City: Worrisome hillside at food cart pod is 'mostly stable'
PORTLAND, Ore - The city says the property owner of a food cart pod who came under fire following some unpermitted excavation work is working with them to make sure the area is completely safe.
The food cart pod in question is Rose City Food Park at Northeast 52nd and Sandy Boulevard.
Directly behind the pod is a hillside where some excavation work was done earlier this year. The work was a surprise to the homeowners that live at the top of the hill and now they're worried there could be a landslide someday. And the fact that the property owner started digging without a permit hasn't made them feel any better about it.
"That's a dangerous slope there," neighbor Tom Foley told us. "If we get tons of rain, that's going to slough off."
The property owner is Tom Westerman with Westerman Developments LLC (based out of Sherwood). We talked to him earlier this week by phone and he assured us the hillside is safe and that he was working on finishing the paperwork to finalize his permit.
- Read our previous story: Did excavation for a food cart pod create a landslide risk?
We followed up with the city to find out more on the situation. A supervising engineer with the Bureau of Development Services told us the hillside is "mostly stable" and that the property owner is working on fixing a few areas of exposed dirt.
If you have concerns about erosion where you live, or believe there is a code violation, you can contact the Bureau of Development Services at (503) 823-0900.
"Mostly stable"?
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This guy sounds mostly out of line for digging without a permit. Deny the permit, issue a huge fine to Mr Mostly and require that he put things back to where they were. And get that food cart pod out of there!
He should be refused the permits, fined, then forced to make that hillside stable again...and more than MOSTLY...idiot.
the question is???? what are all the food carts doing with some of the most famous restaurant landmarks
in town?? The Rheinlander and Zien Hong restaurant. Let's be clear, do they really need to be there in
this economy
Who on this forum wants to buy one of these houses for a decent market price (assuming you needed a house and had the money)? Nobody? No show of hands? Thought so.
"MOSTLY stable"? That doesn't sound reassuring., or insurance-worthy. I would love to hear what the insurance companies of the homeowners above think of that terminology!
So all this means is that another developer gets off free from fines  or charges for breaking the law. What kind of message does this send to young people here in the Portland area. Thanks Sammie boy lover and your special group down at city hall.
Ya know what? If someone builds on a hillside and the hill side slides away and the house collapses I just care. Almost all canyons were made by hillsides sliding down into the water and then washing away the dirt. It's called erosion and has been happening for billions of years.
@RalphCramden Yeah...but that's nature doing her thing. Not some dipsh*t who wants to circumvent the city law just to make money.
I've known plenty of chicks that were supposed to be "mostly stable", turned out they weren't that stable.
I like that phrase "mostly stable"
It mostly slides down at night. Â Mostly.
Homeowners, keep a copy of this report so when your houses slide you can get payment from the city. I would never buy a house on a slope like that to begin with but they don't deserve someone coming along and making it worse. Isn't there going to be any consequences for this guy who thumbs his nose (repeatedly) at city permit rules? He should have to get a permit and engineering inspection and pay 10x as much for it as his fine.