Rob Galanakis

@robgalanakis.bsky.social

1182 Followers 662 Following

Proud parent of two children, a failed school board campaign, cargo bike, bike bus, small business, two rats, three chickens, and dozens of mortal enemies. ❤️ PDX https://bikebuspdx.org and https://robgforpps.com

Two bikes sharing one lock

Bike odometer with 14000 miles

Bagel wedged in the fender of a front wheel

Series of account setup emails from right wing and sex websites

Around City Hall

Repairs for the Bob Stacey Crossing Elevator in District 3

The elevators at the Bob Stacey Crossing in inner southeast Portland’s Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood have been accurately described by BikePortland as “a vital link” for pedestrians and bicyclists “to cross five railroad tracks and detour around the infamously long and disruptive freight trains that block nearby intersections.” Unfortunately, the elevators are often out of service due to vandals, who shatter the glass doors and windows. I have heard repeatedly from District 3 residents about this problem.  

The Portland Bureau of Transportation is already planning to install a bulletproof and shatter-proof material in the doors that should protect against further vandalism. However, the Bureau had not identified the $150,000 in funding necessary to replace the elevator windows and towers with the same shatterproof material. I am working with my District 3 colleagues, Councilors Koyama Lane and Morillo, to provide that funding from our Council office budgets. I am providing $110,000, while Councilors Morillo and Koyama Lane are contributing $20,000 each. PBOT has also installed mobile security cameras on both the north and south sides of the crossing. 

I am doubly delighted to be able to help, both because I’ve heard about this problem from bicyclists and pedestrians, and because Bob Stacey, a fierce advocate for bicyclists and pedestrians, and a visionary urbanist, was a dear friend.

And, as discussed elsewhere in this newsletter, I am again fighting to cut council office budgets. But in the meantime, as long as I have the money, I’m going to put it to good use.  

PBOT estimates that the new shatter-proof glass should be installed by Fall 2026.

Bike and trailer filled with popcorn in front of the Laurelhurst Theater sign

Appeal notice for the Dairy Queen drive through approval.

BEFORE THE LAND USE BOARD OF APPEALS
OF THE STATE OF OREGON

ROBERT GALANAKIS,

Petitioner,

vs.

CITY OF PORTLAND,

Respondent.

NOTICE OF INTENT TO APPEAL

Notice is hereby given that petitioner intends to appeal that land use decision or limited land use decision of respondent entitled “LU 25-083003 NE”, which became final on April 3, 2026 and which involves the approval of a Determination of Legal Nonconforming Status Review under Portland Zoning Code Section 33.130.260.C.2 to reconstruct a drive-thru facility located at 5605 SE Division Street, Portland, OR, 97215 (BLOCK 2 LOT 11&12, WACONDA).

Jar of homemade pickles on a wooden cutting board

Bike Odometer showing 13000 miles

"ukalele ruins eer single song in the world" with a rating of -30

Mel from Rose City Park says: We are seeing this all the time. Bike Portland is making all the decisions for everyone in the neighborhood and the City of Portland gets down on their knees for them. They ruined Portland.

Map showing the area, with the parcel highlighted, the school to its west, and a parking lot to its south

When vehicles pull into the waiting area, a sign will direct patrons to
turn off their motors. Fumes in this regard are in many ways self limiting because gasoline is
expensive.

Land use appeal form for the dairy queen drive though

3 political contribution receipts with timestamps of 11:55, 11:58, and 11:58

After reviewing the Applicant's submission in detail, and hearing from Applicant in the media and at Neighborhood Association meetings, I would like to point out the following weaknesses with their case that should result in denial.
First, the context is that the project has seen delays (now active more than six years) which have been largely the fault of Applicant.
• Permitting delays due to PP&D and COVID were obviously present, but we're now more than double the legal timeline for preservation of nonconforming use.
• As is evidenced by permitting history and emails, Applicant changed plans many times and was often late on payments and revisions, including a change in architect. This added significant delay to the project outside of what PP&D is responsible for.
• It is well established that reasonable permitting delays do not continue a non-conforming use (and as we will see, PP&D has been very generous on this point). None of the cases referenced by Applicant state otherwise.
• The fact that the permitting delays are not entirely or even mostly the fault of PP&D is evidenced in at least three places:
◦ Applicant's aforementioned delays due to payment and revisions.
◦ Statements to journalists in this Franklin Post article (https://fhspost.com/8671/feature/the-inside-scoop-
on-the-division-street-dairy-queen/), indicating Applicant believed construction was imminent: ▪ “We had some missteps along the way that caused us to change architects.”
▪ “We were granted permits to rebuild at the beginning of this year (2023).”
▪ “We are hopeful to begin construction early next year (2024).”
◦ The fact that the Burger King at Grand and Hawthorne burned down at a similar time as the DQ was demolished (2019), and opened this year, much faster than the DQ even with the unexpected event of a fire and a franchise change.
• Applicant was told many times that their right to build a drive through expired in 2022.

At the same time, development and infrastructure costs soared to many multiples of the original estimates. We finally worked with a homebuilder/land developer, spending millions and millions of dollars to solve the development hurdles and justify and quantify the costs. Only closing the golf course and planning to build almost 1,000 homes made it feasible to cover all the development costs.

In my opinion, the City has gone way too far in ignoring impacted neighbors when it comes to landuse, zoning decisions and taxes! These are key reasons the City's tax base is shrinking. When peeps feel they are not represented, those who can leave. Some may call them privileged, but often they are the very people with the talent and resources to help turn City finances and institutions around. Those of us without fiscal resource to solve problems, are left flailing unless entities like NAs have clout.

Giant puddle across an intersection, street sign and orange bike in foreground.

Captcha instructions with "select all images with cars, click verify once there are none left"

Two kids on Woom Now bikes, one cream and one gray, on the grass next to a lake. Grabbed from https://kidsridebikes.com/woom-now-review/