A new ordinance in Portland requires commercial property owners with prolonged vacant storefronts to register with the city, and display local artwork, or face escalating fines. The requirement goes into place if a storefront is empty for six months or longer.
Mayor Mark Dion does not like the ordinance, saying it mistakenly blames the property owners for causing the vacancies.
“Empty storefronts don’t exist to an advantage of the landlord,” said Dion. “There’s this idea that they’re holding capital in reserve, right? I’ve never met a landlord who says ”My job today is to make sure it’s empty.”
Dion does not think there would be an issue with some downtown businesses closing down if the city did a better job in keeping the streets in order.
“If we can’t clean up the street and make it more amenable to pedestrian traffic and enhance the safety of staff that will be inside these businesses, there’s going to be a reluctance to purchase a lease,” Dion said.
Some tenants who’ve abandoned the downtown area have cited issues with homeless people as a reason for leaving.
Commercial spaces in the downtown pedestrian zone include streets such as Congress, Free, High, Exchange, and Middle.
There are currently the almost 40 ground floor vacant spaces in the downtown area.
The goal of the ordinance is to reduce street-level vacancies and encourage new business activity while improving the visual appeal of empty storefronts.
