Yes, let's take away people's property rights by adding a morass of additional government regulation on the sale or permitting of one's property improvements. It's freakin Measure 49 on a micro level. Maybe if we didn't have this artificial Soviet wall called the urban growth boundary, folks wouldn't be densifying Portland real estate, spurring demolition and the building of McMansions.

How much sense does it make to tell people: I know your house is well beyond its planned/useful life of 50 years or so; but we are going to restrict you to continuing living in a dank, out-of-date relic of past building standards. Historically, your house was heated with coal; and so, for historic preservation, government is now going to require you to heat your house with coal. Such would be true historic preservation.

In the progressive world, though, there are no standards and no real rule of law. Multiple standards are the lay of the land. Such are the random acts of progressive inspired governance.

Jim:

Thank you for the solid reporting.

As the public involvement and land use actions at City Hall veer away from Portland's values, the language of discourse is shifting to the courts. For those of us who remember longer term goals, this is a very troubling development.

The proposed demolition at 3620 SE Rural is now under negotiation between the builder and the neighbors. Interestingly, Amanda Fritz has not returned emails, letter, and calls from a variety of neighborhood leaders asking why the rules were changed without discussion or transparency. A second demolition at 7110 SE Reed College Place has apparently dispensed with permits altogether, but we have seen little response to our formal complaint

I am out of town on Thursday, but we will be well represented at the hearing. I trust Commissioner Fritz will attend.

Robert McCullough

President, Eastmoreland Neighborhood Association
President, Southeast Uplift

This epidemic of single-family home demolitions erodes the character and culture of our neighborhoods, promotes and accelerates gentrification, creates a negative environmental impact, and disincentives historic preservation,"

It took them that long to figure this out. Good luck getting the attention of City Council they are more the cause than the solution. I noticed with Portland and metro centralized city planners have a collectivist ideology that oppose anything that smacks of individualism choice of lifestyle including single occupancy homes and single occupancy autos and promote though regulation and zoning mass high density dwelling and mass transit.

"This epidemic of
single-family home demolitions erodes the character and culture of our
neighborhoods, promotes and accelerates gentrification, creates a negative
environmental impact, and disincentives historic preservation,"

It
took them that long to figure this out. Good luck getting the attention of City
Council they are more the cause than the solution. I noticed with Portland and
metro centralized city planners have a collectivist
ideology that oppose anything that smacks of individualism choice of lifestyle including single occupancy homes and single occupancy autos and promote
though regulation and zoning mass high
density dwelling and mass transit.