Portland, OR is no stranger to parking issues. Its embroiled in one now. According to the Willamette Week a local developer has ignored zoning restrictions and is causing considerable frustration in the Oregon city.
The developer built a garage and is paying a fine of $1400 a month to continue to use the facility. It’s a cost of doing business. Naturally the city is unhappy, but the loophole exists. They can raise the fine to $1000 a day but are waiting for more complaints. So far there have been none.
Watchdogs of city parking policy say the city’s rules are designed to reduce cars clogging downtown streets.
“They call for reductions in single-occupancy vehicles,” says Tony Jordan, founder of Portlanders for Parking Reform, a group trying to reduce car use.
“Adding any parking is allowing for more traffic that will make it harder to meet our goals.
So far the developer has paidaround $28,000 in fines, but has collected over $360,000 in parking fees. It is a bit of a tempest in a teapot since the developer originally had 8 permitted spaces and expanded it to 50.
Attend PIE 2018 and ask Tony just what the heck he thinks he is doing? He’s speaking and defending his ‘parking reform’ platform. Find out what you are up against. Get full info here.
JVH
