Modern is good for NoPo infill site, design commission says

The Portland Design Commission denied a neighbor's appeal of a modern, green, glass-and-stucco three-story triplex on North Vancouver Ave. during its meeting yesterday.

The full story will be in Monday's DJC, but commissioners basically said that though they understand the concerns, the design integrates nicely into the commercial-residential mix within that particular piece of Portland. Lloyd Lindley called the architecture "well orchestrated."

One thing about the meeting that struck me -- but I didn't include in Monday's article -- was the half-assed communication on both sides. The design team from William Kaven and developer Rich Anderson didn't meet with the neighborhood (Christopher Sahli, the Boise Neighborhood Association's land use co-chair said Daniel Kaven was a no-show for a presentation to the board). Kaven said he hadn't actually been on a meeting agenda, and the BNA board's concerns with the design were news to him.

Nobody was required to talk to anybody on this (a triplex isn't big enough to mandate a neighborhood meeting). But to try and develop a limit-pushing infill project in a neighborhood that's been known to kick up a little dust without having a public conversation is...like trying to get past a drug-sniffing dog with a joint in your sock.