Council meets on Monday, and an update at Salem Reporter on the death of Marganne Allen might renew questions about trust and policing.
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| Do we have a coverup? via Twitter |
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| Washington Post, front page, February of this year |
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| From the 2022 Strategic Plan |
On the agenda is a first reading for a new vagrancy ordinance.
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| September 15th, 1903 |
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| March 25th, 1923 |
New State law says "Any restriction on unsheltered use of public areas must be 'objectively reasonable.'" The City's proposal for objectively reasonable is "Camping restrictions in many areas: parks, near vision clearance areas and building entrances, residential zones, near existing shelters, and areas designated by City Manager as no camping."
Advocates and service providers will have more to say, but this sure looks like a maximal attempt to exclude camping from the city, and to engineer the disappearance and exclusion of campers and camping. But if there is no housing, where do they go?
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| Walkups replacing commercial pod |
Near the corner of State and Cordon, at the former Mushroom plant, there is a new development going in, and Council will receive an information item on approvals for a new revision.
You may recall the previous iteration with a little commercial hub proposed for the corner of Greencrest and State.
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| Gas station and strip mall, SW corner (detail) |
That hub is now replaced with apartments. Four buildings with 42 new residences.
The City should have more of an interest in what it would take to make new neighborhood hubs viable, as apparently this one was not, even with a suboptimal form of strip mall and gas station.
If that hub with a gas station was deleted, near the intersection of Lancaster Drive and Mission Street/OR-22, the City approved a new gas station. (The information item says "new oil change facility," and that is in the development, but the drawings are labeled "New Gas Station" and in fact show a new fueling station also.)
Again: What are we doing approving new fossil fuel infrastructure?!?!
The project also apparently will have three apartments in the mixed-use building. Gas station and residences seem like an odd mixed-use configuration, however.
Bullets for the rest:
- There are agreements with ODOT for right-of-way services on three new enhanced crosswalks and for the Orchard Heights sidewalks and crosswalk to the park.
- Shuffling funds to "to effectuate the purchase of the Marquis property," the recently abandoned project for a nursing home on the former Boise Cascade site, kitty-corner from the Sculpture Garden. Part of the shuffling involves taking funds from those allocated to the Pringle Creek path. Presumably when the parcel is sold by the City, that allocation will be replenished. (But also remember that despite public optimism, the RR remains an obstacle, so that allocation is not going to be needed any time soon.)
- Increasing maximum grant limits in the West Salem Urban Renewal Area for what looks like the former Oregon Fruit Products buildings.
- $70,000 for new front doors at the Library. The "swing-out" doors installed with the remodel are high maintenance and staff want to replace them with a lower-maintenance, and more reliable door system.
5 comments:
The applicant for the apartments at 4900 Center Street did a market study for what could go into the “hub” the City insisted be placed at the corner. The only business that penciled out was a gas station with a mini mart. All through the Our Salem process people questioned the whole concept. Anyone who is a small business owner knows that it takes more than just a zone to ensure success. Staff has actually steered the City Council into adopting codes that are harming individual property owners potential uses (and profits) of their land.
How does offering the option for a hub on a parcel diminish its value? Doesn't that offer more flexibility and more value? People willingly pay a premium to live near walkable urban amenities! (And if you want to continue the conversation, please use a pseudonym!)
I feel like the property that is being purchased by the city could be an ideal place to add a stop for the WES.
One of the major issues with adding a WES line down to salem is sorcing a place to put a train station. With the rail line running right along the property I feel like this could be a good place to add a rail station with some commercial/ housing.
There is already I number of apartments and condos in the walkshed of the property, The miderian, the southblock, Koz on state street, the court yard, and riverfront.
Not to mention the new hotels, convention center, pavilions, Ampitheater and easy access to riverfront park, which could be a draw to folks all along the line to Beaverton for easy access to a great park system
The Urban Land Institute proposed a station at Riverfront Park, very nearly on this exact lot. See "So What about that Urban Land Institute Report on Boise and the Carousel?" (2013) for more on that.
Still, a WES expansion seems very remote still, and housing in some kind of mixed-use configuration might be a higher use. If WES becomes a reality here, there are still places on the edge of Riverfront Park that could be used.
Stations could have mixed use. Think about the sky train in Vancouver and the legislature has had expansion of wes on the docket for the past few years but republican walk outs have prevented it from moving forward.
Another development that a stop could be added at is the new cannery. If they are serious about adding a soccer arena it could be a good way to add public transport to the arena
https://www.salemreporter.com/2023/03/01/state-legislators-consider-potential-for-rail-service-between-beaverton-and-salem/
https://www.salemreporter.com/2019/03/08/jump-a-commuter-train-in-salem-to-head-to-work-up-north-legislator-lays-groundwork/
https://www.skytraincondo.ca/vaneast/
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