After a long battle, Eastmoreland neighborhood will settle historic district dispute

Neighborhood poll to eligible homeowners showed a majority were opposed to designation. Board members will decide fate at an upcoming meeting.

A long fight in Southeast Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood may soon come to an end.

Residents there have been sparring for months over whether or not to pursue historic district designation for many of the homes that sit on its land.

The fate will finally be decided at a neighborhood association board meeting from 7-8:30 p.m. Thursday night, March 16, at the Sellwood Middle School Library.

The neighborhood association's board, which supports the historic district designation ultimately approved by the National Parks Service, has been at odds with Keep Eastmoreland Free, a group dedicated to blocking the designation.

The neighborhood association board, which budgeted $50,000 on the effort, and others in favor of the historic district status, see it as a way to help curb demolitions and infill, since it imposes restrictions on homebuilding and design. Those opposed see it as restrictive, since a designation would mean certain rules and obstacles in making alterations to one's home.

A recent poll mailed out to 2,066 eligible homeowners revealed that a majority were opposed to the designation: 702 were opposed, 666 in favor, and 19 had no opinion. Six-hundred and seventy nine people didn't return a ballot.

On Thursday evening, the neighborhood association will discuss whether or not to proceed with designation. They've already submitted the nomination, but will discuss whether to move forward.

Previously, the association's president Tom Hansen told the Sellwood Bee in July that "I think the board is dedicated to the idea that the majority must support [the historic district] before proceeding."

However, Robert McCullough, Eastmoreland Neighborhood Association treasurer and former president, tells the Tribune that the outcome of the poll, the only thing quantifying the neighborhood's support, "was not statistically significant." McCullough is also the president of the Southeast Uplift neighborhood coalition.

McCullough says that "insurgents" from the opposing side were telling neighbors that not responding to the poll meant "yes," indicating that it tampered with the results.

"A number of neighbors reported that they were taken by this shenanigan," McCullough said.

However, Patrick Cummings, a member of Keep Eastmoreland Free, says this was in response to an informational flier sent to neighbors that was unrelated to the poll.

The flier says, "NO ACTION = A 'YES' VOTE."

The intention was to inform neighbors that if they do not act through a notarized objection — a National Parks Service requirement to deflect a historic district designation — they are presumed to be in support of the district, which is true.

Representatives from Keep Eastmoreland Free are leery the board will ignore the will of the neighbors at the Thursday night meeting.

"It seems like (the board) is laying the groundwork despite the neighborhood voting against it," says Cummings.

The poll conducted was an advisory vote and the neighborhood association board can proceed with the designation if it desires. So far Keep Eastmoreland Free has acquired "just short of" 800 notarized objections, but need 1,017 in total to stop it in its tracks.

"It's backwards and undemocratic, but that's the way it works," says Cummings. "There's very little traction that we can get to make it stop."

In February, the State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation held a hearing on whether to stop or delay Eastmoreland's historic designation proposal, but voted unanimously to allow it to proceed.

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See previous Sellwood Bee coverage:

pamplinmediagroup.com/sb/74-news/320219-199164-petitioned-special-eastmoreland-meeting-ends-calmly

www.pamplinmedia.com/sb/74-news/346903-225898-amid-poll-state-committee-votes-to-not-stall-historic-district