• Neighborhood meetings
• Development applications
• Gas station next to a wetland
• Cedar Hills Apartments
• Leahy Estates appeal is denied
• CPO 1 July meeting notes

No August meeting, see you in September! For our CPO 1 September 13 meeting we plan to have a visit with our State Senator Elizabeth Steiner Hayward MD, who will give us an update on her work, and in particular, what the Oregon legislature is doing in response to the SCOTUS decision on reproductive freedom.

Neighborhood meetings

A meeting was held on July 21 to discuss a proposal for a three-parcel partition with three single-family detached homes (existing house to remain) at 925 NW 107th Avenue at Cornell.

A meeting was held on July 28 to discuss a proposal for a three-parcel partition with three single-family detached homes (existing house to remain) on a 2.62-acre property at 10875 NW Rainmont Road. The property owner is doing a minimum-density application, with “shadow plats” to show that the additional homes could be built. Two of the new houses would be on the Tudor Lane segment of the property.

No other meeting notices were received at press time.

Development applications

Gas station next to a wetland

Robert Barman has submitted the fourth revised application to build a gas station at the corner of 185th and West Union. The community first learned of his plans in April 2020.

He seeks a “Special Use and Development Review approval” for an approximately 4,428 square foot commercial development. “Chevron Market” consists of a convenience market, a gas station with four fueling islands (eight pumps), and a drive-thru. The application has an Access Management Plan for access to NW West Union Road, and a Half-Street Exception for improvements to NW West Union Road. A public hearing is scheduled for October 20.

A group of neighbors has come together to oppose the station because it’s adjacent to a THPRD/CWS wetland, and damage to the fuel storage tanks would cause irreparable harm to the wildlife habitat and the recreational use of the pond across 185th at Bethany Lake Park.

Brandon Phillips, who organized the Neighbors Against Bethany Gas Station (NABGAS) effort says, in response to the latest proposal, “We hope two things happen: Bob Barman realizes he should do the right thing and find a gas station location 500+ feet away from our wetlands—say in the Albertson’s parking lot; and Washington County Commissioners do something beyond saying, “Hm, putting a gas station right there doesn’t make sense.”

Phillips notes, “Our neighbors in Bethany are adopting electric vehicles three times faster than the rest of Oregon and these zip codes have some of the highest electric vehicle density in Oregon. This high EV adoption will cause neighborhood stations like this to quickly go bankrupt, and in many cases bankrupt gas stations are foreclosed on and require Oregon DEQ to spend our tax dollars to clean up. I invite all readers to join our work.”

Cedar Mill News will follow up with more information next month.

Cedar Hills Apartments

Beaverton has received the application to build a mixed-use development consisting of around 4300 square feet of ground floor commercial space and 400 attached dwelling units (apartments).

This is a change from the proposal presented at the CPO 1 meeting and the community meeting both held in May 2022, when High Street Residential told us that there wouldn’t be any commercial use. One of the developer representatives said it will consist of two retail spaces. We’ll follow up when we learn more.

Beaverton Planning Commission will hold a Public Hearing on September 7. The meeting is virtual and begins at 6:30 pm. Written public testimony can be submitted prior to the meeting by emailing Lauren Russell, AICP, Associate Planner at lrussell@beavertonoregon.gov. More information on submitting testimony is available on the Beaverton Development Projects site.

Leahy Estates appeal is denied

On April 4 Joanne Delmonico, on behalf of Treekeepers of Washington County, filed an appeal of LUT’s March 23 approval of the Estates at Leahy Park development on Leahy Road near 107th. The appeal failed when the county Hearings Officer denied the request on July 14. Ken Dobson, a land use attorney representing Treekeepers of Washington County, will file a new appeal with the State Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA).

The developer plans to cut nearly 300 trees and replace them with saplings with the intent “to enhance the upland habitat.” 

Donations towards legal fees are greatly appreciated and can be made on The Treekeepers of Washington County website.

Treekeepers will continue to work to preserve what is left of the Significant Natural Resource areas that provide a home to wildlife such as owls, deer, beaver, hawks, bobcat, coyotes, and many amphibians such as giant Pacific Salamander. Sign up to receive their newsletter and learn about volunteer activities and more.

“Bonny Slope Estates” subdivision approved

A 36-lot subdivision at 11455 NW McDaniel Road was approved by LUT on July 14. A number of neighbors submitted comments expressing concern about traffic, tree removal and loss of habitat, and increased school enrollment, among other issues.

The developer is being required to construct “half-street improvements” to McDaniel including sidewalk, planter strip, and street trees. NW Elise Lane will also receive improvements.

CPO 1 July meeting notes

By Vicky Siah, CPO 1 Secretary

You can watch the July meeting on our YouTube channel here. And please “subscribe” to our YouTube Channel! We can’t get a “real name” until we have 100 subscribers! Like our Facebook page for timely updates through the month.

CPO 1 Chair Virginia Bruce opened the July 12 meeting with a land acknowledgment. Brian Yourstone announced the return of THPRD’s Concerts in the Park series and the Big Truck Day event at Conestoga Recreation Center. Andrea Watson, Tualatin Valley Water District, asked CPO 1 members to consider serving on TVWD’s water rate committee—as of July’s meeting, TVWD does not have a representative for the area north of Highway 26. TVWD is likely reopening the rate setting process, and the Board is expected to consider rate increases for November 1. They anticipate an approximate increase of 14.25% in water rates.

Lt. Ed Rawlinson gave safety updates on behalf of the Sheriff’s Office, and a representative from TVF&R urged attendees to discard fireworks properly as the risk of fires heightens.

Virginia Bruce concluded the general update session by drawing attention to a homeless individual residing near the Cedar Mill wetlands. She also asked participants to report sightings of the invasive emerald ash borer, which attacks Cedar Mill ash trees.

Luke Norman and Clay Thompson from TriMet gave the first feature presentation of the meeting. Norman and Thompson outlined TriMet’s challenges, changes to TriMet’s offerings, and discussed the end of line 50. TriMet is experiencing difficulties in hiring qualified operators and is participating in a national ad campaign to draw eligible individuals from the hiring pool. Incentives include a pay increase and a $7,500 signing bonus; Norman and Thompson state that many people within TriMet’s agency, including themselves, have been called to assist with the hiring process. Due to these issues, certain services must be temporarily or permanently terminated. These services include the Lift service for para-transit and their line 50 route.

Dyami Valentine, Senior Planner at WashCo Land Use and Transportation, joined us to discuss the Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund. STIF provides funds for five main areas: maintaining and expanding existing systems; providing service to priority areas;reducing service fragmentation; improving frequency and reliability; and high school transportation. Washington County is considering adding ten new locations for shuttle services to get people to transit that can be funded with STIF money.

Chair Bruce provided an update on the Thompson Crossing situation. CPO 1 filed an appeal because the development would prevent Thompson from being built as a full arterial. Then Biggi Investments slapped the county with a Writ of Mandamus because the county had already taken 120 days to approve the development application and any further delay is against state statutes. The judge sided with the Biggi family, so our appeal won’t be heard.

Prashanth Ramesh brought up safety concerns with the intersection of NW Hibbard and NW Thompson. “The sight distance in both directions is severely reduced or limited to the point of being a safety hazard,” Ramesh argued. Ramesh has “personally experienced multiple near misses” and “heard similar concerns from neighbors and visitors.”

Ramesh went on to present the information at the July CCI meeting (CCI is the leadership group of all CPOs in Washington County). LUT Director Stephen Roberts attended and has followed up with Traffic Engineering. He let us know that they trimmed some vegetation that was interfering with sight distance, and they plan to add striping to help motorists and pedestrians know where they are supposed to be.

Roberts said, “I’ve also briefed our Capital Projects Manager about the need to pay particular attention to the sight distance at this intersection in the upcoming design work for the future Thompson Road improvement capital project. We will begin preliminary design work for that project later this year.” Some funding has been allocated in the Fiscal Year 2022-23 budget to initiate the project design work for this project. The 2015 update to the MSTIP project list shows the project in the “Years 7-10” section of the list, so it may be addressed before someone gets killed.

Roberts urged us to use wc-roads.com to report any road-related concerns, including request for traffic enforcement from the Sheriff’s Office.