Neighbors’ Nudge Transforms Wild Lot
By Fred Leeson, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.
Jan. 4–A vacant and often damp city lot in the Markham neighborhood has taken on a new identity — as a mostly vacant and often damp city lot.
But what a difference.
Instead of wild brush, the sloping lot at Southwest 17th Avenue and Taylors Ferry Road is now a tiered swale that collects and cleans storm water on its way to Tryon Creek.
Two large pipes at the upper end dump storm water collected from eight hilly acres into a man-made basin. From there, the water seeps through two lower basins before it disappears under Taylors Ferry.
Besides cleaning the water and slowing its erosive flow into Tryon Creek, the landscaped swale provides a contemplative green space in a neighborhood that could use more parks.
This victory for the environment and nearby residents did not come quickly. John Gibbon, president of the Markham Neighborhood Association, says neighbors started talking in 1997 about trying to transform the unused Water Bureau property into a small park.
The Portland City Council said no in 1999 but agreed to transfer the land to the Bureau of Environmental Services as a storm-water mitigation site.
Led by Amanda Black, a nearby resident, a hardy corps of neighbors worked several years to track the design and encourage implementation. And nearly 30 residents showed up in October to plant grasses, sedges and trees.
“The original idea was to see if we could make a water-quality amenity that addressed their issues about making something beautiful at that site,” says Jennifer Devlin, a city watershed program coordinator.
The plan evolved over several meetings. “They sent us back to the drawing board a few times,” Devlin says. One key addition was decorative stonework on a low-lying concrete wall that encloses the basins.
“It’s a functional wall to keep water in the facility so the plants can do their work,” Devlin says. “People felt a concrete wall wasn’t going to look very good. So we came up with the stone cladding, and everybody’s happy with it.”
Other additions sought by the neighbors include a park bench in one corner and large rocks that can be used for sitting as well as keeping cars out. Yet to come: a sign explaining why the swale is there and how it works.
Leonard Gard, land-use specialist for the Southwest Neighborhoods coalition, says the Bureau of Environmental Services has a history of listening to residents. In this case, he says, neighbors knew more than the city about the area’s runoff problems.
The project budget was $102,000. Of that, $40,000 came from a $2.6 million federal grant for innovative storm-water projects, and the rest was from city money. “What we need is a lot of small fixes like this one throughout the headwaters area,” Devlin says.
The city is monitoring the swale’s performance this winter to see whether any changes are needed. “It will be exciting to see how it works,” Gard says. “I haven’t heard of any problems so far.”
Says Black: “We’re all pretty pleased how that project turned out.”
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