by: TRIBUNE PHOTO BY JONATHAN HOUSE – An anti-large house sign sits near a Renaissance Homes infill project in Southwest Portland.
No one on the Development Review Advisory Committee proposed making the notifications mandatory, however. That disappointed several neighborhood representatives at the meeting who argue that neighbors should always be notified before a nearby home is demolished. Under the existing City Code, notification is not required on homes where a developer applies for a demolition permit and a construction permit on the same day.
According to Anne Dufay, executive director of the Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Program office, notification is especially important for houses built before 1973, when asbestos and lead paint were common.
“Asbestos and lead paint chips can be thrown into the air if a demolition isn’t done right,” Dufay says. “Neighbors need to know when it’s going to happen so they can leave or monitor the work.”