Category: Board of Directors

Meet Board Candidate Colin Wonnacott

I’m Colin Wonnacott, and after having lived in Portland for over a decade, I’m finally interested in getting involved in my neighborhood association.  As a lifelong renter, I feel that it is important that renters are represented in our neighborhood association.  The presence and views of non-homeowners on concerns that affect the neighborhood is a valuable insight, and having a renter on the board would allow it to further represent and be representative of the people of the Sunnyside neighborhood.

I have lived and worked in Sunnyside for most of the time I have lived in our fair city, and I feel lucky to continue to live here.  I’m an avid cyclist and gardener, a former chef, and I enjoy cooking for the Hard Times Supper at Sunnyside Community House every Wednesday.  Please consider me to represent you on the board of the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association!

Interim Board Member Election October 11

The Sunnyside Neighborhood Association board is currently looking for a new member to finish out the term of an at large member who had to retire due to leaving the area. interested candidates will present a brief introduction, which will be followed by a short board discussion and vote. The new board member’s term will run through May, 2019. If you are interested, please contact the board at [email protected]. Plan on attending the next board meeting on October 11th, 7:00 – 9:00 PM at the SEUL location, 3534 SE Main St.

SNA Board “Retreat” – Special Board Meeting

The Sunnyside Neighborhood Association Board will meet on Tuesday  June 7, 2016 from 7-9PM at “The Roost” in the Sunnyside Community House at 3520 SE Yamhill St.

This meeting is the annual “board retreat” where the 2016-17 board will discuss priorities and assignment of duties and executive positions.  No votes on executive positions, committee chairs, or representatives will be taken at this meeting.

This meeting is open for public attendance, but proceedings are restricted to the 2016-17 board. Contact Tony Jordan [email protected] or call  971.207.1348 for details or questions.

May 2015 Meeting Agenda

SNA Meeting and Board Elections

May 14th 7-9PM
SE Uplift –  3534 SE Main St

Our May meeting will feature a presentation by the Community Alliance of Tenants who will answer questions about their organization and present the comic book, Know Your Rights: Don’t Get Evicted which they recently published with Know Your City.  SNA has purchased 5 copies which will be given away by raffle to renters in attendance.

Please help us spread the word to people who rent in Sunnyside.  Renters make up 63% of our neighborhood and are historically underrepresented in Portland’s neighborhood association.  Print and distribute our Renter Outreach Flyer in your apartment building or complex.

Also provided is a detailed agenda.

If you have questions or would like to declare your candidacy for the board, email board (at) sunnysideneighborhood.com

SNA LUTC Proposed Comprehensive Plan Resolutions: A Primer

If you’re new to discussions about the Comprehensive Plan and you have read over the SNA’s proposed comments, you might have some questions.   Feel free to ask them, of course, but here we will break them down a bit for you and answer what we think will be some common questions.  Let’s start with the first three:

  • To accompany new residences along the corridors, the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association (SNA) Board urges the City to develop community design guidelines for southeast Portland, direct corridor development applications through the Portland Design Commission or southeast Portland community design guidelines, and provide neighborhood notification.
  • To accompany new residences along the corridors, the SNA Board urges the City to increase inner southeast open spaces areas, including pocket parks and a community center.
  • To accompany new residences along the corridors, the SNA Board urges the City to increase pedestrian crossing improvements across Belmont and Hawthorne, and along Cesar Chavez Boulevard.

It’s expected that the Belmont, Hawthorne, and Division areas will grow another 800-2000 households combined over the next 20 years.  These three resolutions ask that the city help develop design guidelines and plans to grow these inner southeast corridors in a well planned fashion and with neighborhood input.  We want the city to create more open spaces for our residents to recreate and relax, and we want the city to make it safer to get across our busy streets on foot. Now for the next two:

  • To accompany new residences along the corridors, the SNA Board urges the City to immediately update the Historic Resource Inventory and apply historic preservation tools to the commercial section of Belmont between SE 33rd and 35th.
  • To accompany new residences along the corridors, the SNA Board urges the City to immediately update the Historic Resource Inventory and apply historic preservation tools to the residential section of Belmont between SE 35th and 37th.

We love “downtown Belmont Street” and we know many of our neighbors do too.  We are asking the city to protect the character and potentially historic buildings along this core of Belmont.  Buildings added to the Historic Resource Inventory gain some protections from demolition and redevelopment.  The city may also provide incentives to landowners to protect structures or maintain historic elements during redevelopment. The next two:

  • To accompany new residences along the corridors, the SNA Board urges the City to only allow building height bonuses if developers provide the community benefit of below market-rate housing units.
  • To accompany new residences along the corridors, the SNA Board urges the City to develop tools to encourage the building of family friendly units

In the new mixed-use zoning being proposed along our corridors, developers could build three stories by right, but to build an additional one or two stories they would need to provide community benefits. Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability staff is exploring whether community benefits would be affordable housing, historic preservation, green building features, open and public spaces, etc.  We are concerned about the reduction in affordable housing as redevelopment occurs and would like to see the city push for below market-rate units with more vigor.  We also see value in a mix of housing types, multi-room units for families should be incentivized. And now onto the technical details:

  • The SNA Board urges the City to apply a Comprehensive Plan mixed-use designation along Belmont and the north side of Hawthorne between SE 28th & 49th to support local businesses thereby increasing employment and the dollars to remain in our neighborhood.

There are gaps in the commercial fabric along Belmont St. and on the western edge of Hawthorne Blvd. within our neighborhood. Changing the multi-family residential zoning to mixed use commercial zoning makes it more likely that we will develop vibrant commercial corridors. Since the new mixed-use zone requires a residential component, we would still be adding housing along with more jobs and room for businesses.

  • The SNA Board urges the City to apply a Comprehensive Plan mixed-use designation along the north side of Hawthorne between SE 28th & 49th with implementing zone maximum height of 5-stories and fourth and fifth floors recessed so as not to create more than a 3-story wall along the street.

The city has proposed two types of mixed-use zones to implement their proposed Comprehensive Plan mixed-use designation along Belmont St. and Hawthorne Blvd. The type 1 mixed use zone is being proposed to allow for smaller developments, 2 stories with the potential for a 3rd story bonus.  The type 2 mixed use zone is being proposed to allow 3 stories with, potentially, a 4th or 5th story bonus.  Under the proposed mixed use zoning for these two corridors, buildings will be required to have a setback on the 4th and 5th floors, giving them the primary appearance of a 3 story building from both sidewalk level and the rear of building. We see value in new development along Hawthorne Blvd. being 3 stories, with the potential for a setback 4th or 5th story bonus, to activate this “main street” of southeast Portland with additional housing and room for businesses.

  • The SNA Board urges the City to apply a Comprehensive Plan mixed-use designation along Belmont between SE 28th & 33rd with implementing zone maximum height of 4-stories and the fourth floor recessed so as not to create more than a 3-story wall along the street.
  • The SNA Board urges the City to apply a Comprehensive Plan mixed-use designation along Belmont between SE 37th & 42nd with implementing zone maximum height of 4-stories and the fourth floor recessed so as not to create more than a 3-story wall along the street.
  • The SNA Board urges the City to apply a Comprehensive Plan mixed-use designation along Belmont between SE 42nd & 49th with implementing zone maximum height of 4-stories and the fourth floor recessed so as not to create more than a 3-story wall along the street.

Belmont St. is more narrow than Hawthorne Blvd. and designated a neighborhood corridor rather than a civic corridor. In light of this, the SNA is proposing the Mixed Use Zoning workgroup consider limiting Belmont St. to 3 stories by right and up to 4 stories with a bonus, eliminating the 5th story bonus.