🔒Portland hits proposed music hall with more roadblocks

The controversial Live Nation Music Hall proposed for downtown Portland faces two new challenges to moving forward. The 3,300-seat venue project is currently stalled under a moratorium imposed on large performance venues. That freeze is set to expire in March, but on Monday night Portland City Councilors voted to consider extending the moratorium; a preliminary vote which requires ratification at a future meeting. It faces another potential roadblock with a proposed “entertainment buffer zone," which the city’s Housing and Economic Development Committee debated Tuesday evening. Wesley Pelletier, a Portland City Council member who represents District 2, told the committee he put forth a 750-foot buffer zone on the peninsula for venues with a capacity over 1,000, after receiving “a huge outcry from constituents regarding traffic.” With Pelletier’s amendment,  “The hope is to mitigate traffic snarls that are bound to arise from thousands of people arriving at and leaving from multiple venues at the same time.”

The proposal

Mile Marker Investments' music hall would be at 244 Cumberland Ave., on the corner of Myrtle Street and within a stone’s throw of the 1,900-seat Merrill Auditorium. Council member Sarah Michniewicz, who represents District 1, lives near Merrill Auditorium and told fellow economic development committee members that traffic during an event already dangerously overburdens the area, especially when buses and other large vehicles that accompany a performer park on surrounding streets, rather than parking offsite in a garage or lot. Michniewicz added that resident parking in the area is already an issue — and promises to be exacerbated by planned housing development. “There is going to be a massive amount of housing coming into this area, with no on-site parking,” Michniewicz said. “There are already 1,000 units approved near this site with no parking. An additional 1,400 cars coming in and out for a sold-out show is not inconsequential.” Michniewicz proposed an alternate 250-foot buffer zone, reasoning that it would require the new venue to be sited a bit further away from the Merrill, potentially resulting in less traffic congestion.

Economic impact

The economic impact of an additional large capacity performance venue in Portland's downtown district is projected to be $44 million in annual regional revenue, 500 new jobs and $3 million in tax revenue. Commercial real estate broker and longtime Portland resident Joe Malone, along with Thomas O’Boyle, director of advocacy for the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce, told the committee via Zoom Tuesday night that the concert hall would bring much-needed vibrancy to the city’s struggling downtown. They urged the committee to vote down any buffer zone. “I’ve been working a lot on Congress Street and with the storefront issue," Malone said. "The No. 1 thing I have heard from all of the retailers, who are absolutely suffering, is that we need evening activity downtown.” Malone added that at least five restaurants are considering closing. “We’ve been sent some very tough messages as a business community, with the moratorium on hotels, the storefront issue and this moratorium. This kind of project is what downtowns need," Malone said. “This buffer zone is targeted at a specific tenant that some people don’t want to see. That’s no way to do government.” After nearly two hours of debate and comment from close to a dozen residents and business owners, the HEDC voted to pass the two buffer zone proposals along to the Portland Planning Board, with no recommendations. The Planning Board will then decide whether either proposal should be recommended to the City Council, which is the final arbiter.

Legal issues are in question

“We believe there’s no legal basis for the retroactive moratorium, but we have not challenged it," Mary Costigan, a lawyer with Bernstein Shur representing the music hall developer Mile Marker Investments, said Tuesday night via Zoom. "We have been fully compliant with the city’s land use code, which was finished just a few weeks before this venue was proposed ... Clearly, this buffer zone is targeted to stop the legal use of land.” Costigan added, “There is nothing in the Comprehensive Plan to support this. Please vote against the 750 buffer, lift the moratorium and allow this project to move forward.” Mile Marker Investments principal Todd Goldenfarb also spoke Tuesday night. “This project does not ask for one variance or one dollar, and is completely within the code. When we submitted 410 days ago, we did so knowing we were following the rules. This project would bring $44 million in economic impact and opportunities for employment that do not exist today," Goldenfarb said. “This buffer does not benefit the city of Portland.”