Every year, an estimated three million visitors from around the world head to Portland's Washington Park to enjoy one of six signature attractions or to walk any of the 15 miles of forested trails.
A majority of those visitors – 76 percent – arrive by car.
How those drivers access the park, what they do with their cars once there, where and when it will cost them to park, and the impact on the surrounding neighborhoods have been a concern of park managers and neighbors for years – with no resolution.
On Wednesday, Nov. 14, the Portland City Council considered a solution: an agreement calling for a Washington Park Master Plan update, an enhanced shuttle bus system for connecting north and south ends of the park, gateways to the park that minimize traffic in neighborhoods and improve access for visitors and a park-wide paid parking system to fund the improvements.
Nick Fish, Commissioner-in-Charge of Portland Parks & Recreation, brought before the city council the Washington Park Transportation and Parking Management Agreement for a first reading and public testimony.
Portland Parks & Recreation is the owner of Washington Park and the parking lots within it.
Crafted by the Washington Park Alliance consisting of Metro, the City of Portland, TriMet, the Oregon Zoo, World Forestry Center, Portland Children's Museum, Portland Japanese Garden, and the Hoyt Arboretum Friends Foundation, the agreement sets out to resolve neighborhood concerns and improve visitor experience.
Proposed Transportation Management Association
It proposes the creation of a not-for-profit Transportation Management Association that gives parties vested in Washington Park and its surrounding neighborhoods a seat at the table and voice in decisions made over the next 25 years. Two seats on the association board are designated for neighborhood representation.
For some residents of neighborhoods adjacent to the park attending the public hearing, the timing for presenting the agreement to the city council seemed premature.
Susan Alpert Siegel and Joe Angel, board members of the Arlington-Heights Neighborhood Association, expressed surprise in their public testimony that the transportation and parking management agreement had moved forward to the docket of the Portland City Council.
"It's just really short notice," said Siegel who identified herself as also speaking to some of the concerns of the Sylvan-Highlands Neighborhood Association. "We received this full copy of the TMPA (Transportation and Parking Management Agreement) only last week and people just couldn't get off from work to be here today."
Both Siegel and Angel testified that while they were aware of parts of the plan, they had not seen details of the final agreement.
"The agreement, we think, needs some fine tuning," said Angel. "We're asking that the fine tuning take place before you take a final vote on these issues."
Good neighbor agreement
Siegel and Angel along with other members of the Arlington-Heights Neighborhood Association and the Sylvan-Highlands Neighborhood Association have been meeting together for several months with Portland Parks & Recreation, the five park attractions and Metro to develop a good neighbor agreement that addresses most of the same issues as the transportation and parking management agreement.
The two neighborhood associations have been in conversation with managers of the park attractions, Portland Parks & Recreation staff, and Metro since spring 2011 when the Oregon Zoo launched into the planning process for bond-funded improvements and reached out to community members to share the plans and address any concerns. At issue – visitor traffic, parking on neighborhood streets, community safety – and trust.
How to reconcile three million park visitors a year with quality of life for residents of the two neighborhoods directly impacted has been on the table for years, long before Wednesday's city council hearing.
It was evident in comments by members of the city council, the neighborhood associations and staff of Portland Parks & Recreation and in public testimony by managers of several of the park attractions and Metro that the level of trust required to create both the transportation and parking management agreement and good neighbor agreement had been a long time coming and hard won.
No one seemed interested in compromising that achievement.
"What's happened over the last two years is that we went from being sort of very skeptical of even having a discussion to being with people we believe we can trust," said Angel at the close of his testimony.
In response to Siegel and Angel, Commissioner Fish emphasized the city's commitment to making sure neighborhoods' concerns were heard.
"About 95 percent of this agreement is cooked and reflects the values and agreements that have been struck over 20 neighborhood meetings," said Commissioner Fish. He viewed the proposed Transportation Management Association as the place for the discussion of remaining issues.
"We agree with you that it needs to be structured in a way that neighborhoods have a real voice," said the commissioner. " Not just an opportunity to come state their case, but an actual representation."
Commissioner Fish asked that park officials continue to meet with the neighborhood associations over the next two weeks to resolve any issues that remain.