Courtesy / City of Portland
An aerial view of the parcel being proposed for rezoning near University Park in Portland.
Updated: September 9, 2019
Portland developer wants to build 20 townhouses, but neighbors say no
Photo / William Hall
The western end of University Park, with Yale Street to the left. The proposed development would run along the park's southern edge, to the right.
By Staff
The Portland Planning Board is set to take up a developer’s request to rezone undeveloped land that borders a Deering Junction park, paving the way for proposed construction of 20 duplex townhouses. But a neighborhood group has pledged to oppose the plan.
The board is scheduled Tuesday to hold a workshop discussion of the request by Wescott and Payson LLC to change the zoning of a 3.4-acre tract adjoining University Park, a wooded greenspace that covers 9 acres between Allen and Washington avenues.
The parcel consists of 26 former lots fronting a 1,450-foot stretch of Harvard Street, all laid out when the park was established in 1937, according to city documents. But the lots are now homes to trees and brush, and that portion of Harvard Street is an unimproved right-of-way used as a walking path.
To develop the lots and build a total of 40 residential units, each about 1,500 square feet, Wescott and Payson would need to extend Harvard Street west to Allen Avenue and add storm drainage, sidewalks, curbing and lighting.
But first the developer needs the zoning change.
Although the parcel is an R-3 district, which is primarily for single-family housing, much of neighborhood to the south is zoned as an R-5, which allows multifamily homes. Many of the lots on the northern side of the park, along Yale Street, are part of a subdivision approved in 2003 as an R-3 zone.
A group of area residents, Save University Park, has expressed opposition to the rezoning and development plans, criticizing the loss of greenspace and the increased traffic burden on neighborhood streets. The group has mounted an online petition against the proposal, and had collected more than 300 signatures by Monday morning.
Any rezoning would require City Council approval, which might be based on Planning Board recommendations. The board workshop is scheduled for Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., at Portland City Hall, 389 Congress St.
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Anonymous
September 9, 2019
Portland needs to improve traffic situation before adding any more housing.
Anonymous
September 9, 2019
Bravo to the ‘Save the Park’ neighbors! Too much green space is being lost to thoughtlessly overdeveloped neighborhoods, where traffic congestion is already a huge problem.
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