Send in Your Testimony to Keep Colwood Green!
The proposal to rezone Colwood Golf Course from open space to industrial goes to the Portland City Council on September 17th. It is critical that everyone who wants to keep this area open space send in testimony to Keep Colwood Green!
Not sure what to say? Here is a sample letter
Send your testimony to the Portland City Council Clerk via email: kmoore-love@ci.portland.or.us
Or standard mail: Karla Moore-Love, Council Clerk, 1221 SW 4th, Room 140 Portland, OR 97204
Why should anyone care about a golf course being rezoned?
Because Colwood is one of the last parts of the environmentally sensitive and diverse Columbia Slough area that has not been lost to industrial development. As noted by the Hearings Officer, the Colwood site open space is unique, is a practically irreplaceable asset. Our region cannot afford to lose a single inch of open space in this unique natural area.
The area surrounding Colwood is extremely deficient in parkland, natural areas, and other open space. The Cully neighborhood access rate is 2,780 people per park acre, compared with a citywide average of 40 people per park acre. Additionally, the transition from open space and habitat area to industrial use would have a pronounced effect on local health. North and Northeast Portland already suffer from the long-term effects of existing and historic industrial uses in the area. New air and water pollution sources in this area would have a pronounced impact on the health of local residents as well as local wildlife.
What should happen to Colwood?
How about a new regional park? Seriously. Creating a Colwood Regional Park would dramatically enhance the livability of the Portland area. Funding sources for a Colwood park include Metro s Natural Areas Bond and the Portland City s parks system development charges. It is important to note that both of these funding sources may only be used for park and open space acquisition. Use of these funds would not affect the funding of other pressing needs in Portland or the region.
What could a Colwood Regional Park be? With 140 acres, the better question is What do YOU want it to be? A canoe launch and interpretive trails like at Smith and Bybee lake, a learning farm like on Sauvie Island, new bike and pedestrian access to the Columbia Slough trail, more play fields and playground space, a state of the art driving range. These are just some of the possible amenities for a Colwood Regional Park. But the door closes to everything that Colwood could be, if it is rezoned to industrial.
More information at http://keepcolwoodgreen.com
September 5th, 2008
4:30 am
[...] you may know, we have been involved in a critical local issue: preventing the rezoning of Colwood Golf Course from open space to industrial. There are many reasons to ensure that Colwood does not become an industrial area. One of the [...]