Of course if we build the new port terminal on Hayden Island we absolutely have to build out a massive Columbia River Crossing (CRC) project to accommodate the vast volume of container truck traffic it will bring! The CRC is the ultimate in public-private cronyism seen in these parts in a long time and the powers that be must get their way. It's not just about the port itself...it's about that damn bridge. Don't kid yourselves that this is just the high finance types and so forth behind this because the longshoremen and construction union peeps are all over this as well.

I'm sure there are those who'll argue that this is a necessary sacrifice needed to keep Portland economically viable enough to maintain its present green and sustainable course.

This is very sad. One small battle in the fight for saving habitat, but it is symbolic.

And, among other stupendous fundamental flaws on that outdated 30-year old Pork of Portland land grab: what about all that City of Portland "Equity" talk? = Walking "FAIL!"

They sure turn out a lot of dead trees.

I am amazed that anyone is looking at Portland as a viable port for future shipping business. Increasingly bigger ships have been going to the deep draft ports for a long time now, leaving Portland as a backwater up a long, time-consuming, Columbia River approach. The value is in th barge traffic from inland, but do we need another terminal for that? Seems like a make-work project to me. The people doing most of the work after the terminal I s built will be the sales staff, trying to drum up business abroad.

I have no desire to read this shinola but is there anywhere in the report any mention of the impact that the expansion of the Panama Canal will have on the Port of Portland imports?

Yogi Berra would be proud. Portland is producing Deja Vu ALL over again.
I am suprised that nobody that I have noticed has mentioned the Gazillion dollar coal export terminal that the Port of Portland built in the 1980's? The one that had no customers for the product they wanted to ship in. I believe that was also a Pedophile I mean Goldschimdt project that wasted tens of millions of tax dollars and tied up valuable port property for decades.
Yes, yet another winner project by Central Planning.
Keep after them Jack!
And look Ma no empty lines or spaces, Wooho.

All of this sound noble, but Portland can't even take care of and maintain its parks, we might as well pave over the island and make it a productive economic part of the city.

And look Ma no empty lines or spaces

One empty line between paragraphs is fine.

Well folks should be writing city hall and turning out for the hearings if they want this thing stopped. The Port has been trying annex and rezone West Hayden Island since the late 1990s and they have been turned back each time. It can happen again now but it is going to take a real showing of public opposition. The new draft is still a mess. The city and Port have still failed to address environmental, community and transportation concerns. The also have not addressed a variety of economic issues raised by ECONorthwest. The City and Port have again hit the trifecta: bad project, bad process and bad plan. For those who can't get enough of West Hayden Island issues, the "Save West Hayden Island" facebook page is updating daily.

It is not prime land. Thirty percent of the 800 acres West Hayden Island is manmade via 100 years of dredge material from the Columbia. The periphery of the island is replete with evasive species. It is not public land but 100% privately owned by Port of Portland.

1 out of 12 jobs in our region are related to the Port. We make things in Portland and ship them overseas. The current port facilities are near capacity. If we cannot cost effectively ship products made here to buyers, the companies and jobs will go elsewhere.

If auto or bulk agricultural distribution in Oregon is shut down because of economic hardship due to inability to expand due to lack of land that will not change the demand for cars or food. It will simply push production and distribution to other states or countries, where land is more readily accessible or environmental stewardship is lax or absent. The environmental advocates, while well intentioned, are missing that bit of reality. The premature deaths of more industries in our state are not being prevented; they are simply being transferred to another state or foreign population, such as China, India, and Indonesia.

The Port made a huge concession and reduced the beneficial use of 800 acres it bought for a deep water port to just 300 acres. The value of this land that will not precipitate value and job creation is $100 million. Neither the City of Portland nor the Audubon Society is paying the Port for the loss of this land. On top of that, the Port is paying to increase the net ecosystem function of the 500 acres that will remain as open space.

98% of our state is off limits for development. Once the eagles leave their nest, they have literally millions of untouched land in our great state in which to relocate. This is one of the few locations on the west coast where deep water is adjacent to existing rail and highway.

Unemployment is a weapon of mass destruction. Folks that cannot feed themselves do not care about pileated woodpeckers or shallow water habitat on the Columbia. Unemployed cannot afford to attend Lewis and Clark and get a law degree from an esteemed professor like Dr. Bogdanaski.

As I see it, the social pollution of relentless human poverty and Portland’s continued unemployment above the national average for the past 20 years is far more frightening than the environmental “what ifs” that preservationists use to strangle our regional economy.

A different perspective and one Bojack will hopefully not censor via deletion from this blog.

Brian

Whatever, Brian. The bottom line is that the Port can't afford what it costs to accomplish that 20-year-old scheme.

That is, not without unfairly ("equity" anyone?) externalizing those permanent adverse costs onto the community of people who already live there under the shadow of the looming Columbia River Crossing Bridge & interchange specter -- not to mention all of the natural resource functions and attributes and values of a key island interurban forested refuge and sanctuary for birds and other indigenous creatures -- ESPECIALLY JUVENILE SALMON OF THE ENTIRE COLUMBIA RIVER SYSTEM.

Go fish!

Brian Owendoff,
What is your response to what seems to be quite a shabby public process?
It makes me wonder why the city has to resort to this.

On this blog a few days ago:
....For the past several weeks the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability has told us that they would allow the WHI advisory committee to review the revised drafts of the controversial West Hayden Island annexation agreements in advance of Tuesday's briefing before the Planning and Sustainability Commission, but that there would be no opportunity for the conservation community to testify. Now, at the last minute, they have reversed course completely-- they will allow one representative from the conservation community to testify, but they will not allow us to see the revised annexation agreements until during or after the hearing... meaning that we will be testifying based on old documents that will be outdated by the time the hearing is over.

here is a link to the Army Corps of Engineers report on the expansion of the Panama Canal. http://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/docs/iwrreports/whitepaperpanamacanal.pdf
It might be useful to some one if they get to testify.

Evergreen Libertarian,
Thanks for the link. A world of information about the shipping business.
How does Portland fare with these huge container ships and being inland?

Now stand still so I can shoot ya, ya doggone varmint! Durn those evasive species!

It is not public land but 100% privately owned by Port of Portland.

Isn't that an oxymoron?

clinaman: I have been involved in public process in several cities. I can tell you this has been the most transparent and open process.

Portland has been involved in “analysis paralysis” at a very high cost for over 20 years regarding West Hayden Island.
This is a negotiation. No one gets 100% of what they want (just ask my 8, 10 and 12 year old kids!). When one faction did not get 100% of what they wanted, they pouted and left with their marbles and went home (and had an article on O Live within 120 minutes).

We need to be better stewards of our environment. We also need to have living wage jobs so that people have a fair shot at the hoop to put food on the table and save for retirement (equality of opportunity and not outcome).

Global trade is not going away, we are in now market place, where material, supplies products and labor can be sourced anywhere in the world. To remain successful, businesses must have access to other markets. To remain competitive policy makers must determine how to support this need.

The National Export initiative proposes to double exports in the next five year. They see the opportunity derived from this country selling our products elsewhere. And they know that domestic consumption will not lead the economic recovery.

The Brookings institute metropolitan Export Initiative recognizes the Portland region as a place where we can export our products and do it in a way that is uniquely Portland

Portland is a great place to live - if you are employed. Nearly early 600,000 Oregonians of all ages were living in poverty according to the 2012 U.S. Census. Multnomah County has the highest percentage of population in poverty at 18 percent overall. Portland’s most pressing challenges; income disparities, high unemployment, a low high school graduation rate are all things we must address. Because we are losing ground and that means fewer dollars in our pockets to pay for increasing costs. Because we are an income tax dependent state it is only through growth in jobs or personal income that we can generate enough revenue to pay for critical social services.

I am just another working stiff trying to do the best to provide for my family. If we work together we can create more opportunities for more people.

A perspective from a person that loves Portland.

BMO

That's straight outta PoP's Little Green Book.

Bottom line: the Port picked the wrong place for their plan. The bought that land without due diligence, even at 1990's ken. They're too arrogant to admit their mistake, so now everyone else must sacrifice to pay for their blunder. Not!

Brian, it's amazing that you know what's "uniquely Portland," given that you just brought your real estate carpetbag here from California a few years ago. And have been kissing West Hills money tuchis ever since your arrival, both under your own name and as an anonymous internet troll. I don't know what you're after, but I hope you don't get it.

The periphery of the island is replete with evasive species.

Classic. What a dolt.

Brian: If you are against job growth in Portland so that more people can sustain themselves than relying on government programs

Well, there's your problem, right there: Portland is all about the "creative class" (part-time baristas) who share apartment bunkers and either bicycle or take light rail or streetcars. It's not about good jobs.

A report from the National Center for Policy Analysis says a study done in communities that have banned the use of plastic shopping bags results in shoppers going to areas that do not have such a ban — affecting revenues and employment.

The effect is to reduce the amount spent in the ban area, while increasing sales and employment in stores where the use of plastic bags is permitted.

This is what Portland's all about. And much as folks here may complain, it seems to be what they support. Build a Port facility on dredge-spoils? Bring in good paying jobs? Heresy!

Leave them spoils alone!