The BDNA will meet from 6:30 – 8:30 on Thursday, January 5, 2023.

The meeting will be held via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84474843955 The password is bdna22.

Brentwood-Darlington Community Center. Please join us for a presentation about the future of the Brentwood-Darlington Community Center by Andy Nelson, executive director of Impact NW. Envisioned is a center that serves as a gathering and meet-up place for B-D neighbors, a well-stocked resource and information center, and an emergency services hub that offers cooling or heating during extreme weather events.

Other BDNA board business:

Action required:  Approval of proposal to conduct an electronics recycling effort on April 1, 2023 at the Brentwood-Darlington Community Center.  Approval to apply for funding from Metro’s Refresh Fund, which is available to Equity Focus Areas.

Action required:  Approval of proposal to hold crafting class at the community center two or more Thursday evenings per month during 2023; class open to the community.

Find January 2023 meeting agenda here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wkwdF7sj2Zp3llchEFpBld88fR725Ehm/view?usp=share_link

Winter, Brentwood-Darlington.

Black Futures Farm has wound up a 2022 growing season bountiful in produce, culture, solidarity, and influence.  As a project of the Black Food Sovereignty Coalition, BFF occupies 5.5 acres in Brentwood-Darlington’s Green Thumb complex.  The farmers identify as Black- Diasporic and Continental African people who “work together to grow food and community.”  In 2022, their big harvest baskets overflowed with vegetables, flowers, berries, grapes, and fruit. For more information, see https://blackfutures.farm.

Electronics Recycling.  On April 1, 2023, recycle your old devices, chargers, cables, computer, printers, and more at the Brentwood-Darlington Community Center.  Stay for a hands-on workshop on bicycle maintenance and repair, a seed exchange, and game-playing directed by Master Recyclers. The address is 7211 SE 62^ndAvenue (9:30am-12:30pm).  Mark your calendar.  April 1^st – THIS IS NOT A JOKE.

Master Gardeners.  The Multnomah County Master Gardener Demonstration Garden has also wrapped up a productive year.  The garden donated 1,576 pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables to local food pantries, received 345 visitors, and held an “Open Garden” in August. The Demo Garden is a teaching space open to anyone who wants to learn from or work with Master Gardener volunteers.  They’re closed for the season now, but will be welcoming learners, volunteers, and visitors again on March 6, 2023.  Email inquiries here. 

Brentwood-Darlington Community Center.  Are you aware of the community center near Lane Middle School?  Impact NW and BDNA are working on a plan for BDCC’s future. Along with rehabbing the building and working out legal issues, we are envisioning a space where friends can meet up, residents can connect with resources, and people can take refuge during extreme climate-driven weather events.  As planning evolves, we will be reaching out to the residents of B-D to join us in shaping BDCC’s future.

Zoning changes proposed for Brentwood-Darlington.  Many Brentwood-Darlington residents desire more shops and services closer to home.  However, we have seen little commercial development in B-D to date because we are low density and low income compared with other parts of Portland. City planners working on the Lower Southeast Rising Area Plan have suggested zoning changes for stretches of 52^nd and 72^nd avenues north and south of Flavel Street that might attract developers.

The changes would allow for taller buildings than now allowed. The buildings could contain commercial or residential space, or a mix of the two.  Zoning allows land owners to build new buildings, but only if they want to.  

The Lower Southeast Rising Area Plan is also concerned with transportation and displacement issues.  For detail on the entire plan, consult the draft Preferred Framework Report; see especially p. 25 for the zoning map, which also proposes zoning changes along Flavel Street east of 72^nd Avenue.  

The BDNA will meet from 6:30 – 8:30 on Thursday, December 1, 2022.

The meeting will be held via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84474843955

Please join us for presentations by Black Futures Farm and Master Gardeners, followed by lots of motions, announcements, and reports starting at 7:05pm:

• Action required:  Approval of proposal to conduct an electronics recycling effort at the end of March 2023.  Approval to apply for funding from Metro’s Refresh Fund, which is available to Equity Focus Areas.
• Action required:  Approval of BDNA effort to collect more information (including resident sentiment) on routing of Line 10 through our neighborhood; development of advocacy.
• Announcement:  Derek Covey – TriMet needs drivers!
• Report:  City of Portland trash-reduction effort – walking Duke St on Nov 30, 2022.
• Report:  How Brentwood-Darlington voted on charter reform
• Report:  Gas stoves are hazardous to your health 

7:30    Update on TGM (Pam Hodge, PAC representative).  Review of zoning changes proposed by the TGM planners from Planning & Sustainability. What do the proposed zoning changes mean for our neighborhood’s commercial and housing development?  Report on draft anti-displacement plan.  

7:45   Update on BDCC (Stephenie Frederick). Report on Nov 18, 2022 meeting with Impact NW director Andy Nelson to develop a plan to recast BDCC as a resilience hub and thriving community center; resolve legal issues surrounding the title and ground lease.

Find agenda here (revised 6:30pm, Nov 23, 2022): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Yo9RtdKnx-QSKSYy1f4RgicU51BAPfDP/view?usp=share_link

Fall color near the beaver pond in Errol Heights Park.

Wood Smoke.  Fires in backyard fire pits and indoor fireplaces poison the air with millions of tiny particles linked to asthma, Alzheimer’s, cancer, diabetes, preterm births, and premature death.

We residents of Brentwood-Darlington harm ourselves with our own wood burning.  And the winds bring us wood smoke from people north and west of us.

Burning wood on poor air quality days is now forbidden year around (but read here about exemptions).  For more information, view article and video at:  “How harmful is a simple backyard fire?”

Zoning for More Businesses, Apartments.  When surveyed, residents of B-D spoke up strongly for a more-businesses, more-apartments scenario.  The area at SE 72^nd Ave and Flavel Street should be named a commercial center; SE 52^nd Avenue from Duke to Flavel should become a commercial corridor. 

Altered zoning would permit mixed-use and apartment buildings in those areas to be as high as 4 stories (now the zoning restricts such buildings to 2-3 stories).  

You are invited to join a land-use meeting on November 10^th at 7:00pm to pose questions to city planners.  For example:  What does “mixed use” mean? How do developers respond to zoning changes?  Would our areas change quickly?  What would those parts of our neighborhood look like?  Can we have a say in what types of businesses elect to settle here?

BDNA Land Use Zoom link:  
 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87546110684?pwd=alF0YmNzRGhjcEkyRUVlZXdOeDU0Zz09

The BDNA will meet from 6:30 – 8:30 on Thursday, November 3, 2022.

The meeting will be held via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84474843955 Password: bdna22

Please join us for speakers on the health hazards of wood burning, and for a look at recommendations for our future commercial zones.  

6:50   Presentation: “Multnomah County Wood-Smoke Curtailment Program” by Jonathan Cruz, Program Specialist, Multnomah County Health Department

7:10   Presentation: “Lower Southeast Rising Area Plan, by Bill Cunningham, Project Manager, Bureau of Planning & Sustainability

Find full agenda here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16-01j0azTsLuoi5kHW33ZMhEEsSihKDa/view?usp=sharing

All are welcome . . .

Learning Gardens Lab has cancelled its harvest festival (to have been held on Saturday, October 29th, after a reschedule from Oct 19th).

The cold and rain are proving to be too much for the resources on site.

New try next year!