High Priority Bottle Drop Call to Action

The following is a from an email from Mike Vial, a St Johns resident and local advocate against OBRC’s proposed Bottle Drop location at 7740 N Lombard St (the Dollar Tree).

Neighbors,

This is a time-sensitive call to action. I’m writing to ask you to email the OLCC board of commissioners as soon as possible. The City has decided that they aren’t going to make any sort of land use decision on the Bottle Drop, which frees OBRC up to file their application with OLCC.

Based on a recent meeting with the OBRC leadership that I attended, along with two SJNA board members, Rep. Travis Nelson, Rep. Maxine Dexter, and city staff, and some conversations that I’ve had since, it is clear that OBRC is trying to decide between pushing forward with the Dollar Tree site or moving on to a different location. I believe that they will back off and abandon the Dollar Tree site for good if they are convinced that OLCC would not approve an application if they were to submit one.

I spoke with an OLCC board member today. He informed me that the OLCC commission is meeting in the next day or two and that now would be the time to make our opposition known.

Please send your own email to each of these people today or tomorrow if possible. Feel free to use any of the sample text below. Please cc me so I can track how many emails have gone out.

Here are the OLCC officials to send your message to:

And here is a sample email to send as-is:

Dear Commissioners,

OBRC intends to submit an application to open a redemption center in the St. Johns neighborhood in Portland at 7740 N Lombard Street. I am writing to you in order to urge you discourage OBRC from submitting this application and to deny the application if it is submitted. Please treat this correspondence as a public comment in the event that OBRC does submit its application.

I live near the proposed site in St. Johns. I’m opposed to OBRC opening a bottle drop at this location for the following reasons:

No Need. This bottle drop isn’t intended to serve St. Johns. The neighborhood already has enough container return locations including green bag return and limited hand-counts including two Fred Meyers, New Seasons, and Grocery Outlet which are all on Lombard, Safeway on Ivanhoe, and various Plaid Pantries, 7-11s, and independent convenience stores.

Land Use. This Bottle Drop, which would be a high-capacity redemption and industrial recycling processing center, is not permitted within a Portland commercial employment (CE) zone, and is completely incompatible with the St. Johns/Lombard Plan 2004 and Portland 2035 Comprehensive Plan. The site is directly adjacent to several residential zones and sits on a pedestrian corridor with a number of pedestrian-dependent businesses.

Crime and Nuisance. This redemption center is intended to replace the Delta Park center, which is being forced to close due to criminal activity and the extremely negative impact that it has had on neighboring businesses. The proposed site on Lombard is surrounded by homes and pedestrian-friendly businesses that could not, and should not be expected to cope with the increased traffic, industrial noise, open drug use and dealing, and street camping that would undoubtedly plague this location. As noted below, Multnomah County District Attorney (elect) Nathan Vasquez opposes a redemption center at this location because local law enforcement does not have the means to properly address the sort of public safety problems observed at Delta Park and other Portland OBRC redemption centers.

Public Opposition. St. Johns Neighborhood Association, Cathedral Park Neighborhood Association, University Park Neighborhood Association, and Arbor Lodge Neighborhood Association have all taken public positions against the Bottle Drop. Virtually every business within a mile of the site is strongly opposed and I have a mailing list of over 600 St. Johns residents who are committed to fighting this development. I was told by City officials that BDS and other agencies have received well over 1000 emails from angry residents. The media has documented some of our concerns:

KPTV: https://www.youtube.com/watchv=2z2L4jcverE&pp=ygUaZm94MTIgcG9ydGxhbmQgYm90dGxlIGRyb3A%3D KOIN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFJ8VWygL9M&pp=ygUZa29pbiBzdCBqb2hucyBib3R0bGUgZHJvcA%3D%3D

Official Opposition. Elected officials and candidates who have committed to opposing the Bottle Drop at the Lombard location include Portland City Commissioners Rubio, Gonzalez, Mapps, and Ryan, Mayor Wheeler, DA (elect) Vasquez, State Rep. Travis Nelson, State Rep. Maxine Dexter, and both Multnomah County Commission District 2 candidates Sam Adams and Shannon Singleton.

I urge you to contact OBRC and let them know that they should abandon their plans for a redemption center in St. Johns and move on to other options.