Park SDC Meetings Coming Up

February 19, 2008 | by admin | Posted in Advocacy

System Development Charges (SDCs) are one of the ways that parks and natural areas are funded throughout the city and the region. We currently have a system of parks that serves the community well, however, given the predictions of growth in Portland and the Metro area, a concern arises about the ability of the current parks system to accommodate the future growth in the region. The System Development Charge Proposal for Parks, Trails and Natural Areas currently under consideration would maintain the current level of service within our parks system, as well as provide for 745 new acres of park space and 342 acres of developed or restored park space.

The strategic acquisition and development plan has been refined to reflect the thoughtful comments provided by the public in January. Included in the plan is a set of seven maps showing the target areas for new parks, trails and natural areas. These maps are available online. Look under “What’s New” for the link called Park SDC Update. Materials will also be distributed at the upcoming community open houses and public hearing.

Community Open Houses
Wednesday, February 20
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Multnomah Arts Center
7688 SW Capital Hwy

Monday, February 25
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
East Portland Community Center
740 SE 106th Avenue

Public Hearing
Wednesday, March 5, 2:00 p.m. (Time Certain)
Portland City Hall
1221 SW 4th Avenue
Council Chambers

Comment

Comments (1)

  1. Jim Labbe Permalink  | Feb 22, 2008 05:24pm

    Some additional information on trails that may interest folks:

    Recently the Commissioner Dan Saltzman revised his proposed Park SDC increase to response to comments from the BTA and other trail advocates requesting that the program fund more trail. The latest proposal will alone fund acquisition and development of some 12 to 18 trail miles depending on trail width (The previous one funded 9 to 14 miles depending on trail width). For comparison, the existing Springwater Corridor Trail in the City of Portland is ~12 miles in length. Since SDC funds are critical to leverage state and federal dollars this is a conservative estimate of the impact of the new park SDC for trails. For a map detailing trail projects that would be funded as part of the Park SDC package see:

    http://www.urbanfauna.org/images/NEWTrails.jpg

    For more information on writing City Hall on this issue see:

    http://www.urbanfauna.org/

    Jim Labbe