On January 8, the Sabin Land Use & Transportation Committee will be considering plans to divide several lots in our neighborhood.   

The owner of the corner lot at the SW corner of 16th and Failing (3835 NE 16th) would like to partition the lot into two smaller lots. A demolition permit has already been issued for the existing house on the lot.  The Sabin Community Association is entitled to comment on the owner’s proposal to divide the lot before the City makes a decision.       
 
The owner of two lots on 14th between Fremont and Beech would like to subdivide them to make a total of four smaller lots.  We understand that he intends to build two duplexes on the lots. He wants to talk to the Sabin Community Association about his plans. The Sabin Community Association will be entitled to comment on his proposal when he eventually submits it to the City.      

The Sabin Land Use & Transportation Committee will be meeting on January 8, at 7:00 pm in the upstairs conference room at the Whole Foods on 15th & Fremont. Everyone is invited to come and participate in the discussion.

The committee’s regularly scheduled meeting on January 1 has been cancelled. Happy New Year to everyone! 

From bikeportland.org:

As recently as 2007, almost 50 percent of Oregonians said it was more important "to expand the highway system to reduce traffic congestion" than "to preserve and maintain the highways Oregon already has." As of this year, that's fallen to 29 percent.

Read more here.

"The number of single-family home demolitions has skyrocketed since the end of the recession. City regulators have approved more than 230 demolitions so far this year, up 40 percent from all of 2011. Now neighbors are pushing back, arguing they deserve ample advance warning when a house is about to come down." Read the full story in the Oregonian.

If you're not familiar with Chipotle, they commit to using only ingredients that are raised with respect for the animals, the farmers and the environment. Read more about their commitment to "food with integrity" here.

PUB board members will be there to greet people, so be sure to say hello and thank them for supporting the Sabin Bee-Friendly Garden Project.

Urban coyotes primarily consume rodents, but they also eat garbage, compost, pet food, fruit and vegetables from gardens, birds, insects and the occasional free-roaming cat or small dog, according to the Audubon Society of Portland. They live in burrows, under fallen trees, in brambles and other spaces that some offer protection from the weather.

According to Audubon, "There has only been one human death attributed to coyote predation in the United States. This occurred in California in the 1970s when a coyote that had been deliberately habituated to human handouts preyed upon his human feeder's three-year-old child. In Oregon the only documented "attack" on a human was a provoked situation in which a man was bitten while attempting to beat a cornered coyote to death with a 2x4. Those incidents that have occurred nationwide most often fall into the category of nips, bites and scratches rather than predatory attacks and almost always follow situations in which the coyote has been deliberately habituated to human handouts."

If you don't purposely feed coyotes, you're unlikely to have problems with them. You can also take these steps to avoid feeding them unintentionally:

* secure trash and compost bins
* remove fruit that has fallen from trees
* keep pet food and small pets indoors
* eliminate opportunities for rats to breed in or around your yard

If you see a coyote in Portland city limits, you can report it to the Urban Coyote Project, a collaborative effort between Portland State University geographers and Portland Audubon Society, by filling out an online form. The purpose of the project is to learn more about urban coyotes and how people respond to them.

Ben Kaiser is moving ahead with building an 85' condo building on N. Williams, despite pleas from neighbors to scale it back a bit. Read more about the man and his mission in this story from the Oregonian.

Some folks in the Eastmoreland neighborhood are pushing for a change in the city code that allows homes to be demolished without any prior notice under certain conditions. The Oregonian is trying to gauge opinions on this subject. Read more on this topic and weigh in here.

If you want to know what's happening in our neighborhood, check out MLK in Motion...

photos courtesy of MLK in Motion