From 1942 until it went bankrupt in 1991, the McCormick and Baxter Creosoting Co. took logs barged down the river, treated them and then shipped them out as telephone poles, railroad ties and wood pilings for boat docks. Now, the government is stuck cleaning up 50 years of spilled toxic chemicals. So far, the state Department of Environmental Quality has focused on removing scrap from the site, treating the groundwater and stopping creosote from seeping into the river. The next step is to dig up dioxin-contaminated soil and collect other contaminants on the site. Finally, the entire 58-acre site will be capped with several feet of fresh soil. That plan is fine if another heavy industry moves on to the site, but if the city ever wants to put businesses or housing there, it could hit some snags. "If you decide to put in utilities and dig up the cap, you have to mess with contaminated soils," says Bruce Gilles, a DEQ employee who has worked at the site. "It creates a problem that could have been avoided." On the flip side, the cleanup might be cheaper if the land were zoned for park use. But unless the city re-zones the property, DEQ will clean up the site to meet standards for its current use. "I wish things were different," says Bill Dana of the DEQ, "but that's the way it's zoned. Right now the city is not willing to make those changes." Neighborhood activists would like the city to conduct an interim zoning study for the two-mile stretch of riverfront property between St. Johns Bridge and the University of Portland. Even better, they hope the city will soon launch a master plan for the entire area. They'd also like the M&B site to be considered for re-zoning before the $30 million cleanup is complete and the property sold to another industrial company. "If anyone develops a warehouse here, then we're stuck for another 20 or 30 years," says Kloster, who also works as a planner for Metro. But residents can't force the city to undertake a planning project, and the city says tax cuts have wiped out money earmarked to start ambitious land-use overviews. As a result, the M&B site will retain its current zoning. "Ideally the city would take a look at those things," says David Knowles, the city's planning director. "Why aren't we doing that? Measure 47 and 50." Knowles says budget cuts forced the city to abandon a plan for East Portland in July. The North Portland plan would have come next. Beyond that, Knowles defends the city's decision to retain the North Portland site's zoning. He says there are a limited number of sites appropriate for marine-oriented industry. "For that reason," he says, "there are policy reasons against changing the current zoning." On one hand, the city's desire to prevent industrial land from development, and thereby retain dwindling blue-collar jobs, is smart. But to many, the city's reluctance to consider other options at the M&B site seems short-sighted. Although industry was once dominant in this neighborhood, the area now is a mishmash of light industry, residential and commercial use. Home prices on the bluff above the river are among the fastest-appreciating in the city. Most heavy industry has ceased in the area over the past decade, and residents aren't eager to welcome it back. Residents aren't the only ones questioning current zoning. Although Metro's final 2040 plan left the zoning as is, the regional governing body had initially recommended that the area be re-zoned as open space. Two years ago, Metro also purchased Willamette Cove, an old industrial site to the north of the M&B site, for future development as a regional park. Officials at the Port of Portland, which owns and operates more industrial land along the river than any other property owner, have said in the past that the M&B parcel, and an adjacent property known as the Reidel site, are not well-suited for industrial use. "From our perspective, the two properties in question, the Reidel and McCormick and Baxter sites, do not meet the requirements for good industrial sites," Port planning manager Brian Campbell wrote in a 1996 letter to Knowles. "While they have been historically used for industrial purposes, they are now much better suited for some form of mixed-use development." Campbell's main argument was that the two sites, which both sit below bluffs near the University of Portland, offer poor access for truck traffic. The only roads leading to the site are winding and residential. "From both a location and access standpoint, these two sites fail as industrial sites," Campbell concluded. But despite the opinions of residents, Metro and the Port, the city worked out a deal last summer that could bring an industrial barge operation to the Reidel property, next to the McCormick and Baxter site. The reason: The city wants to move Zidell Marine Corp. from the North Macadam neighborhood, where it's planning high-density housing, to the North Portland site. "It's a tremendous asset and it made sense to purchase [the Reidel property]," says Steven Shain, vice president of Zidell Marine. The proposal ignited protests from the community and spurred a renewed push for longer-term planning. As Oregon's population swells, Kloster says, there will be more and more pressure to redevelop old industrial sites, many of which are polluted. There should be a policy, he says, to discuss the future uses of these sites, called "brownfields," before cleaning them up. "Brownfield development is new for us," he says. "We're not used to dealing with it, and there is no sophisticated land-use process for it." |
