Chase should just put in two modular home/office units, fill up the space needed and call it quits. Oh, and add the dying landscape area needed.

Jack - Do you know how many bank branches are already in Hillsdale? Stank of AmeriKa, Worst Fargo has an ATM there, Key Bank has a branch there. So really another bank in Hillsdale. To what purpose does Chase need to be there? They are already at the Raleigh Hills Fred's which is pretty damned close.

In general it isn't the government's business to dictate where a business can and cannot site, with some restrictions (generally for those with adverse effects on other properties - we're talking factories, airports, sewage treatment plants...)

That said, this is Portland. And since Portland had no problem trying to investigate "food deserts", I suggest that there be a blue-ribbon panel to locate "banking deserts" and to attract major banks to site new branches in underserved "deserts" of banking activity

Access to banking is a fundamental right and a key divide between the well-to-do and the impoverished who frequently cannot find banking services and thus must resort to expensive check cashing services, payment services, or handle large amounts of cash putting them in harm's way. It is incumbent upon the City of Portland to bridge this divide and make sure that every Portlander has access to safe and inexpensive banking services within their "15 minute neighborhood" that they can walk or bike to, or if needed take the Streetcar or MAX. No Portlander should be forced to drive across town to find a suitable bank.

If I lived in that neighborhood I'd be happy with a proposed commercial project that only covered 21% of the site. Less concrete, more open space. I understand that elitist Portland planners like to stack 'em and pack 'em, but the neighborhood association should be siding with the bank on this one.

That stretch of road is never going to be pedestrian-friendly. Why deny the obvious, child?

They are already at the Raleigh Hills Fred's which is pretty damned close.

Until last year I lived in the SW area near Hillsdale for 36 years, and need to point out that the Raliegh Hills Freddie's w/Chase inside, while not too far away, is actually very far away when compared to the Burlingame Freddie's (also w/Chase inside), which is just down the hill and around the corner. I know it's closed right now undergoing remodeling, but it will be open again before too long. So why does Chase also want a stand-alone branch in Hillsdale? The only thing I can figure is that Hillsdale is at the foot of the south end of the west hills, with some very upscale neighborhoods nearby, and Chase's marketing gurus must have research showing monied residents who don't want to do their banking in a Fred Meyer store, and right now Chase is losing these customers to Key Bank, US Bank, and Wells Fargo. Nothing else makes sense.

When I grew up in Hillsdale, the Hillsdale Feed & Seed was the biggest building in the area. There was a Piggly Wiggly store and the family-owned Lynch's Market- no Noah's Bagles, but good shakes at Nestor's. Things change with time to suit changing consumer tastes and economic realities. I don't remember local residents havine a say in what businesses could or should locate in the commercial zone. back then people voted with their dollars and it was the businessmen (and a few women) who risked their shirts. Why on Earth should CoP care what business locates in the city as long as it meets the zoning code? And perhaps they ought to be more relaxed on some building dewing codes that would be more user (business) friendly. Seems to me that the desire to control and micromanage everyone else's business has exceeded common sense.

The issue I have is with the turnover traffic that bank branch poses. Traffic in Hillsdale already is insane and that location is not a good place for anything but right turn ingress and egress because of the complicated intersection with Bertha and Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy and Capitol Hwy. Frankly, there are enough yahoos doing stupid things without signally properly through that area.

I completely agree with John Charles- individual city planners should have complete discretion to ignore city code if they think it's a good idea.

Chase, ugh. They're more ubiquitous than Starbucks and less welcome. I'd rather have less Chase branches and no $3 user fee at their ATMs.