Appeal Fee - Progress Ridge Garage

We met our goal! Thank you to all who contributed and spread the word about the appeal fee.

Please like and share the new Facebook page "Keep Progress Ridge Pedestrian-Friendly" by clicking the link:
https://www.facebook.com/ProgressRidgeParking


BACKGROUND

As many of you are aware, two weeks ago the Beaverton Planning Commission gave the ok on Gramor Development's application (DR2014-0043) to build a large parking structure at the west end of the lower parking lot at Progress Ridge.

This is a rendering showing how it would look from Big Al's and it will extend to the left toward Ava Roasteria.


Whether or not you believe there are parking issues at Progress Ridge, think about whether this parking structure, which will be more than 50,000 square feet in footprint – in this location – makes sense.


If additional parking is needed at Progress Ridge, then it should be added in a thoughtful way – not in the middle of the Town Square. One solution would be to add parking to the west parking lot of Big Al’s as shown in the concept plan the developer presented to the City in 2009.

A number of local residents have pointed out issues with the proposal including:  the aesthetic downside, the removal of views, the potential for reduced pedestrian and child safety, the negligible exploration of public transport alternatives to vehicular traffic, and the lack of evidence of need for such a structure except on rare occassions.

More than 8 years ago, the Planning Commission recommended in favor of a change to the Town Center - Multiple Use (TC-MU) zoning that would have allowed a 180,000 square foot Fred Meyer store, in lieu of a Town Center. At that time, the community banded together to file an appeal with the City Council to oppose the recommended change.  In the end, the community won, and the Progress Ridge that we know and love today was created.


NEXT STEPS

On November 7th, we filed our appeal with the City of Beaverton.

On November 19th, we'll present at the Southwest NAC  meeting at Nancy Ryles Elementary. The meeting starts at 7:00.

We do not have an official date for the appeal at this time, but it will likely be December 2nd.

For anyone who is interested in details, the Procedures section of the City Development Code describes appeal procedures in "Section 50.70. Appeal of a Type 3 Decision":  Click Here

We're encouraging everyone in the community to right to New Seasons and Big Al's and let them know that we'd like our voices to be heard.  Sample letters, which can be sent via email either "as is" or customized, can be found here:

Big Al’s Word Doc
Big Al’s pdf
New Seasons Word Doc
New Seasons pdf

Thanks to everyone for their support raising the appeal fee.