SPNA Resolution
The following is the resolution adopted by SPNA Board on October 7, 2020
Whereas, Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) and Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) are currently pursuing planning projects involving the Ross Island Bridgehead and Naito Main Street; and
Whereas, those planning projects are successors to and build upon earlier plans produced by the South Portland Circulation Study (SPCS); and
Whereas, South Portland Neighborhood Association (SPNA) was actively involved in the SPCS, as also were numerous individual Lair Hill residents and property owners; and
Whereas, the extensive community participation in the SPCS, and the public involvement so far in the current PBOT/BPS planning, have revealed a number of general elements that constitute the community’s vision and expectations for the reconfigured ramp area and Naito Parkway; and
Whereas, although those basic concepts of the community’s vision have become readily apparent, SPNA has not formally adopted a concise statement and description of the community’s vision; therefore
Be it resolved:
South Portland Neighborhood Association hereby adopts and supports the following statement of principles and concepts regarding planning for the Bridgehead and Naito:
The existing R. I. Bridge approach ramps should be removed and bridge traffic routed onto a new street configuration;
The new street configuration should be designed to route regional traffic, to the full extent possible, around and not through the Lair Hill neighborhood;
Where it is unavoidable that regional traffic must pass through the neighborhood, it should be directed onto designated arterials and not on neighborhood residential streets;
The new routes for regional traffic should be carefully designed to prevent drivers from taking short cuts or otherwise cutting through the neighborhood on local streets;
Naito Parkway should be reconfigured so that several east-west cross streets connect across Naito and Naito itself becomes more pedestrian and bicycle friendly;
The reconfigured Naito should incorporate the existing frontage streets in order that the full new Naito right of way will be no wider than absolutely necessary;
The land where bridge ramps are removed, as well as excess Naito right of way, should be rezoned and made available for development that primarily includes needed housing and neighborhood commercial services;
Properties that are not within the bridge ramp or excess right of way areas should not be subject to rezoning except through a case-by-case review that includes active involvement with SPNA and the property owners;
The new zoning and development standards applied toland in the bridge ramp area should only allow buildings whose uses, massing, and scale are compatible with the characteristics of the existing surrounding neighborhood;
Specifically, the new regulatory framework shouldprovide that:
Building heights should not exceed 4 stories;
Buildings near the west edge of the ramp area should be of smaller scale and lower height than those toward the east portion of the area;
Existing large trees along the west edge of the area should be retained where possible;
The new development area should include as muchgreen space as possible for general public use;
Review of new development should encourage building designs and detailing which recognize, respect, and complement the surrounding South Portland Historic District.
In short, SPNA strongly believes that this extensive new development in Lair Hill should be planned and regulated so that the end result resembles a traditional modest neighborhood center and not a mini-downtown or an extension of South Waterfront.
Following adoption, SPNA will transmit this Resolution to PBOT and BPS staff, and at appropriate times to the Portland Planning and Sustainability Commission, Portland Design Commission, and to members of the Portland City Council.
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