Portlanders believe in helping the environment, living green, and reducing our impact on the planet. So we asked: which is better for the environment: preserving historic houses, or demolishing them and building new infill houses? It turns out that there's no contest. Living in a historic house is far, far greener than replacing that house with infill development. Our historic houses represent many tons of resources, cut from the forests and mined from the earth as much as a century ago. Bulldozing those houses and throwing their remains into landfills is a tremendous waste of resources. To build the new infill building, more tons of trees must be clearcut, metal must be mined, the lumbe
On December 7, 2016 the city council approved the Residential Infill Project (RIP) and directed city staff to begin preparing the necessary regulations and amendments to the zoning code. Most Eastside neighborhoods and other groups tried to oppose RIP, but developer interests prevailed. The council made only minor changes to the RIP proposal, by directing staff to consider options that, even if included in the final rule, will not mitigate the impact on Laurelhurst. These include: - Limiting the size of infill buildings. The possible limit of 2,500 square feet will permit duplexes and triplexes exceeding 4,000 sq ft, because it does not include basements, which only have to be partly below-
We're posting notes from the November 29 LNA meeting. Our contributor (thank you) took notes of the presentations and Q&A relating to the Residential Infill Project and to Historic District. We've left the notes as received, but added clarifications in [brackets]. The discussion was sometimes detailed and technical. We've bolded what we thought were key points. 11/29/2016 BRANDON SPENCER-HARTLE [Bureau of Planning Services, Historic Program Manager] BPS neutral [on whether a neighborhood becomes historic district]. Doesn’t create or block [historic district] HD. No local HD [local historic or conservation district created under state or city law] created since 1995 law requiring 100% ow
Just a quick shoutout. On Sunday Dec 4, at the Laurelhurst School Winter Bazaar, there will be a table with handmade, handglazed porcelain Christmas tree ornaments supporting Historic Laurelhurst. Make a donation, get an ornament in your choice of color, pick up information sheets, sign a petition, and support our Laurelhurst School!
