Frank Gorshe is assisting President Justin Leonard with keeping the MTNA website current. Frank also maintains the website for the Friends of Mt Tabor.

Stormwater Project at Mt Tabor Middle School will require a noise variance and construction of curb extensions on SE Ankney.

Environmental Services will build the next phase of its stormwater project at Mt. Tabor Middle School this summer. There will be fewer construction impacts with students and staff on summer break. To complete the work in such a short time, Environmental Services proposes construction hours of 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. seven days a week, which will require a noise variance from the City. Regular work hours are 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Environmental Services worked closely with Portland Public Schools to design the facilities. These new systems will dramatically reduce the amount of runoff draining to the sewer and the risk of sewer backups on Pine Street.

Stormwater Facilities at the School

• Stormwater planters will manage roof runoff adjacent to the building.
• A landscaped raingarden will manage runoff from the roof and playground.
• A landscaped infiltration swale will manage runoff from the parking lot.
• Underground drywells will manage runoff on the east side of the school.
• A stormwater curb extension along the east side of SE 57th, north of the school parking lot entrance. It will be four feet wide. Like the curb extensions on Ankeny at SE 56th, this unit will slow and filter stormwater runoff and allow some stormwater to soak into the ground.

Questions ?
For information about the project, contact Rhetta Drennan at 503-823-6006 or email rhettad@bes.ci.portland.or.us. To contact the Noise Officer you may call 503-823-7350

Our community has a unique opportunity to buy a blighted property at the corner of SE 57th Avenue and Division Street and transform it into a community commons that truly meets the community’s vision for the site.

Update: Thanks to action by the U.S. Marshals, the fundraising deadline has been extended beyond September 30! We need to raise $45,000 to acquire the property. This may seem daunting, but we're already raised over $24,000 toward our goal.

For more information and to learn how you can contribute, read the details now!

The Portland Tribune recently reported on the actions underway in our community to acquire the small store at the corner of Southeast 57th Avenue and Division Street. Read the full story now.

The Mount Tabor Neighborhood Association has learned that owner of the property at 60th and Yamhill (this is the site which includes the location where the small white houses were demolished several years ago) is wanting an opinion on whether the city will allow the construction of a two story office building and 8 townhouses on the site. This will require a zone change from R5 to commercial and a zoning map amendment from R5 to R2. All access to these building will have to come from Yamhill. A single family residence is also planned for the eastern tip of the property which will be accessed from Yamhill but from up above.

For those interested, a hearing (this is a pre-application hearing) will be held at 9:00 am on Sept. 22, 2005. This is your chance to let the City know of your concerns. Conferences are held on the Fourth Floor of the 1900 SW Fourth Ave. Building. For more info. you can contact Sheila Frugoli, Senior Planner (503) 823-7817.

Proposed Yamhill Layout (576 Kb, PDF)
Proposed Yamhill Location (1.0 Mb, PDF)

The commander of Southeast Precinct was very pleased to announce that due to the active participation of our neighbors, the officers who serve our area, and the Deputy DA, a Chronic Nuisance complaint has been filed on the property at 643 SE 74th. Actively supported by the Police Bureau and Mayor Potter this complaint is currently moving through the city attorney's office.

This complaint may result in a solution to a long-term problem. Over the past 4 years officers have served 3 warrants at this property and each time have found drug lab and paraphernalia. The most recent warrant resulted in the majority of those residing at this address being arrested on a number of drug and property crimes.

While property seizure is not an option, the Chronic Nuisance Ordinance can result in closing a property to habitation. This hopefully will motivate the property's owner-occupant to clean up this ongoing hazard in our community.

Comments on this incident may be directed to the City Attorney's office. More information regarding this ordinance can be found at both the Police Bureau and Office of Neighborhood Involvement websites (search chronic nuisance) or by contacting Southeast Precinct's Neighborhood Response Team officers.

The purpose of the Good Neighbor Agreement is to establish a collaborative and constructive relationship among all stakeholders in order to improve and sustain the Mt. Tabor Park Off-Leash Area. The intent behind each of the major elements in the agreement is described in the GNA comment sheet. The Off-Leash Area and this agreement will be reviewed and evaluated after the one-year pilot period has passed. Please let us know your thoughts.
Download the GNA comment sheet (29 Kb, PDF)

This draft of the Good Neighbor Agreement ("Agreement") was developed between Portland Parks & Recreation ("PP&R") Owner/ Operator of Mt. Tabor Park, and the Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association ("Association"). The Association has entered into this Agreement on its own behalf and as a representative of the neighbors and users of the Park.

Download the complete draft of the GNA (36 Kb, PDF)

• February 9, 2005 meeting summary (PDF, 42 Kb)
• March 2, 2005 meeting summary (PDF, 38 Kb)
• March 9, 2005 meeting summary (PDF, 48 Kb)
• March 16, 2005 meeting summary (PDF, 43 Kb)
• March 30, 2005 meeting summary (PDF, 32 Kb)
• April 6, 2005 meeting summary (PDF 43, Kb)

At the Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association (MTNA) board/general meeting on April 20, the MTNA voted to support TriMet's planned pilot program pilot program to enforce code section 28.15.1.B., which restricts smoking at bus and Max facilities. The MTNA also decided to request that TriMet routes through the Mt. Tabor neighborhood be included in the pilot program.
View letter sent to TriMet by the MTNA (PDF, 80Kb)

In addition, the MTNA also voted unanimously at the April 20 meeting, attended by over 40 neighbors, to formally request the City Council, Planning Dept., and Planning Commission members to begin a process to look at how we can better prevent the growing problem of inappropriate, out-of-scale houses being built in established residential areas of the city. These houses are built to the maximum levels outlined in Title 33 and are grossly out of character with our neighborhood.

View the letter sent to Mayor Tom Potter, Portland City Council, Planning Commission, Gil Kelly Planning Director and Jay Sugnet Office of Planning (PDF, 29Kb)

Finally, the MTNA sent a letter to the National Trust for for Historic Preservation recommending the Friends of the Reservoirs (FOR) for a National Preservation Honor awards.
View the letter sent to the National Trust for Historic Preservation (PDF, 28 Kb)

The City of Portland Office of Transportation and Portland Police Bureau Traffic Division began using photo radar on March 28, 2005 to enforce school speed 20 mph laws in five school zones in Portland. This eight-week demonstration project, sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, will assess how well photo radar works to increase traffic safety in school zones. The project will end May 20, 2005.

The five test school zones are areas of concern because of documented speeding problems. The test school zones are as follows:
Faubion Elementary, NE Dekum (29th to 32nd)
Vernon Elementary, NE Killingsworth (19th to 22nd)
Glencoe Elementary, SE Belmont (49th to 51st)
Alameda Elementary, NE Fremont (27th to 29th)
Boise-Eliot, N Fremont, (Borthwick Alley to Haight Alley)

The number one traffic complaint among neighborhood residents is speeding. Residents are concerned because speeding cars threaten the safety of our children and compromise the livability of our neighborhoods. According to Dakota InyoSwan, who manages the City’s Safe Routes to School program, concerns about traffic safety are second only to distance as the main reason parents say they don’t let their children walk and bike to school.

Photo radar is one tool Police use to enforce speed laws. It is operated out of a marked police van by a trained police officer. Police radar combines a camera, radar, and a reader board that displays the speed of each passing vehicle. If a speeding car is detected, a picture is taken of the driver and the license plate. The registered owner then gets a ticket in the mail.

Officers are issuing citations that carry a $141 fine for speed violations. 11-20 mph over the 20 mph limit and a $201 fine for speed violations 21-30 mph over.

The City establishes 20 mph school zones to protect schoolchildren. Driving slowly and carefully around schools makes a big difference in a child’s safety, says InyoSwan. “If you strike a child with your vehicle going 20 mph, there is only a 5% chance that the child will die. At 30 mph, there is a 40% chance the child will die, and a child who survives will probably be severely injured. At 40 mph, there is a 90% chance the child will die. We want to remind drivers that you have the power to keep kids safe. Please slow down near schools."

For more information contact Dakota InyoSwan at 503-823-5552

Find out more about this collaborative effort by the Mt. Tabor and South Tabor Neighborhood Associations and the Atkinson Elementary School PTA to acquire and develop a former drug crime property into a vibrant and valuable community gathering place and service facility. Read all of the details.

A summary of the March 2nd meeting of the Mt. Tabor Park Off-leash Area Advisory Committee is now available for download

Meeting summary (116 KB) PDF

The Mt Tabor Park off-leash Area Good Neighbor Agreement Advisory Committee has been charged with providing Mount Tabor Neighborhood Association with the elements of a Good Neighbor Agreement that we can sign with the Parks Bureau to attempt to resolve the issues felt by both the area's neighbors and the off-leash users.

The first meeting of the committee will be on Wednesday, February 9, 2005 from 7PM to 9PM in the basement of the chapel at the Western Seminary, 55th and SE Hawthorne. This room was chosen because the committee is subject to the public meeting laws and there is room for both the committee table and others who want to observe the process.

The group will meet on February 9th and 23rd, March 2nd and 9th.It is hoped that the committee's work can be concluded in these four meetings. If the group feels there should be a community meeting to accept comments on the the committee's work, it will make that determination and set a date.

The 2004 MTNA neighborhood survey results have been compiled and are now available for download.
Download the survey results (200Kb)

Past MTNA news items are available in the news archive.