Humboldt Neighborhood

PCC GIVES MORE DETAILS ABOUT EXPANSION

Apr 08, 2001

Representatives from the Humboldt Neighborhood Association (HNA) have been busy meeting with PCC to obtain more details about the expansion and to discuss neighborhood concerns. To date PCC has held two public forums with a third and final one set for Wednesday, April 11th at 6:30 p.m. in the PCC-Cascade cafeteria. The primary neighborhood concerns raised to date involve the displacement of existing business & residents, parking & traffic, and campus design related issues.

What You Need to Know: PCC is expanding its campus into the existing Humboldt neighborhood. Right now it looks like they plan to expand west to I5 primarily on the north side of Killingsworth to as far as Jessup. At this time PCC indicates that they will not touch the businesses situated on the north side of Killingsworth between Albina and Mississippi. PCC also plans to acquire additional property on the south side of Killingsworth between Kerby and Borthwick. In all, it is anticipated that this plan would displace about 14 homes and about 5 businessesPCC intends to keep the new buildings as close to the current campus as possible in order to create a core campus environment. It envisions enhancing the current business district by placing new buildings with potentially commercial/community uses, such as a bookstore, on Killingsworth. Some of the newly acquired land will also be used for much needed parking. Green spaces will also be incorporated into the expanded campus.

The college hopes to purchase needed property from willing sellers. However, if a seller is not willing and the college decides that it needs a particular property, they are permitted to invoke what is called ?“Eminent Domain?” or ?“Condemnation,?” which allows the college to buy the property from the property owner at fair market value even if they are unwilling to sell. It also requires them to pay for relocation costs and replacement housing, which in some cases can be advantageous to the owner/renter. PCC was granted this power when the Cascade campus was founded many years ago. Figure 1 on page one shows the boundary where PCC is able to expand and use eminent domain.

In order to receive City approval for their expansion, PCC must submit an Impact Mitigation Plan (IMP). This plan will describe how and where the campus will expand over the next 10-20 years. PCC is set to submit its IMP to the city later this month. Once submitted, a formal review process is conducted and community input is invited during public hearings. PCC has agreed to provide their IMP to the HNA before it is submitted to the city and has diligently worked with the HNA during their drafting process in an effort to ensure that neighborhood concerns are addressed in the IMP.

To ensure that the neighborhood has a meaningful role and voice in the expansion process PCC and HNA have agreed to draft a Good Neighbor Agreement (see related article on page 3). This document will be discussed at HNA?’s General Meeting on April 9th. We need your input.