The Broadleaf Arbor housing community in St. Helens hosted its grand opening this summer, and while the event marked the celebration of the end of the development phase, there have been issues at the complex as management, tenants, and the community at large adjust to the new project.
Broadleaf Arbor has 239 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments for households earning up to 60 percent of the area’s median income, and is located at 2250 Gable Road in St. Helens. (In Columbia County, that amounts to an annual household income of about $70,800 for a family of four.) There are also people supported by project-based or tenant-based vouchers or agency referrals from CCMH or the Community Action Team.
Speaking with Community Development Partners CEO Eric Paine at the grand opening on July 16, he said that the event marked the celebration of the finishing of the development phase and the start of the permanent operations and community. The event featured local leaders and project partners speaking to a gathered crowd.
Paine said there is still some “dust needing to settle” as residents get to know their neighbors and their new environment. When asked whether he and the developers had heard concerns from residents or if the project had growing pains, Paine said that with a project this size, there are always challenges.
“There’s different levels of services and programming and connections to resources that different families need. I think that’s the main thing in this beginning phase is everybody just moved in together and is getting to know one another, and it’s a large community, so you have over 500 residents here,” Paine said. “There’s definitely been some instances of relying on first responders when there’s crime or lease violations.”
Paine said that Guardian Management (who manage the property) can enforce some lease violations, but that if there’s criminal activity, the community relies on first responders to handle those issues. While the community is still in its budding stage, residents have raised issues about safety in the community.
Hearing from residents
According to Guardian Management Director of Marketing and Communications Kim Gaube, Broadleaf Arbor houses approximately 550-600 people, depending on occupancy. Speaking to residents at the grand opening, concerns were raised about the living conditions in their new community.
Kristina Diaz moved in May, and at the grand opening, she said that things have been “rocky” since moving in. Diaz and other residents said there have been issues creating community as some people don’t adhere to the rules of the new community.
Another resident said there’s been “a lot of drama,” including many visits from first responders and law enforcement. Diaz said the grand opening was “interesting” because it didn’t tell the full story of what residents have been going through.
“It’s interesting they did a full event and everything, and try and make us look like a nice little community and everything, which don’t get me wrong, it’s a very nice community, it can be a very nice community, but it’s just the people,” Diaz said. “They don’t get along with each other, they don’t respect each other. Management, I feel like they can do better, they’re just matching energy, they’re not being professional.”
Residents Autumn Davis and Devonna Marsh, who will be referred to as Devonna Robideau in this article, are two residents who have felt fed up with the situation at Broadleaf Arbor. Davis disrupted the grand opening as part of a protest that some residents planned to “tell them what really goes on here.” Davis was escorted back to her apartment building for yelling during the guest speaker portion of the grand opening.
“I was going to bring awareness to the people that we don’t get to talk to, that we don’t get to see. The police activity, the crime activity, the domestic violence, there’s a lot of child neglect, there’s a lot of drug traffic,” Davis said. “These are things we’re all calling and reporting on, but it’s just a lot, and they’re overworked. I was going to ask if they were aware of all these things.”
For Robideau, she said that law enforcement is fed up but said that part of the issue relates to management. Robideau said that many of the residents are scared to speak out because of fear of losing their housing. One of the big concerns for Robideau and Davis is the dangers the community presents to their children. Robideau and Davis said that it is not infrequent to see kids getting bullied in the community common areas or on the playground.
“A big thing here is some of these parents allow their older children to bully the younger handicapped children, so they can’t even go outside and play, because their parents are afraid they’re going to get hurt,” Robideau said. “And parents will sit up on the balcony and watch their kids bullying other children and laugh about it. This is every single day.”
They also talked about tenants using drugs in full view of kids and issues like tires getting slashed in the parking lot. Robideau moved in more than a year ago with the first round of tenants, and though it seemed “OK” at first, issues soon presented themselves.
“This place could be great. When we first looked into this place, they were talking about the intergenerational connections, the kids activities, the community activities, and the cooking classes, and all this,” Robideau said. “But they don’t engage the community enough. There’s zero managerial presence.”
One solution they have posed is for management to support a more permanent law enforcement presence at the complex. Robideau said that management had sent a notice that they were going to hire an on-site security guard, but it has not materialized.
Speaking for Guardian Management, Gaube said they hear concerns ranging broadly, including subjects like noise disturbances and needed repairs.
“When notified, we prioritize safety issues, and our team works to address valid concerns and find reasonable and achievable solutions,” Gaube said. “We have been working with project partners to organize upcoming resident meetings to help build community and address resident concerns to the best of our ability.”
Burden on emergency services
According to St. Helens Communications Officer Crystal King, law enforcement responded to calls at Broadleaf Arbor more than two times a day in 2024.
The following is a breakdown of the calls for service for the St. Helens Police Department at Broadleaf Arbor provided by King:
• Total (2023-present): 1,017
• Total (2023): 531
• Total (2024 to-date): 486
• Average (2023-present): 1.759/day – 53.526/month
• Average (2023): 1.454/day – 44.25/month
• Average (2024 through July 31): 2.281/day – 69.428/month
Full occupancy of the complex was not achieved until 2024. Speaking with St. Helens Police Association (SHPA) President Dylan Gaston, he said the dispatch numbers don’t tell the full story. It is important to note that Gaston did not represent the City of St. Helens with his comments but spoke as the President of the SHPA.
“We have had approximately 1,200 calls for service at Broadleaf since it was constructed. Approximately 75% of these calls are calls that would typically require a two-officers response. It is by far the most responded to apartment complex within the city,” Gaston said.
Gaston said it’s important to point out that the number of computer-aided dispatch (CAD) calls that are responded to at Broadleaf are only a fraction of the work police do there and is not indicative of the amount of time that they spend at the complex. Many calls with Broadleaf residents are initially made at other addresses or intersections nearby, so they would not show up as a call at Broadleaf, Gaston said.
“We also receive a significant number of DHS cross-reports at the complex, many of which require law-enforcement investigations. Our detective also receives a significant number of cases at Broadleaf. Neither of those types of cases would be included in the CAD statistics,” Gaston said. “While we are happy to help the community in any way that we can, we desperately need more staffing in order to provide the level of service that the residents deserve.”
Gaston said that there are many instances in which police are there for one call and get contacted by residents for unrelated matters, which does not necessarily generate a new call for service.
There have also been many calls for service from Columbia River Fire & Rescue (CRFR). Fire Chief Eric Smythe said CRFR has responded to both medical and fire-related calls relating to falls, overdoses, assaults, chest pain/shortness of breath, dumpster fires, bark dust fires, and small wildland fires. Between Jan. 1, 2024, and the end of July, CRFR responded to 117 calls at the complex.
Smythe provided the following information about call volume at Broadleaf compared to other similar facilities in the area as of August. 14:
• Avamere Assisted Living Facility: 108
• Spring Meadows Assisted Living: 48
• Meadow Park Rehab facility: 120
• Legacy Urgent Care: 84
• Cornerstone Adult Care Facility: 48
To better prepare for emergencies at the apartments, Smythe said staffed personnel have completed several hours of training and learning the complex to better prepare and respond to emergency incidents. CRFR and Scappoose Fire completed several days of training operating both fire engines and fire trucks (ladder trucks) operations in and around the buildings.
One thing the City of St. Helens, Smythe, and Gaston all echoed was the sentiment that Paine referenced. Large-scale developments like Broadleaf Arbor always present a challenge because of the high concentration of many people in such a small area.
List of demands
In the time since the grand opening, Robideau has been working to get the voices of residents heard by management. Robideau has helped organize a tenant’s union at Broadleaf Arbor and delivered a list of demands to management on Aug. 15. Robideau said there are more than 28 residents who have joined the tenants’ union to bring awareness to the issues residents are having.
Some of the demands the union came up with relate to management and communications, bullying and safety, maintenance and cleanliness, water pressure and temperature, tenant concerns, and training and supervision.
“Our list of demands, we came up with collectively, the group of tenants. We reached out to legal council, advocates, other tenant groups to kind of see how they structured and how they got the change they needed,” Robideau said.
Since turning in the list of demands, Robideau said she and others have been subject to what she said is retaliation. Robideau said there have been “notices going out for non-payment of rent,” bills for late fees, and other issues that are out of the ordinary.
“People who have receipts can prove that they have paid their rent and are getting termination notices for non-payment of rent. I don’t know what the disconnect is, I don’t know what’s going on, but it is a very tense situation here right now,” Robideau said.
Robideau also received a formal notice of violation of lease for conduct relating to an incident with management that the notice said occurred July 10. Robideau said that the characterization of the occurrence in the notice did not line up with her recollection of the event. Robideau says she feels that her and her daughter’s housing is at risk because she is speaking out.
“This whole thing has been a nightmare,” Robideau said. “And I’m not the only one. That’s thing, it’s not only me.”
Gaube confirmed that Guardian Management had received the list of demands.
“We did receive a list of demands and we are currently reviewing it. In the meantime, Guardian is continuing to connect with residents who have brought forward concerns, prioritizing safety concerns,” Gaube said. “As previously mentioned, we are working with project partners to organize upcoming resident meetings to help build community and address concerns.”
For Robideau and the other members of the tenant union, collaboration with management can’t come soon enough. Though she understands that management can’t control the actions of individuals and tenants, she says there needs to be more presence.
“Management has a responsibility to fulfill the things that they stated they were going to provide in our lease, which is a safe place,” Marsh said.
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