Boise neighborhood still being MALed

Boise neighborhood still being MALed

Or, how the squirrelly, divisive right of way issue (brought about by the Mississippi Lofts) has morphed into the now contentious,scandalous street scape issue(brought about by Sam Adams). And, how we are fighting to keep Mississippi Ave safe and livable.

reprinted from portlandindymedia.org
author: lupin
e-mail: lupin@theruffhouse.biz

How has the streetscape plan come to arrive on Mississippi and how does it relate to Rachel Elizabeth's appeal of The City Garden development scheduled June 25th before the Historic Landmark Commission?

Let's start at the very beginning. Mississippi Ave is in a Pedestrian District. This means that new developments must provide a 12 foot sidewalk. There are two ways that this is achieved, the builders either step their building back 2 feet or the street may be narrowed. In either case, the Developers provide (pay) for the modifications to the right of way. It is more common for new developments to step back their building. This is what PDOT told The Mississippi Ave Lofts (MAL) they must do when they were going through review. But, they did not want to do that so they arranged to talk with a PDOT supervisor. They met with Kurt Krueger and the outcome was that the street would be narrowed instead.

The news that the city was going to narrow the street was conveyed to residents and business owners. Many residents tried to appeal this through written and oral testimony during the MAL appeal before the Historic Landmark Commission (Gloria Morgan, appellant). During the hearing the commission asks PDOT to explain this controversial decision. Kurt Krueger explained that MAL had "presented a pretty tough case... " that, "the applicants were working on a very significant project that warranted maximizing the area and the two feet was rather costly for them to use... " "Mississippi was 40 feet which is far in excess of what we would construct as a new street width today... " And "so here's an opportunity to do a couple different things". He goes on to say that it would be in keeping with the historic buildings on Mississippi, which build to the sidewalk and furthermore it would slow down traffic. One commissioner pointed out that this was a different stance from the one they took with the Brewery Blocks in which the developers, in a historic area featuring buildings built to sidewalk, were forced to step back to accommodate a 12 foot sidewalk. The commission asks Kurt Krueger to make himself available to the neighbors on this issue. He agrees to do so.

None of us hear from Kurt Krueger but we do get wind that he asks MAL to dedicate 2 feet thereby not narrowing the street. We also hear that MAL threatens to sue the city. (We have requested all public records between PDOT, The City Attorney and MAL regarding this but, 3 weeks later, have still not received them).

Meanwhile, other pending developments, to include The City Garden (the Kurisu's project) had expected to receive the same treatment by PDOT that MAL had gotten. They were very upset to hear that PDOT was requiring all other new developments to dedicate/step back 2 feet.

The BDS(Building and Development Services) denies The City Gardens (the Kurisu's) an approval. The City Garden appeals this decision and a hearing date is set before the Historic Landmark Commission. During the course of the hearing Kurt Krueger of PDOT would once again address the commission on the squirrelly right a way issue and his insistence that The City Garden dedicate 2 feet. He explains that allowing MAL to not dedicate 2 feet and instead narrow the street was an error that, "if he could turn back the hands of time he would not have done."

At a Boise Neighborhood Association(BNA) special land use meeting held February 10, 2007 to discuss right of way issues brought about by MAL. Kurt Krueger tells us that he is now insisting that all new developments dedicate 2 feet for a 12-foot sidewalk. In the last remaining minutes of the meeting Kurt Krueger, under pressure from a resident, reveals that he had granted an exception to MAL and they were going to narrow the street instead of requiring the set back. The City Attorney, he tells us, had advised him to allow this exception. But he reassured us that all other new developments would dedicate 2 feet (step back 2 feet).

The natives were very, very unhappy with this new information gleaned at the special land use meeting and set about to right this wrong. Rachel Elizabeth wrote to the Mayor and city council members and got on the agenda for the Feb. 21st, 2007 city council meeting and presented a 3-minute communication in which she asks the city to require MAL to dedicate 2 feet instead of narrowing Mississippi. When she finished, Sam Adams approached Rachel and got her contact information. And then we waited, and waited, and waited some more.

On March 9, 2007 the BNA received a mandate from Sam Adams in which he states that within the Mississippi Ave Conservation District, all new developments would be required to build to the lot line. He said that the Historic Landmarks Commission and the city attorney recommended this mandate. He went on to say that we could have a streetscape project if we wanted, but we would have to have an "adequate consensus"(business and residents) and that we must narrow Mississippi Ave. And to think that we thought we'd get some help from Sam...

The City Garden project, which had already gone through process and been given the thumbs up, receives word that they must, per Sam's mandate, build out to the lot line instead of dedicating the 2 feet (as required by PDOT see above). We hear the Kurisu's are not pleased, as they would really like to just get on with it and avoid controversy. This change requires opening the review process again and asking for a city required amendment (to step back). After receiving notice from BDS that an amendment for the Kirusu project was approved, we filed our complaints that criteria set forth by Community Design Guidelines would not be met. Justin Dollard-Fallon (BDS planner) approves amendment and Rachel Elizabeth appeals. She has a hearing before the Historic Landmark Commission on June.

This admitted error the city committed with the MAL has created a snowball effect that has left our community polarized, distrustful, and confused. The result, the Sam Adams mandate and streetscape project, which seems to be a ruse to narrow the street come hell or high water has further inflamed the tension between the business community and the residents and threatens to further polarize us. Lately though I've been hoping that this latest upset for our community might actually serve to bring us closer. It seems that most of us, both businesses and residents like our street just the way it is. Thank you very much. We also seem to agree that there are problems with our street and sidewalks as they stand now and these will only worsen with the huge influx of people projected to move on to the street in the next few years. As Sam Adams told Rachel Elizabeth and me during a recent meeting, there are areas like ours all over town fighting the same battles because they are improperly zoned to accommodate the high density allowable. The infrastructure is not capable of supporting the influx. That's what we are facing here. This improper zoning problem, coupled with developers unwilling to give back to the community and instead maximizing their profits, is tearing communities apart.

Many of us would like the speed reduced on Mississippi, crosswalks installed, and curb extensions built. I think the developers and the city need to do everything possible to help us build a safe and livable community. These kinds of safety and traffic issues must be addressed now before the projected huge influx of new residents move onto our beloved street. I think we will be closer to achieving these goals if the developers of large-scale developments step back and the city steps up. Rachel Elizabeth will be asking precisely this at the hearing of her appeal of The City Garden before the Historic Landmark Commission. Hearing is scheduled for Monday June 25th 1:30 at 1900 sw fourth room 2500a.

For more information on how you can help Rachel Elizabeth's appeal and our community please contact: r.elizabeth@comcast.net
or call Lupin at (971) 409-9867