PORTLAND — The City Council approved a stopgap measure Monday to allow downtown businesses and organizations that have been unable to obtain entertainment licenses to instead host events through single-day permits.
The amendment, forwarded by Councilor Wes Pelletier, comes after several businesses, and the nonprofit organization Creative Portland, called on the city to eliminate a three-decade-old rule that limits the number of businesses that can hold entertainment licenses downtown.
The 100-foot “business dispersal requirement” dates back to the 1990s, and according to staff, was intended to “prevent the overconcentration of nightlife establishments” in the Old Port, and concerns related to the noise — and a few fights — that came with bars letting out after last call.
However, business owners like Isaac MacDougal at Cocktail Mary, on Market Street, argue that the rule is blocking an important source of income for bars and working against efforts to bring more nightlife activity downtown.
Early this month, the housing and economic development committee forwarded a proposal to eliminate the 100-foot buffer to the planning board for review, after which it would return to the council. However, that would likely not occur until this fall, well after peak season for MacDougal and others looking to host summer events.
To pass Monday, the council had to waive the first reading and pass it as an emergency with seven affirmative votes. It was approved 8-0, with Mayor Mark Dion not present.
Pelletier on Monday called the amendment a “good compromise,” arguing that it doesn’t go against the spirit of the buffer rule, but offers a temporary solution so businesses don’t have to “sit by and lose money.”
“My business has lost thousands of dollars in potential revenue over the past couple of months when comparing summer sales to our last location with an entertainment license,” MacDougal told the council at Monday’s meeting ahead of the vote.
MacDougal said his employees are taking a hit by working comparatively slower shifts, and it’s also a loss for the entertainers and other personel the business would normally hire for events.
“That’s the real cost of this buffer,” he said. “It isn’t abstract and it doesn’t impact only Cocktail Mary.”
The Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce supports the proposal.
“The city has already initiated a broader review of the 100-foot entertainment buffer, and this amendment provides some flexibility for businesses and community organizations seeking to host limited, single-day events while that process moves forward,” president and CEO Quincy Hentzel said in a written statement before the meeting.
The amendment will move ordinance language regarding single-day entertainment permits to a different subsection of the ordinance, making them exempt from the 100-foot buffer requirement.
In a memo to the council, Pelletier said the change will allow impacted businesses to seek licenses for each individual event they hold while the more formal process is undertaken to review and make changes to long-term licenses.
Pelletier first brought the proposal to the housing and economic development committee in November at the same time that he proposed a 750-foot buffer between large entertainment venues related to the controversial Portland Music Hall project. However, the committee declined to take it up at the time, wanting to separate the issues.
Some have questioned whether the removal of the 100-foot entertainment buffer could impact pending litigation involving the city and developers of the proposed 3,300-seat venue that was shot down by the council.
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