🔒Thwarted music hall developer sues Portland over ‘intentional bias’

A developer of a proposed downtown Portland concert hall has filed a federal lawsuit against the city, challenging a development moratorium and zoning changes it alleges are “fundamentally unfair and amount to an abuse of power.” The lawsuit, filed Tuesday by Portland Music Holdings LLC with the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, comes weeks after a City Council "buffer zone" measure essentially killed the proposal.  In the 14-page complaint, the plaintiff says its plan to build a 3,300-seat music venue on an empty lot at 245 Cumberland Ave. was progressing through the normal review process until the city imposed a retroactive 180-day moratorium on large performance venues to allay concerns about traffic, parking and potential impacts on existing venues. “Contrary to the stated reasons, the actual reason for the moratorium was to stop the development of the [music venue] because some individual members of the Council have personal animosity towards PMH and its owner in general, and Live Nation in particular, and were attempting to shield other vendors from potential competition,” the complaint says. Mile Marker Investments recently bought out Live Nation (NYSE: LYV), ending the joint venture. Jessica Grondin, a spokeswoman for the city of Portland, said the city does not comment on pending litigation.

'Intentional bias'

The complaint says the city later extended the moratorium and pursued additional zoning changes, including a rule increasing the required separation between large venues from 100 feet to 750 feet. That change, the developer argues, would make its project impossible because the proposed site is near Merrill Auditorium, a city-owned performance venue. The complaint alleges the city’s actions were fundamentally unfair and targeted the plaintiff, and were enacted with “bad faith and intentional bias,” asserting that “certain members of the Council did not like PMH and its owners and/or wanted to prevent PMH from competing with other venues," including the city-owned Merrill Auditorium. The lawsuit makes several constitutional claims, including that the city unlawfully impaired contracts, violated due process protections and effectively took private property without just compensation. Portland Music Holdings is asking the court to strike down the moratorium and zoning amendments and award damages and legal fees, along with further relief as the court deems appropriate. Lee H. Bals, an attorney at Portland law firm Marcus Clegg, is representing Portland Music Holdings in the lawsuit.