City removing most dining shelters on Northwest 13th Avenue
Street plaza problems blamed on three businesses
After months of mixed signals, the Portland Bureau of Transportation came down hard against the Northwest 13th Avenue street plaza shelter program.
“PBOT is removing three of four blocks of a public street plaza on Northwest 13th Avenue today, after a year and a half of public engagement,” read the PBOT press release.
The bureau blamed three unnamed bars/restaurants.
“Due to three businesses' lack of compliance with design guidance and numerous site challenges, PBOT has determined that these spaces have not succeeded as Public Street Plazas.”
In a survey drawing 466 responses, “PBOT heard strong opposition to large private outdoor dining structures dominating public plaza space, concerns about late-night noise, negative behaviors, and, at times, violence, in the plaza, as well as issues with illegal parking, blocking of emergency lanes, and lack of visibility for pedestrians.”
“Survey respondents repeatedly commented that large and enclosed outdoor dining structures on Northwest 13th Avenue detracted from the openness and welcoming nature of a plaza and created safety and accessibility concerns.
“Portland Fire & Rescue also raised concerns about the roofs of the large structures creating fire hazards, the blocking of a building fire escape and inability to access fire department water connections on the building facade,” the release read.
Residents of apartment buildings along 13th Avenue were among the strongest critics, particularly regarding late-night activity.
Ramzy Hattar, owner of River Pig Saloon and Papi Chulos, two of the businesses in question, said PBOT “threatened” and “bullied” operators of dining shelters but never produced final structural guidelines that could be relied upon. Hattar said he was willing to rebuild his structures if he could be assured that new regulations would not change again in a few months, wasting his investment.
Hattar said his establishments in Bend and Washington County have nowhere near the regulatory hassles as those created by the city of Portland.
