1900 Sunnyside Home to Be Leveled, Lot Split

PORTLAND, Ore. – A 115-year-old single-family home on a large lot in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Southeast Portland will be demolished and replaced by multiple new houses.

The house, located at 4233 SE Yamhill St., was built in 1900. At 1,146 square feet in size, it sits on a 7,500-square-foot lot.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

There are no recent sales on record, with city, county and permit records listing Marie Charbonneau as the owner of the property.

However, a sign outside the house indicates there is a “sale pending.” Redfin lists a recent asking price of $445,000 for the 1900 home.

On May 6 the city received an application for demolition of the 115-year-old house. The listed applicant is Kevin Partain of permit fast-tracking service Urban Visions Planning Services, while the contractor is Renaissance Custom Homes LLC, registered to Randal Sebastian at 16771 Boones Ferry Road in Lake Oswego.

Photo credit: Portland Chronicle

Two weeks later the city received an application to re-establish old lot lines underlying the property, which would divide the lot into three 2,500-square-foot parcels.

The underlying lot stipulations allow builders to supersede density regulations by reopening lots that were platted prior to 1979 and are grandfathered into the zoning code. This situation is at work in several current Eastmoreland development projects by the same applicant and contractor as the Yamhill Street demolition.

But as yet in this case it appears the developer will not be adding more density than would be allowed by modern regulations—in fact, seemingly less.

The site is now zoned R2.5, which according to the Bureau of Development Services allows a maximum of one residential unit per 2,500 square feet of land in modern land divisions (and has no bearing on how underlying lot lines are utilized). But although re-opening the historic lot lines opens up three 2,500-square-foot parcels that, seemingly, could all be built upon (according to Zoning Code 33.110.212 in the R5 zone there is a moratorium for building on anything smaller than a 3,000-square-foot lot for five years if a house must be demolished, but no such moratorium exists in the R2.5 zone), there have so far been two construction permits applied for.

Furthermore, the lot confirmation application submitted to the city seeks to reopen just one lot line and “adjust” it, which in the Eastmoreland project on Southeast Nehalem Street indicated an intent to split the property into just two parcels.

Both construction applications were received by the city May 14. Each calls for a two-story single-family residence with an attached garage. One is listed as being built on “tract 1,” while the other is on “tract 2.”

The demolition delay on the Yamhill Street house will expire June 11. The demolition permit does not allow for removal of trees on the site.