Controversy arises over 7-11 at S.E. 52nd and Woodstock Blvd.

By Merry MacKinnon
The Bee, Nov 3, 2010

Ever since Arby’s Restaurant at S.E. 52nd Avenue between Woodstock Boulevard and Martins Street closed two years ago, cracked asphalt has accumulated in piles around the empty building, and the parking lot has become a dumping ground for stained mattresses, derelict couches, and other detritus.

Homeless men hang out there and, were it not for a border of mature sweetgum trees blocking some of the unsightliness, the corner could be a textbook example of urban blight.

Which is why some may be surprised that when word spread that a 7-Eleven convenience store could locate there, a group of Woodstock residents, including many homeowners on S.E. Martins Street, quickly organized to oppose it.

“If enough concerned citizens stand up and say, 'No!', I think we can stop this,” says Yvette Clark, who owns a house on S.E. 51st and Martins. “Better to be empty than be a 7-Eleven.”

Click here to read the full article.

TONIGHT'S AGENDA VIA THE WNA

Tonight's meeting will be run by Woodstock Neighborhood Association President, Kathryn King. Please see the below agenda.

7-11 7:00pm
Ground rules: up to 1 minute per person for comment during discussion. Recap on strategic plan 2 minutes, update on SEUL position 2 minutes. Meeting adjourn at 8:00pm, exit church 8:30pm. Once spoken, new parties will have opportunity for comment prior to additional 2nd comments.
Call to order	7:00
Brief introductions	7:02
Brief Background
WNA Position – Kathryn	7:06
Site plan & elevations – Terry	7:07
Good neighbor plan – Leah or Terry	7:09
Petitions, yard signs, strategic plan - Yvette	7:12
Long term vision for neighborhood – Kenny	7:15
Organizing opposition and outreach – Creation of steering committee 1. Pass around sign-up sheets for email, taking yard signs &/or petitions; 2. Decide on email address; 3. Someone to manage a list serve; 4. Formal spokesperson.	7:16
Ideas for desirable neighborhood businesses: 1. Summary of online survey and website for taking survey; 2. Strategies for approaching these businesses and property owners.	7:45
SEUL position - Leah	7:58
Close “at large” meeting	8:00
Steering committee discussion & organizing
Exit building	8:30

Come to the planning meeting, Nov 9th at 7pm!!!

The meeting time is 7:00pm, and not 7:30pm as I accidentally previously posted. Please pass it on.
WHAT: Planning Meeting (without developer, realtor, & 7-Eleven rep!)
WHEN: Tuesday, Nov. 9th, 2010 @ 7:00pm
WHERE: Our Lady of Sorrows - Corner of SE 52nd and SE Woodstock (kitty-corner to 7-Eleven site)
WHY: At this public planning meeting the objectives are...

1. Inform the public about what is happening (in detail) with news from the Woodstock Neighborhood Association Land-use committee and others who have been working on the issue.
2. Discuss educated next steps on how to either stop 7-Eleven from entering at all, or (if unable to stop them) find a way to get them to make changes such as no malt liquor sales, address traffic issues and litter, lease to local tenants providing products and services that will better the community, and/or AVOID the installation of a check-cashing store, chain coffee shop, and other bad choices.
3. Distribute lawn signs, organize petition signing, and create a communication web to ensure people are informed quickly of meetings and updates.
4. Organize what we are doing in preparation for the next public meeting with the realtor, contractor, and chain rep. (e.g. who is inviting the media, getting the community informed, etc.)

NEW NEWS: THE 9th IS NOW A PLANNING MEETING

WHAT: WNA SPECIAL SESSION: FORMAL LETTER MEETING
WHEN: NOV. 9th, 2010
WHERE: OUR LADY OF SORROWS (Corner of 52nd and SE Woodstock)
TIME: *****7:00pm****
MEETING TYPE: PUBLIC-all welcome!, RUN BY WNA PRESIDENT AND LAND-USE COMMITTEE CHAIR

DETAILS: According to the Woodstock Neighborhood Association (WNA) as per last-night's monthly meeting, the developer and realtor asked if we could CANCEL the meeting on the 9th and reschedule for later in November, TBA. **WE ARE STILL MEETING ON THE 9th**, but instead the Woodstock Neighborhood Association officials are meeting to drafting a formal letter to the city, the realtor and contractor with very specific points of concern. The WNA has been advised that this is the best way forward. THE DEVELOPER , LAND OWNER AND REALTOR WILL *NOT* BE IN ATTENDANCE ON THE 9th.

We have some very informed and great people working on this via the WNA, so please come to become more informed on what us as citizens can do moving forward. Specifically the Land-Use Committee Chair of the WNA has done a great deal of research to understand our steps moving forward. Do understand, however, that this is a WNA meeting and so will be held to order and standards in order to complete this letter in a timely manner. Please keep your tempers in check.

There is also a meeting this Friday, November 5th, but this meeting is specifically about getting petitions signed. The formal compliant letter, better details of what we are doing moving forward, etc., will be at the meeting on the 9th.

Thank you again for being part of this. Please attend both or just one! Please let others know about this.

- Woodstock Cares

PLANNING MEETING: Friday, November 5th at 6:30pm

Please come if you would like to hang signs, get petitions signed, and/or contact media outlets etc., in opposing the 7-Eleven moving into SE Woodstock and SE 52nd. This is a planning meeting for what to be done before a November 9th public meeting.

For those of you that didn't know there is a big meeting on November 9th, 2010 with the landowner, developer and 7-Eleven rep. Please let's make sure this meeting is well attended by media outlets, concerned citizens and public officials!

The planning meeting is this Friday at 6:30pm at Pappacinno's to arrange outreach and petitioning for keeping 711 out.

If you can't come please email CareAboutWoodstock@gmail.com if you would like to post posters, take petitions door to door to get signatures, and/or do anything else for the November 9th Meeting.

Stay tuned for a meeting very soon

I'm finding out from a few folks about having a meeting this week ASAP.

Heads up. We need to be considering people for roles to do the following tasks in a hurry before the next meeting with the land owner, developer, and 7-11 rep. These are what I believe the tasks will be, but we need to flesh this out at a meeting ASAP.

Tasks:

• Make posters inviting people to the next public meeting (1 person)
• Distribute posters (3-5+ people - all over Sellwood, East Moreland, Reed, Mt. Scott and Brentwood... AND Woodstock)
• Someone writes our official statement of the standing of Woodstock Cares and our opposition to 7-11's intended presence.
• Someone call AND(not or) emails the big TV outlets about the meeting. Ask them to send a reporter and preferably a camera. Tell them a big turnout is expected (fingers crossed) (1 people)
• Someone to post meeting to free e-calendars and announces on social media sites as invitations, ads and other ongoing information (1-2 people)
• Someone contacts the 4-5 neighborhood associations and asks them to send at least one representative each, if not a posse (1 person)
• Someone calls AND(not or) emails KBOO, OPB and other radio outlets to request a reporter AND offer a live interview by a representative of Woodstock Cares. (1-2 people)
• Someone calls AND(not or) emails Willamette Week, Portland Mercury, and other publications in Portland about this meeting an issue.
• Someone to call local businesses and request they send a representative to the meeting to voice their opinion. (1 informed person)
• Someone to call/email other citizen action groups that may be interested in backing this effort. (1 informed person)
• Optional: Someone contacts local universities to inform civic participation and request advice, support and that they let their students know to come to the meeting as well (1 informed person)

Thoughts? Feedback? Ideas?

For Those of You Just Finding out...

On Tuesday, October 20th, 2010 at 6:30pm, a meeting was held at the SE Uplift building on 3534 SE Main Street (two blocks north or Hawthorne) to discuss the want for 7-Eleven to lease and build at 52nd & Woodstock.  The meeting was poorly advertised and many people who showed up only had a day or a few hours notice.  The land owner, contractor and a representative from 7-Eleven were present to discuss the project. 

Plans and a building design were presented by 7-Eleven.  Needless to say,  the neighborhood residents of Woodstock were opposed to the site being occupied by 7-Eleven.   After many hours of discussion no real decisions were made other than finding out these facts:

• 7-Eleven has already signed a lease with the landholder and while they say they may be willing to break that lease, penalties for such were not discussed.
• The developer is not interested in building for anyone other than 7-Eleven due to the fact that 7-Eleven has great credit (considering it is the largest chain store in the world, surpassing McDonald's by 1,000 stores).  He is also the exclusive developer for 24-Hour Fitness. 
• The water and sewer have already been disconnected at the Arby's site and demolition is planned for the next three weeks with a new building construction planned in as little as 30 days. 
• This meeting was the first time anyone from the community has seen the artist renderings of the site plan or the schematics for that plan.
• 7-Eleven has NOT followed and completed all of the Title 33 zoning codes for convenience stores by the City of Portland. [Click here to download Title 33]
• Title 33 states that the land owner and future tenant and were supposed to contact the neighborhood association to inform them of this meeting and then to discuss a mandatory Good Neighbor Plan. They made no effort to do this. 
• Title 33 also states that the and owner and future tenant were supposed to send notice to the adjacent properties within 15 days of this meeting informing them of this meeting. They did not. 
• A representative of the neighborhood association made it clear that this will be discussed at the next meeting and a date set for a meeting with the landowner to discuss this situation. 
• The landowner could possibly be interested in selling the property for an approximate sum of $950,000, and claims that the property has been for sale (although only for lease signs have ever been present on the building). 
• Burgerville made an offer on the property but the site was deemed cost prohibitive to develop there. 

Other Information to Keep in Mind: 

• A survey of Woodstock residents has surfaced that a local or regional brewery, bakery or bookstore would be best received by the residents and frequented often.
• McMinneman's and Solstice Brewing have both been looking for a way to "get into" the Woodstock neighborhood, as both see the area as a good market.
• 7-Eleven, far from a local company, is not even a U.S. company. It is operating under Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd, which in turn is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co. of Japan.

The take-home is this: Click "Follow" at the right of this blog to keep up on this issue. We will be having a rally soon and inviting media outlets.  It is important that as many people as possible attend and we get the attention of the City of Portland.  We need to fight this!  Even if we can't stop them from moving in, we have to consider ways to make them not become a crime magnet. Many suggestions have been made, such as

• Find a way to require the site be a multiple store site where a local bakery, brewery or other tenant can coexist.
• Find a way to require the store to close between the hours of 12pm and 5am to promote safety in the area.
• Find a way to require the store not sell alcohol or only sell it within certain hours.
• Make the adjacent street one-way or local traffic only streets with speed bumps.