PNA Overlay Plan: Response to Realtors’ Letter
To: Palisades neighbors
Background information: Narrative Synopsis Tabulation Real Estate Agent Letter
The letter that some of you recently received from some local real estate agencies suggests that your real estate values will decline if a zoning overlay is implemented. Our response follows:
The PNA has no desire to prevent remodeling or new construction on Palisades properties. Quite the contrary, however we do want to encourage thoughtful design where existing neighborhood character is considered. For instance, in some parts of Palisades neighborhood character is defined by scale of homes, a significant number of mature, healthy trees with private, secluded backyards, and landscaped yards (rather than paved).
- Neighborhoods including First Addition, Uplands, Glenmorrie and Evergreen, among others have seen significantly positive results in both property values and preservation of neighborhood character as a result of their Overlays.
- When height limits allow new homes to tower over existing properties and remove all privacy for adjacent neighbors’ backyards then height restrictions are one of the areas we need to address.
- Clearly we are not the only neighborhood association to feel that current code does not always result in ‘architecturally appealing’ homes. For example, there is nothing in the building codes that limit a developer’s ability to repeat the same design over and over again within a neighborhood. This concern is also supported by a majority of respondents to the Neighborhood Character survey.
Current codes do little to protect privacy in adjacent back yards – and the loss of privacy experienced by some homeowners next to new “big box” speculative homes may, in fact, have reduced property values.
- Not all homes, especially homes that are in serious disrepair, should be saved. We wholeheartedly support new construction/remodeling when the result is architecturally appealing and fits into the neighborhood character (similar scale of home and mature landscaping).
- Historic designation is a process any homeowner can use to protect their home for future generations, but it applies to individual homes, not neighborhoods.
- The current tree code is in serious need of updating. Currently tree permits are very rarely denied. Additionally, developers have been known to remove trees illegally, as experienced in Palisades recently.
Ideally the code would preserve more healthy, mature trees while finding a balance for property development. Solutions which should be encouraged include changing the footprint of the home slightly, changing its orientation, using bridge foundations at major tree roots, and others.
We are not an HOA (Homeowners Association) and have no intention of creating one. There is no proof that an overlay will limit options for home improvements or marketability when selling. In fact, done correctly, the opposite is true as shown in the previous paragraph.
East Moreland is not comparable to Palisades as they are in a different city and county. The overwhelming support for maintaining certain aspects that define our neighborhood character is evident by the responses of the Neighborhood Character Survey.
We encourage you to contact the city and us with your thoughts. Here are the links:
Palisades Neighborhood Association:
City Council Members:
CouncilDistribution@ci.oswego.or.us
Planning Commissioners:
PlanningCommission@LakeOswego.city
Scot Siegal:
Iris McCaleb:
For more information about the Palisades Neighborhood Overlay Plan please visit:
Narrative | Synopsis | Tabulation | Real Estate Agent Letter
