished product.

And what a fine finished product it is!The once tired and nearly obsolete building has a new,

beautiful life thanks to the tireless efforts by the Club, Scott|Edwards Architecture and P&C Construction.

The ICA Land Use and Historic Preservation Committees do much more than consult on major projects like the Irvington Club. We help all residents formulate plans to improve their homes with additions, alterations and remodels that maintain the historic character of Irvington and also enhance the livability of our homes. We’re here to help. Contact Dean Gisvold for more infor-mation.

Design makes National Register

The Lawrence designed part of the structure is individually listed on the National Register. Here’s an excerpt from its nomination application:

Situated in the historic Irvington Neighborhood, in north-east Portland, the building is an integral part of this single family neighbor-hood. The club historically served as a social focus for the residents of the area and still does today. Lawrence designed only five Craftsman style buildings during his forty years of professional practice. The Irvington Club is rare in terms of property type also; only two other buildings of this property type are extant in Oregon; the Sellwood YMCA and the Masonic Temple in Salem.For 85 years, the Irvington Tennis Club has been a recreation and social center and catalyst for community spirit in the Eastside Portland community of Irvington.

DeMuro Award to Irvington Tennis Club

Before

After

PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT NO. 88GRESHAM, OR

Irvington Community AssociationP.O. Box 12102

Portland, OR 97212

S P R I N G 2 0 1 5

HISTORIc IRVINGTON

Irvington Community Association Board Meetings7 PM Irvington School Library2nd Thursday of every month (except July/August)March 12, April 9 and May 14Contact Steven Cole (stevencole86@gmail.com)Irvington Land Use Committee Meetings 4th Thursday of every month (except July/August)7:00 – 9:00 PM Westminster Presbyterian Church, NE 16th & HancockContact Dean Gisvold (deang@mcewengisvold.com) Irvington Historic Preservation Committee Meetings2nd Wednesday of every month (except July/August)7:00 – 9:00 PM Westminster Presbyterian Church, NE 16th & HancockContact Barb Christopher (barbfc@comcast.net)

SAVE THESE 2015 DATESIrvington Home Tour: May 17 Irvington Cleanup: May 9

NeighborhoodCalendar of Events

Signs of spring are popping up everywhere from the bulbs in flower beds to members of the Home Selection Committee busily signing up home own-

ers for the 33rd annual Irvington Home Tour, scheduled for Sunday, May 17th this year.

The Irvington Community Association uses the pro-ceeds from The Home Tour to support and fund grants to local non-profits, schools, beautification projects, neighbor-hood events and preservation of the qualities inherent in our historic Irvington community.

So, grab your friends and family members (teens & adults only, please) and sign up to volunteer for a morning or afternoon shift to be a Home Tour Guide by contacting Kay Mosby (volunteer@irvingtonhometour.com). You will not only be benefiting your neighbors but will get to see the other homes on the tour for free, a $25.00 value per ticket.

Spring is Irvington Home Tour Season Storm uproots

trees in Irvington