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Residential Infill Project 
Four years in the making with the community, advisory groups, and many others, the Residential Infill Project is heading to City Council for public hearings in January 2020. The public is invited to testify on the proposals in person or in writing via the Map App.
City Council will hold two public hearings in January. These hearings will likely be well-attended, so to allow as many folks as possible to testify, testimony will be limited to 2 minutes each.
Both hearings will be located in Council Chambers at 1221 SW 4th Ave:
- Wednesday, Jan. 15 - 2 p.m.
- Thursday, Jan. 16 - 5 p.m.
Submit written testimony via the Map App
Written testimony is now being accepted through the
Map App testimony submitter. You can testify about the project in general or about a specific property:
To provide general testimony, click on the blue "Testify" button on the right and you will be taken to a simple form. You can add photos, upload letters, or just type your comments right into the form.
Property specific testimony
If you are testifying about a specific property, enter the address in the search bar at the top. The screen will change and pull up that address. When you click on the "Testify" button, your testimony will now be tagged to that parcel.
Change your mind about the specific property? No problem! Just hit the "Back" button, and it will take you back to the general screen.
Testify via U.S. mail
If you prefer, you can send testimony through the mail to the following address:
City Council
Residential Infill Project Testimony
1221 SW Fourth Avenue, Room 130
Portland, OR 97204
Be sure to include "Residential Infill Project Testimony" so it gets routed to the right place. Testimony must be received by the date of the hearing.
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OHSU - Secure Bike Racks and Expanded Bus Stop on Campus Drive
OHSU is seeking to develop a "multimodal hub" on SW Campus Drive, uphill from the Casey Eye Institute at the site of an existing bus stop. While the concept is still under development, the project would include approximately 100 covered and locked bike parking stalls
for employees and improved shelter facilities for those waiting at an expanded bus stop.
Prior to installation of the bike and transit amenities, the site would be used to help facilitate the delivery of construction materials to the OHSU hospital expansion (the hospital expansion received Design Commission approval in December).
Because the "Multimodal hub" would be visible from the Terwilliger Parkway (visible to those looking up SW Campus Drive), the project requires approval from the Design Commission. The project has been tentatively scheduled for a Design Commission Design Advice Request meeting at 1:30pm on February the 13th. Anyone with questions about this project can reach out to Michael Harrison, OHSU, 503-494-8681.
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Homestead NET News 
In the event of a disaster, Neighborhood Emergency Teams (NET) composed of residents trained by the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management (PBEM) will serve as a vital component of any city-wide response. The city aims to have a NET team for each city-identified neighborhood.
Until last year, Homestead had not had an official team. In 2019, neighbors from different blocks began meeting to form a Homestead NET. Currently those neighbors are engaged in a block-by-block Map Your Neighborhood effort (MYN) to engage every household in basic emergency preparedness and identify individuals either with specific needs or useful skills or equipment to guide our planning for emergencies.
To date, 25 Homestead residents [the majority are at Terwilliger Plaza] have been PBEM-certified and, together with other Homestead Neighborhood Association volunteers, are serving as block coordinators to engage every household in basic emergency preparedness and identify individuals either with specific needs or useful skills or equipment in case of emergency. Currently we are focusing on ~300 single family homes and ~300 residents of Terwilliger Plaza. We especially need help with renters in apartment buildings, particularly those above OHSU.
The Homestead NET is also developing a basic Emergency Operational Plan for our neighborhood. We need people who are good with planning and logistics-could that be you?
If you or anyone you know is interesting in becoming a part of this critical team, contact Bob Bonner, Team Leader at
[email protected]
or attend a Neighborhood Association meeting for additional information.
Creating community resilience in face of natural disasters such as a Cascadian Subduction Zone Earthquake or prolonged climate change hazards (fire, flooding) is a complex task. We are focusing on a number of tasks for 2020 that will also help us build community connections and resilience in our everyday lives. Bob will be available to update residents at the January 7 meeting.
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SWIM Approval and how it Affects Homestead
On December 5, the Portland City Council adopted the "Southwest In Motion" plan also known as "SWIM". SWIM is a short-term prioritization, refinement, and implementation strategy for planned active transportation investments in Southwest.
The final plan identifies a short-term action plan that provides basic walking and bicycling connectivity where they are needed most. The homestead neighborhood has a variety of priorities on the SWIM project list, including
- adding a sidewalk on SW Sam Jackson Park Road/Marquam Hill Road between SW 11th and 13th
- filling in the bike lane gap at the intersection of SW Terwilliger and SW Sam Jackson Park Road and
- improving the existing pedestrian trail (SW Trail #1) between SW Terwilliger and SW Barbur Boulevard.
The Homestead neighborhood will continue to champion these projects and would be thrilled to have the assistance from anyone in the neighborhood interested in working on these projects.
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Oregon Humanities Conversations Projects hosts this presentation on Thursday, February 20, 7- 8:30 pm at Southwest Community Center, Room 30, 7688 SW Capitol Highway.
More and more organizations are working toward being "inclusive". But what does that entail? Join this community conversation.
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Is parking a problem in your area? Is it getting worse?
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APPP Map |
As a result of the recent large developments in the Homestead area, many not required to provide off-street parking, it is inevitable that parking difficulties will get worse. The neighborhood association is looking to review the regulations found in the Area Permit Parking Program (APPP) to possibly ease parking issues. For example, under current regulations, a proposed 100+ room hotel with limited off-street parking might be able to obtain guest and employee business parking permits that would exceed the number of on-street parking spaces available.
The Homestead area contains three parking zones within its boundaries. Zone C is in the upper homestead area encompassing OHSU up to Fairmont. Zone D is a small zone that encompasses 6th Avenue Drive down to Terwilliger Boulevard, and Zone E is below Terwilliger down to Barbur Boulevard. Most of the parking difficulties occur in the upper homestead area in parking Zone C where on-street parking is limited.
The Homestead APPP Committee has met to discuss possible changes with the intent of improving parking availability, increasing enforcement and considering changes for future implementation that might decrease the effect of development on current resident parking. Considerations are:
- Limit the number of business permits issued
- Reduce allowed Visitor Parking time on signs to one hour in Zone C (with the intent of improving enforcement)
- Consider replacing guest permits with daily "scratch-off" permits
- Reviewing possible changes in specific zones where undeveloped commercial or densely zoned properties (with little or no off-street parking requirements) will exacerbate parking issues in the future
We want to hear from you!
Do you have comments or other ideas?
What are your views on parking in the homestead area?
