Portland project stalled after city votes to protect parks
A proposal to buy and convert Portland’s Congress Square into an events center will have to face a citywide referendum after voters approved new protections for parks on Tuesday.
The Portland Press Herald reported that Portland voters approved the city’s only ballot question by 51.5% — a move that will essentially make it more difficult for the city to convey or sell 60 of its public parks. The measure will also add extra protections for proposals to hold activities at those city-owned parcels that don’t fall under approved park uses.
Portland’s approval of the ballot measure now requires the City Council to reach a 8-1 vote in order to sell or convey any of the 60 city-owned properties, which includes Congress Square Park. If a sales or conveyance proposal receives a smaller majority vote, it would have to be approved by voters in a citywide referendum. The same rules apply to proposals for large-scale activities at any of the public parks.
The new rules essentially block the Portland City Council’s 6-3 vote last September to sell 9,500 square feet of Congress Square Park for almost $524,000 to RockBridge Capital, which financed the renovation of the adjacent Westin Portland Harborview Hotel, the Bangor Daily News reported. The developer has been hoping to convert the park into an events center, but the ballot’s approval means the proposed sale will now have to face a citywide referendum.
Thirty-five of the 60 protected parks were added to the city’s Land Bank as part of the ballot measure’s approval. Besides Congress Square Park, other newly protected parks include Eastern Promenade Park, Western Promenade Park and Deering Oaks Park.
The initiative to add extra protections for Portland’s parks was made possible by a citizen-led petition spearheaded by the Protect Portland Parks and Friends of Congress Square groups, which had opposed the city’s sale of Congress Square. The measure has been opposed by groups like the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce, which said the sale of Congress Square would give the property a much-needed revitalization.
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