Class: Building an Accessory Dwelling Unit in Portland

Kol Peterson, a Sabin neighborhood resident, is offering a one day class called 'Building an Accessory Dwelling Unit in Portland' on Sunday, November 6^th. Learn more at pdxadu.blogspot.com

If you’re like me, you enjoy walking the streets around our neighborhood, marveling at what neighbors have done with their houses, landscapes and yards. If you look more closely, you may spot a second smaller house, set back from the street, sitting where a lawn might normally be. These small, standalone houses, sometimes converted from old garages, and sometimes built as new construction, are called Accessory Dwelling Units, or “ADUs”.

Two months ago, I completed an ADU in my backyard. My partner and I immediately moved into our 800 sq ft charmer and now are renting out the main house. I had many motivations for building an ADU, but the notion of a building a financially sustainable housing situation for myself was the most compelling reason.

While the upfront cost of building the ADU was expensive ($92K), I now live for “free”, as the mortgage on the primary house is offset entirely by the rental income that the primary house now generates. Building an ADU on a property is neither cheap nor simple, but if you’re a homeowner with an inclination to have an ADU on your property, NOW is a great time to think about building one. Not only does Portland’s zoning/building code allow ADUs (which is surprisingly rare), but Portland has temporarily waived System Development Charges (typically, $7-12K) through June, 2013, in an attempt to popularize ADUs. The City recognizes that ADUs are a smart way to add density in the city core, while not dramatically changing the character of its neighborhoods. The $7-12K incentive is nothing to scoff at, and with June 2013 only one and half years away, many homeowners have begun to think about building an ADU more seriously.

If you are a homeowner in the area, think about whether building an ADU may be an interesting option for you to pursue for your property: Maybe you’d like an ADU for some flexible living space for a family member, or maybe you'd like to have one as rental property for some additional income, or maybe like me, you actually want to live in a smaller space that you built for yourself from scratch so you can live at little to no cost in perpetuity.

And, for those of you who enjoy sustainability, and community housing….maybe you have been inspired by Sabin Green, or by other green buildings in the neighborhood....consider this: reducing your environmental footprint is primarily about where you build and what size you build. Building an ADU in Portland is actually one of the most green building decisions you can make for you and for future residents of Portland.

In the course of building my ADU, I became so passionate about them that I have begun to offer classes to help others who want to build one. The one day class is an on-ramp to the elaborate process of designing and building an ADU. It will open your eyes to the spectrum of information that you’ll need to know to design and build an ADU on your property. The class is intended to help you understand the ADU design, permit, management, and building process.

If you’re interested in learning more, visit Kol’s blog at http://pdxadu.blogspot.com/p/adu-class.html

Sabin School Boundary / Enrollment Changes...AGAIN

Portland Public Schools is again looking at making changes to many of the K-8 and middle schools in N/NE, including Sabin. The changes are not set yet, but could possibly involved boundary or grade reconfiguration changes.

Please come to one of the upcoming community meetings to ask questions and provide input.

Here are the community meeting times.

Oct. 27, 6-7:30 p.m. Sabin PK-8 School auditorium, 4013 N.E. 18th Ave.

Nov. 2, 6-8 p.m. Rigler K-8 School auditorium, 5401 N.E. Prescott St.

Nov. 3, 6:30-8 p.m. Alameda Elementary School cafeteria, 2732 N.E. Fremont St.

Nov. 7, tentative date, time to be determined Irvington K-8 School, 1320 N.E. Brazee St.

Nov. 8, time to be determined Beaumont Middle School, 4043 N.E. Fremont St.

Vernon PK-8 School, time and date to be determined.

For the latest meeting schedule, go to pps.net (click “Enrollment Balancing” at bottom left) or email enrollment-office@pps.net.

General Meeting TONIGHT at 6:30pm at the Sabin School!

In case you haven't heard through our printed newsletter, tonight is the Fall General Meeting for the Sabin Community Association. We're holding it at the Sabin School (2nd floor auditorium) and once again, there will be a plant exchange outside. We're beginning tonight at 6:30pm with social time and will be reviewing plans for the Sabin Triangle design. Friends of Trees will be there if you want to sign up to have a tree planted. Do come and meet your neighbors, fill us in on what is going on with you and learn how you can get involved in making our neighborhood a great place to live!

Free childcare will be provided.

See you there!

2012 Neighborhood Small Grants and Graffiti Abatement Grants: $30,444 Available!

The Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods is offering $23,794 in small grant funds and $6,650 in graffiti abatement funds to neighborhood, business and community-based groups. NECN will offer $1000-$4000 per project within the Neighborhood Small Grant program and up to $2,500 per graffiti abatement project. Past projects funded by NECN include community orchards, tours of African American murals, afterschool programs, community outreach projects, website design, murals, graffiti clean-up and multicultural festivals.

The goal of the grant program is to provide opportunities for building community and increasing and sustaining involvement in neighborhood associations, district coalitions and the community at-large. This program prioritizes engagement of historically under-represented organizations representing people of color, immigrants and refugees, low-income families, youth, people with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, bi and transgendered people.

Interested in Applying?

If so, we strongly encourage you to attend the small grants orientation session. This year, NECN will host both an Orientation and a separate, hands-on, interactive Small Grant Workshop.

Orientation: September 21st, 6:00pm to 8:00pm.

This informational session will answer questions about the application, the committee review process, what funds can be used for and NECN's unique priorities.  Please RSVP to imani@necoalition.org or 503.823.4264

Small Grant Workshop on October 6th, from 7:00pm - 8:30pm. 

This workshop is meant to give grant applicants a chance to receive direct feedback on how to make their proposals stronger. Draft proposal in hand, participants will pair up and review each others drafts.  Please RSVP to Katy@necoalition.org or 503.823.4135.  Please remember to bring your draft proposal!

Click here for more information and to download an application

Application Deadline is November 1st, 2011 at 5:00pm.

Upcoming Events and Information for NE Portland Residents

Hello neighbors!

Please see below for a variety of announcements about upcoming events, important dates and information available to you. 

• Spirit of Portland Award nominations due this Monday, August 22^nd.  More info here: http://www.portlandonline.com/oni/index.cfm?c=29024

•  The Urban Food Code Zoning Code Update Survey has been extended.  This project is exploring updates to Portland’s zoning code as it relates to urban food production and distribution and animals.  The following link has information about the concept report and the survey.  Please pass along to those you think may want to weigh in.  http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/index.cfm?c=53834

•  The N/NE Quadrant planning project would like public input on the concepts developed so far.  Please visit,www.portlandonline.com/bps/cc2035/nneq to review the information and take a survey to provide your feedback.

• The N. Williams Traffic Operations Safety Project will be holding a community forum in October to explore how the traffic operations safety project relates to gentrification, privilege, historic disenfranchisement, community power, and the nature of public decision-making. More information available soon.

•  The Hayden Island Natural Resources Inventory Draft report is available for review.  This report is the first step in updating the Environmental Program on Hayden Island.  This is part of the planning work for a mix of marine terminal development and open spaces on West Hayden Island.   The report is available here: http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/index.cfm?a=360015&c=50960

•  The Coalition for a Livable Future is accepting registrations for the 2011 Regional Livability Summit.  This year’s Summit will take place on September 14^th and the theme is Climate Equity.  Please visit, www.clfuture.org for more information.

•  Save the date for the Urban League of Portland’s Equal Opportunity Day Awards Dinner to celebrate the mission of the League and honor those who support and serve our community.  The event will be Thursday, November 17^th.  More info, here: http://www.ulpdx.org/EOD2011.html

•  Finally, please watch for more information coming soon about the Neighborhood Small Grants program, a new Speaker Series on community economic development and the Local Leaders Institute! Small Grants information will be available early September and the Speaker Series and Local Leaders Institute are both coming this fall!

--
Shoshana Cohen
Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods
www.necoalition.org

Whole Foods is getting a Face Lift

Dear Sabin Neighbors,

My name is Patty Richards and I am the Store Team Leader for the Sabin neighborhood Whole Foods Market located on 15^th and Fremont. I am absolutely thrilled to announce to you our plans to remodel our store this summer. It feels amazing to take action after the many years of planning ways to improve your shopping experience in our store. It is important for you to know that our plans have been heavily influenced by your direct feedback. We heard from you the desire to have more prepared food offerings as well as enhanced seating to enjoy our great food. We heard from you that produce needs to expand and provide more options. We heard your frustrations with the diagonal aisles and the awkward use of space. We heard your concerns with the lack of ease and comfort of our check out. We heard your thoughts on lighting and brightness. I am happy to report that our remodel will address all of these things and so much more. It continues to be our goal to satisfy and delight our neighbors each and every day and our team at Fremont is committed to making this a reality.

We would love to hear additional ideas and feedback regarding our remodel. Next time you are in the store please feel free to ask for me and I will be happy to answer any questions.  You can also reach me through our website www.wholefoods.com/stores/fremont and selecting “contact store”.

See you in the store soon,

Patty Richards

Sabin Annual Potluck Picnic: National Night Out & Volunteer Appreciation

Tuesday, August 2nd, 6:30pm – 8:30pm

Join us for what always is an enjoyable summer evening of meeting your neighbors. Participate in our raffle to get the chance to win an iPad!

Every year the Sabin Community Association holds a potluck picnic to recognize the work of the many volunteers who have worked on behalf of the community that year. This year we are expanding our annual get together to also include an update on plans for the redesign of the Sabin “Triangle” and plans for the August remodel of our neighborhood Whole Foods store!

In order to highlight our design plans for the Triangle, we will be picnicking this year at the Triangle, at the corner of NE Prescott and 15th (instead of at the hydro park). Please plan on joining us and don’t forget to bring a dish to share with your neighbors. See you there!