April 2008
1. City
Code reminder for BID owners
2. Clean and Safe works with Central Precinct
to create good results
3. Clean and Safe update
4. New Community Court Coordinator, Crew Leader
step in
5. Sidewalk Ambassadors are standing by
6. Downtown renaissance continues with several
downtown retail stores reopening
7. Task force considers economic impact of
fareless square
8. Development Redevelopment Report underway
9. Business Census coming to a close
1.
City Code reminder for BID owners:
Property Management Licenses and Convenience Store
Leasing
City Code
Chapter 6.06.010 requires anyone engaged in property management
activities to possess a Property Management License. If there
is a change in property management, the new property manager
must sign a Property Management Transfer Form and have the
new property manager sign it as well. Without the transfer,
BID fees cannot be collected in a timely manner, or may be
sent to the wrong property manager, causing significant fines
and fees. The City can also impose a $500 fine on each property
manager. More
information >>
In addition,
Chapter 33 in the City of Portland Code establishes specific
requirements that must be met prior to a property owner leasing
to a convenience store. Section
33.219.030 of the code states that there must be a Good
Neighbor Agreement in place and that the property owner needs
to notify and meet with the neighborhood association, among
other requirements, before the lease is signed. The purpose
of the ordinance is to ensure that the convenience store is
a good corporate citizen in the neighborhood, and not a detraction.
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2.
Clean and Safe works with Central Precinct to create good
results
Last month,
Clean and Safe and Central Precinct continued to address the
problem of drug use, sales and street youth in the core downtown
area. Central Precinct's new Entertainment District Detail
also began addressing alcohol problems on high usage nights
at the clubs. This teamwork, and a liaison with the Oregon
Liquor Control Commission, is beginning to have an effect
on behavior and reduce alcohol-related crimes.
Portland
Police bicycle patrol officers Craig Dobson and Mike Cox are
detailed by Central Precinct to support Clean and Safe. During
the past year, they both had numerous contacts with a homeless
juvenile female with criminal behavior. Ultimately Clean and
Safe security officers reported to officers Dobson and Cox
whenever they saw her present downtown. Looking to get her
out of street life, Dobson and Cox routinely called the Department
of Human Resources to take her into protective custody when
appropriate, or escorted her to New Avenues for Youth or the
Donald E. Long home. Eventually they were able to place her
in a youth program outside of Portland.
She recently
returned to Portland, where she is completing high school
at an alternative program and is scheduled to graduate with
the class of 2008. Last month she personally sought out both
police officers to thank them. "They saved my life," she said.
"They completely interrupted what I was doing and cared."
These
are just a few of the many examples each month where vigilant
Clean and Safe security officers work in close partnership
with the assigned Central Precinct bicycle officers. This
successful program has continued to make downtown clean and
safe since 1997.
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3.
Clean and Safe update
Last month,
Clean and Safe security patrols contacted 14,351 citizens
on the streets of downtown Portland as they continue to enhance
the safety and security of citizens in the Business Improvement
District. These contacts included 2,035 business assistance
and referral contacts; 5,947 pedestrian contacts; 83 arrests;
2,209 exclusions; and an additional 166 non-enforcement problem
solving contacts.
In addition
to their regularly scheduled cleaning and graffiti removal,
our cleaning crews also focused on the area surrounding the
new University of Oregon campus at the White Stag block in
anticipation of its grand opening. They also power washed
and cleaned the Alder Street corridor in preparation for the
grand opening of Mercantile.
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4.
New Community Court Coordinator, Crew Leader step in
The current
Community Court Placement Coordinator, Scott Lyons will be
leaving the court at the end of April to pursue rescue work
in India. Taking his place is the Portland Business Alliance's
Community Court Crew Leader, Mike Doyle. Longtime Sidewalk
Ambassador Bryan Dillon will take Doyle's place as crew leader.
In March,
160 defendants were ordered by Westside Community Court Judge
Steve Evans to perform community service downtown. This month
464 hours of community service were completed, with community
court work crews removing 42 bags of trash and covering 603
block faces; 88 hours were spent at Loaves and Fishes during
inclement weather. Out of the 160 defendants, 43 were successful,
21 failed and received jail sentences, and 96 are still working
toward completion. Ninety-four defendants were sentenced to
Alliance's Theft Accountability Class in March. The Neighborhood
District Attorney Legal Assistant reported reviewing and issuing
115 criminal cases in March.
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5.
Sidewalk Ambassadors are standing by
 During
the month of March, the Ambassadors participated in a few
of downtown's exciting events, such as the Business After
Hours at McFadden's and the grand opening of the new Mercantile
store. Their information kiosk was rotated between Margulis
Jewelers, Nordstrom, Pioneer Place and Union Station. The
Ambassadors also assisted the BID by following up on the annual
Business Census & Survey and delivering the 2008 Dining Guide
to businesses.
- Business
modifications: 7
- Business
visits: 637
- Publications
distributed: 1,606
- Information
requests: 3,433
- Service
calls: 64
- Total:
5,747
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6.
Downtown renaissance continues with several downtown retail
stores reopening
On April
11, the Columbia Sportswear flagship store in downtown
Portland celebrated its grand re-opening. The newly redesigned
Columbia flagship store has more than 12,000 square feet of
retail space. Mountain Hardwear, part of the Columbia
Sportswear family, opened its first flagship store (722 SW
Taylor Street) also on April 11.
Additionally,
Nordstrom celebrated its remodeled store the weekend
of April 11-12. The store, which features a new designer focus,
added new luxury lines with build-outs of several in-store
boutiques.
Mercantile
also opened its new store location at 729 SW Alder on
March 11.
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7.
Task force considers economic impact of fareless square
The Fareless
Square Task Force has been meeting to review existing policy
objectives and update or reconfirm the policy objectives for
the central city fareless transit system. The task force will
consider the current policy objectives in conjunction with
the perspectives of those impacted by Fareless Square to define
how Fareless Square can facilitate the implementation of important
economic development, development, safety and environmental
policy for the future.
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8.
Development Redevelopment Report underway
The Alliance
and Heritage Consulting are updating the Central City Development
Redevelopment Report for 2008. The report summarizes and highlights
all development efforts either under construction, under review
or under discussion. The report will be published in Spring
2008.
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9.
Business Census coming to a close
The Alliance
continues to conduct follow up on the 2007 Downtown Business
Census & Survey. The Census collects a 100 percent employee
count by industry type of all businesses, not for profit entities
and governmental agencies in the I-5/I-405 loop. The results
will be published in Spring 2008. If you have not completed
the census, please visit www.downtownportland.org.
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