August 25, 2003

More On The Showdown Over Pioneer Courthouse

Today's Oregonian provides more on Commissioner Francesconi's decision to not provide the General Services Administration with the required permit for a "curb cut" as part of the project to build an underground parking garage beneath Pioneer Courthouse:

The city Office of Transportation told the U.S. General Services Administration project manager Friday that it will not issue a permit to allow a driveway from Southwest Morrison Street to a new garage below the courthouse. That's because city regulations don't allow access in blocks where vehicles would have to cross light-rail tracks to get in or out of the property.
...
lliam DuBray, executive director for the GSA Northwest/Arctic Region, said officials do not know yet what will be done about either issue.
As for the street access or curb cut, which GSA needs in order to construct judges' basement parking and a new driveway to the 1875 building, DuBray said the office will seek an appeal process.
"If one exists," he said, "we will use it. . . . The way we see it, we're just asking to move (the existing driveway) a few feet down" to the east.

The article has a Francesconi spokesman indicating that there is no appeals process, either to the Portland Department of Transportion or to the City Council (which, frankly, seems a little odd to me).

Meanwhile, Michael Harrison, who handles transportation issues for Francesconi's office, responded to my inquiry about possible next steps:

Though we hope they will respect our decision, the Federal Government has the ability to take our property through condemnation. If they were to pursue that course, we would contact our City Attorney to find out what legal recourse would be available to us.

Parenthetically, the Oregonian article also states that the costs for the project are now projected to exceed the GSA's original estimates by about $5.5 million. The details of this, unfortunately, are not in the online version, which ends with a note to see page D4. For what it's worth, an Oregonian staffer, in a comment to this earlier post, informs us that they "in the newsroom" hate OregonLive "far, far more" than even we readers do.

Posted at 10:46 AM | PermalinkComments (0) | TrackBacks (12)
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Trackbacks (12)

  1. No parking on 26 Aug 2003

    While I've been busy watching major league baseball in Portland unfold, the brouhaha about the planned renovation of the Pioneer Courthouse here in Portland sure has gotten interesting, hasn't it? In the latest twist, the City of Portland has announced...

  2. No parking on 26 Aug 2003

    While I've been busy watching major league baseball in Portland unfold, the brouhaha about the planned renovation of the Pioneer Courthouse here in Portland sure has gotten interesting, hasn't it? In the latest twist, the City of Portland has announced...

  3. No parking on 26 Aug 2003

    While I've been busy watching major league baseball in Portland unfold, the brouhaha about the planned renovation of the Pioneer Courthouse here in Portland sure has gotten interesting, hasn't it? In the latest twist, the City of Portland has announced...

  4. No parking on 26 Aug 2003

    While I've been busy watching major league baseball in Portland unfold, the brouhaha about the planned renovation of the Pioneer Courthouse here in town sure has gotten interesting, hasn't it? In the latest twist, the City of Portland has announced...

  5. No parking on 26 Aug 2003

    While I've been busy watching major league baseball in Portland unfold, the brouhaha about the planned renovation of the Pioneer Courthouse here in town sure has gotten interesting, hasn't it? In the latest twist, the City of Portland has announced...

  6. No parking on 26 Aug 2003

    While I've been busy watching major league baseball in Portland unfold, the brouhaha about the planned renovation of the Pioneer Courthouse here in town sure has gotten interesting, hasn't it? In the latest twist, the City of Portland has announced...

  7. No parking on 26 Aug 2003

    While I've been busy watching major league baseball in Portland unfold, the brouhaha about the planned renovation of the Pioneer Courthouse here in town sure has gotten interesting, hasn't it? In the latest twist, the City of Portland has announced...

  8. No parking on 26 Aug 2003

    While I've been busy watching major league baseball in Portland unfold, the brouhaha about the planned renovation of the Pioneer Courthouse here in town sure has gotten interesting, hasn't it? In the latest twist, the City of Portland has announced...

  9. No parking on 26 Aug 2003

    While I've been busy watching major league baseball in Portland unfold, the brouhaha about the planned renovation of the Pioneer Courthouse here in town sure has gotten interesting, hasn't it? In the latest twist, the City of Portland has announced...

  10. No parking on 26 Aug 2003

    While I've been busy watching major league baseball in Portland unfold, the brouhaha about the planned renovation of the Pioneer Courthouse here in town sure has gotten interesting, hasn't it? In the latest twist, the City of Portland has announced...

  11. No parking on 26 Aug 2003

    While I've been busy watching major league baseball in Portland unfold, the brouhaha about the planned renovation of the Pioneer Courthouse here in town sure has gotten interesting, hasn't it? In the latest twist, the City of Portland has announced...

  12. No parking on 26 Aug 2003

    While I've been busy watching major league baseball in Portland unfold, the brouhaha about the planned renovation of the Pioneer Courthouse here in town sure has gotten interesting, hasn't it? In the latest twist, the City of Portland has announced...