Did excavation for a food cart pod create a landslide risk?
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PORTLAND, Ore - Homeowners living on a hill in Northeast Portland are worried they are vulnerable to a landslide, and they blame the owner of a new food cart pod for creating what they believe is a dangerous situation.
The food cart pod in question, Rose City Food Park, is at Northeast 52nd and Sandy Boulevard.
It's not the food carts that are the concern, but the hillside behind them where the property owner performed excavation work earlier this year without a city permit.
"I was in my office on a conference call and I looked down and saw this big CAT tearing this bank out," said homeowner Tom Foley. "That's a dangerous slope there," he added. "If we get tons of rain, that's going to slough off."
The property owner, Tom Westerman with Westerman Developments LLC (based out of Sherwood), turned down our request for an on-camera interview. He asked us by phone to accept his assurance that the hillside has no issues.
Westerman said Foley is not qualified to assess any problems and argued that he improved the hillside by removing bushes and dead trees, and re-seeding the land. Westerman did acknowledge, however, that he is still finishing the paperwork involved in finalizing his permit.
That's little comfort to Foley, who worries that his home, and possibly his neighbors' houses as well, could end up falling down the hillside. He doesn't expect a landslide this week or this month, but he is concerned that his house is vulnerable. He wants Westerman to restore the hillside to its earlier stability.
"It's not a rare thing in the Northwest for hillsides to slide and houses to follow," Foley said.
We talked to the city's Bureau of Development Services about the situation and a supervising engineer told us the hillside is "mostly stable," but the property owner is still working to fix a few areas of exposed dirt.
This isn't the first time that Westerman has run into permit trouble. Last year, he was forced to close a food cart pod at Northeast 20th and Everett for several months after failing to get the proper permits.
Removing bushes, shrubbery and dead trees on a hillside is asking for erosion, not to mention the scooping-out of the soil on the hillside. These homeowners' homes are probably going to lose value and there will be problems with their homeowners' insurance policies as well, I suspect. The fact that this Westerman did not get permits means that the cops should have been called and he should have been immediately made to cease and desist. The homeowners should sue him and get a lien put on his property as well.
'Mikey' - Westerman has a sordid list of accomplishments and why not bypass the city? Once it is a done deal and is paying taxes the city is happy - more money to spend on pet projects...
Well, I went to portlandmaps.com and typed in the address, 5221 NE Sandy Blvd, and the most recent permit was from October of last year, when they put in outdoor lighting. Nothing about regrading or erosion control, soil disturbance, stormwater managment or any of the other things that would have gone into obtaining a permit to regrade that hillside and remove whatever existing retaining structures were there. Looks like Westerman's "rep" was not being honest when he stated earlier that they did in fact have permits pending or temporarily issued. No wonder he removed his comment.
Well, if something happens, Tom Westerman will be more than happy to replace any and all damaged homes and property! What a guy!! (wink, wink)
Ya that hillside does not look good at all and if it comes rushing down it will go right into his food court. Looks like a future news article to me.
 @Duvie23 I'm speaking for Westerman? Nope, just myself.
@Common Guy My comment was under "None" not you....
I guess if they wanted to control what was done with the property, they maybe should'a bought it. I'm not terribly sympathetic to the property owner either, seeing as he didn't bother to get a permit, however it may be possible that he didn't know he actually needed one. I don't think most folks would assume that you need the city's permission to dig on or remove earth from your own property. Whoever built those houses should also have taken that into consideration - it is next to a commercially-zoned area, and the chances were good that this property would eventually be developed or utilized commercially. A competent developer would have taken that into account, and taken soil samples to make sure that the houses would be stable, even if the adjoining property were cleared all the way to the property line.
 @Mick Wagner what are you smokin', dude? It's making you hallucinate odd things and broken concepts.
@Mick Wagner You can't be serious. This is a joke, right?
If this was Europe, I'd say a bunch of gypsies moved in!
Kind of hard to judge actual distances from these photos, but just "off the cuff", I think if I had one of those homes above the area where this slope was worked on, I would be very apprehensive, too... Â
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Why would someone be allowed to do work of this kind before a proper permit was finalized - and with a reputable geologist's report being included in the application..? Â Â Seems like this has been done kind of back-azz-wards, and as another poster noted, you can't just go back in there and restore a hillside like that to its previous condition...
@margay1 That's how they do things in Portland at times when quick decisions are required; especially if it is something the City likes or agrees with or wants!Â
Looking at the pics closer I have a few more questions...
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1) Is that permit lisetd the incomplete one?
2) I see an area it looks like the vegetation was removed but I do not see the seeding...Must have been done after the picture
3) There looks like a substantial retaining wall at the base to begin with. Just looking at what looks like it was disturbed and what was there I dont see how this would crete a landslide condition
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That being said...YOu still need to have the permits first before you start the work....
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The permit to remove some dead vegetation on the slope which could be a hazard to people below should have been a slam dunk....why not get it done?
 @Duvie23 Seems most all of the vegetation was alive and anyway all of it's root structures kept the hillside more stable. That retaining wall will collapse if a slide begins or get completely covered (probably both).
1 & 2 were meant as questions and 3 was more of a statement....
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@None You do not start the work until you have the permits....that is the rule...If you had a conditional permit then show that to us...
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My guess is no activity was likley supposed to be done until such time as the permit was finalized...
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You are spinning the information, and for the most part a lot of this scrambling you are likely doing after the fact.
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It seems from the above you or your client has problems securing permits before he starts the work...
Notice the spokesman "none" has pulled his comment....
Would someone lease explain to me the obsession this City has with food carts? Is our economy that bad?
@Rob C 503  They are a 'food fad'. There is actually a show on the Food Network about it. It is a nationwide craze. Personally, I think the pods are trashy and cannot wait for this fad to be OVER
@oh4FS Those are food trucks...they are mobile and use existing parking lots and street frontage. This is different because most of these are trailers that are dropped off and not as mobile and tend to stay in one location longer.
 @Rob C 503  @Duvie23 Washing of hands? Available toilets? Pay to eat freezing in the rain? Hmmmm...a fad, eh?
@Rob C 503 Sometimes it is a nice out of the office lunch opportunity....often gets lots of different food choices in a centrally located space...
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I am ofcourse talking more about lunch trucks....I worked along Moody down in the south waterfront and there are like a few food trucks and some carts located in this one dock area. From pizza, to burgers, to burritos, etc...
@Duvie23 .....good point. Thanks for the distinction. But it's still a "style" of dining I don't quite get.
@oh4FS ......I've seEn that on the food channel. But it seems like downtown carts were flourishing before it became theater.
I would want to make sure that Westeman has the insurance to cover in case of loss. If not the homeowners need to lawyer up. Hmm, I would lawyer up anyway, this sounds lilke there should have been a geology report done on this before the fact.
@Billy Batts Exactly...you say you are working with a geotech. His report is required as part of the final review...It should have already been done...
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You do not move dirt until the permit is issued. Eevryone else has to play by these rules and you should too...
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What if your neighbors above you decided to level his back yard and did not have a permit? Lets say he didnt use proper siltfencing and a stream of sediment stream down the hill onto the paved lot? I bet you wouldn't like it....What if he caused the landslide and it slid down the hill injurying or killing people at the food pod? I doubt he would have that type of insurance to cover personally all the potential lawsuits....who do you think they would sue? YOU!! You are probably too dimwitted to be in business long anyways....
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There is a couple of shady contractors in that sherwood area....They generally wear out their welcome and then just change their name and start over. I have seen 2 of them personally...
although the permits are annoying, they do have an important purpose.
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David Kobbeman
Yes but unfortunately, it seems that property owners are given a grace period by which they are allowed to apply for the permit after the work has been performed.
@oh4FS Not all municipalities do that and it is not on all items...
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This is a critical item? I htink he should be fined....
Another outstanding example of the American Business Theory that "fines for breaking the law are just a cost of doing business". The idea of actually following the law never seems to matter to these guys.
So, if he did this illegally, without the required permits, what needs to be done so that he "fixes" this slope? I mean, he should be held responsible for putting it back to the way it was, or as close as possible to not let sliding occur. He can't just decide to up and leave the slope as it is can he? It sounds like to me he's responsible whether he gets the permits or not.Â
@fracas The city will review the geotechs report and likley have their engineers look at it and if they feel he did nothing to compromise the slope it is over....
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If he compromised the slope his mitigation of this may not be as simple as put it back the way it was...YOu cannot put back the slope the way it was...YOu wount be able to achive the compaction.
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My guess of possibly remedies may be additional drainage to make sure water is moved quickly out of the area and not allow a slide to occur....Perhaps even have to add a structural wall, soil nails, etc...
Based on the limited view from the news real, the complainant has a legitimate concern. The downslope soils removed served to hold back the rest of the slope, landslides are created this way all the time by ignorant property owners. Unless Westerman hired a geotechnical engineer to evaluate the stability of the slope, there is no assurance of safety for the homeowners.
 @Common Guy Mr. Westerman did hire a geotechnical engineer.
@None @Common Guy Since you are speadking for him answer this...
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1) When was the permit initially filed?
2) When was the geotech initially hired?
3) Was the geotech report in the initially filing of the permit?
4) Did you even notify the city of a plan to remove soil or vegetation at the toe of the slope on along the slope? If they didn't know you were going to do this type of activity they may not have needed a geotech report
5) Did you permit have included grading plans and an environmental control measures plan?
 @Duvie23 Including dead trees which are necessary for some urban birds' nesting and survival.
Also many municilaties require an arborist report before vegetation of a certain type, size, or location can be removed....
Looks like a multi millon Dollar lawsuit awaits in damaged properties when the houses are damaged in a slide. Sad thing is, he'll probably just leave with out a trace taking it more time to find him should a slide occurs.. only time will tell.