Beaverton City Planners move to approve the development next to Meadow Waye Park. What can be done about it?
Public comments on the Southridge Park development that will add nine houses and a north-south street extension were taken and the city planners have issued a preliminary approval based on Beaverton Development Code. Although many neighbors provided comments, the city planners dismissed most of them on account of them not specifying reasons within the Beaverton Development Code. Please find the link below of the approval.
The city planners have also included remarks about specific concerns (the FR-18 etc references refer to pages in the approval). Several issues unanswered before development, including:
- Allowing homes to be built that do not meet solar goals for the city (FR-18), when if all homes were required to face north/south they would be able to do so?
- Why THRPD remains in silent approval of a narrow road abutting the park where small children play, when as 'neighbors' with utilities easements they should also be taking an interest (SR-6)?
- Why an analysis isn't required in advance of approval because of a possibly dangerous intersection created that will connect with SW 133rd Ave/SW Bluebell Lane (SR-7)?
To their credit and as noted in the preliminary approval (below), the developers offered also to THRPD one possible solution to which THRPD shows no interest.
So what's next?
We as neighbors can file individual appeals, however the South Beaverton NAC is able to do this on our behalf (and paying the fee to do so), and the last date for submission is March 2, 2020 at 4:30 PM.
The neighborhood group is waiting to hear back how to compile all answers for the appeal, but will need them at least two days in advance for any compilation purposes. In the meantime, if you are an interested neighbor then your help is very much needed. If as a group a single volume of replies can be compiled then watch this site for where to send your points for appeal.
South Beaverton NAC Appeal
The Beaverton NAC is going to file an appeal, but an appeal requires several things. For this, we need all interested parties to review the report, and give specific comments based on errors made in the report.
- specific approval criteria / condition being appealed
- specific reason(s) why a finding / condition is in error as a matter of fact, law or both
- specific evidence relied on to allege error
- how did the appellant(s) provide evidence to the decision-making authority? Where in the official record is such evidence?
The Preliminary Approval PDF (link below) is in a zip file, because it contains email addresses.
The most important part of the appeal is to demonstrate how the specific decision is wrong within the context of the Developer Code or even the Comprehensive Plan. If your reason does not specify this, it will get ignored in the appeal.
Please read the Preliminary Approval PDF, especially in regards to such conditions as traffic safety with the new intersection being created. Compare this with the Beaverton Development Code. Make a note of any mistake, and keep the reference to the relevant section of the Beaverton Development Code. As above, we need to show where the city planners have made a mistake.
What This is About
A large single lot will be subdivided into nine separate lots in an interior neighborhood in South Beaverton. The lot abuts Meadow Waye Park and according to documentation will add a very narrow connecting street and nine homes on the lot. Several of the homes have variances allowing them to be smaller than the R5 lot size. The connecting street will not support on street parking and will also create a very complex and potentially dangerous intersection near a play structure. It will also remove many large trees. Look carefully at the provided information. Although the new street looks quite wide in depictions provided, it is going to be 20' wide, which is much narrower than the streets it will connect. The consensus of most surrounding neighbors are:
- A 20' road that supports no on street parking should not connect two full width streets, as parking is already a problem for park visitors
- This development will result in a very complex and potentially dangerous, obscured vision intersection at 133rd Ave and SW Bluebell Street, a location near a small children's play structure
- Nine homes can only fit with variances permitted by the city, which indicates that there are too many for the size of the plot
Updated Documents Related to the Development
These are documents related to the development. The Development Narrative includes the petition and responses from Riverside Homes. The Site Plan is the actual map of the property and details about the development. The Pre-Approval Notes detail responses from the city dating back to 2018.
Developer Narrative PDF | Site Plan PDF | Public Notice PDF | Draft Facilities Review | Preliminary Approval | Appeal Application