@@donpayton737 too much competition in the inner urban area of Portland. Fred Meyer & BiMart have been here forever & do a great job. Walmart likes to have a monopoly in most cities - they were never gonna get that here.
Those "impact fees" from the "system development charges" should be charged to the city government for bringing in more homeless and drug-addicts into the city.
Ya know....not trying to be mean....but there needs to be a discussion as to whether or not someone who wants to start a business in portland is actually an intelligent person. The things they do there is not news. Its been going on for decades. And the internet likewise wasnt invent yesterday....these horror stories have been widely publicized for yeeeeaaaars. So what the hell? Esp a company like this that has experience opening businesses all over the place...just bizarre.
No they're not. The utility poles are, but the sidewalks typically belong to whomever it is that owns the land they pass through. I don't agree with that, I think it makes far more sense to make the sidewalks the expense of the municipality, but it isn't. That's why you get people being sued because their sidewalks are uneven or not shoveled if somebody falls, not the city. The city typically just has an easement to allow people to walk along the sidewalk without needing permission from the landowners to do so. It's pretty much just the corners where the city workers typically have anything to do with the sidewalk and only because that's necessary to allow people to cross the street as part of the design of the road.
@@khawmtiti4460 I’m not necessarily supporting blue or red politics I’m just saying there should be a better way to finance this without turning off and turning away businesses who could contribute positively to the cities GDP.
In 2020 the city of Detroit, did not see riots and vandalism on anywhere near the scale Portland did. Detroit's police had made a point of getting to know people, and activists, and when George Floyd died, there were orderly protests, unlike Portland and Seattle.
Issues like these are why cities loose their population, blue or red. If there is not safety, reasonable policies, and a conducive business environment people move elsewhere. While San Francisco is a casebook example cities that need revitalization need to consider updating codes such as these, look into alternative revenue streams ( California is good at this) etc.
@@Swoleminer71 You must be a relative of Duggan the corrupt elf. You can have detroit, move your kids there and send them to school with the animals.........
I would close up shop and leave town. Let that building sit empty and watch the vagrants vandalize and spray paint it. Then check back city and see how their side walk project is working out. This is beyond insane what these people are doing to the city. This must be thought up by the same fools who decided to turn two lane roads into one lane roads that cause grind lock thru out the city for no reason other than to have people sit and idle in traffic all day.
@@xusmico187 They did say it's his busiest location, so maybe he crunched the numbers and decided it was worth it. If that's the case, then the city might be smart to let business owners - who will ultimately make bank being in Portland - eat those costs up front instead of making the taxpayer cover them.
He's there because he wants to be there.. a hipster who is trying to cater to other hipsters... The fad of axe throwing has worn off and now only appeals to the hipsters who already dress like lumberjacks....going anywhere else would be like moving your ice factory to Alaska and wondering why you sales nose dived..
I was born and raised in Portland. I moved from that POS puddle over ten years ago because I could see where it was heading. Sadly, it has become one of the most corrupt cities in the U.S. - it's absolutely embarrassing! I can't understand why anyone in their right mind would want to live there, let alone start a business - wtf?!
@@TheJeffbarrett i also lived in seattle , but quit visiting 20 yrs ago........left the coast finally , and rarely cross the cascades any more ...cities aren't worth it any more , and the politics are a curdled miasma
Did you notice the corner all ready had a wheel chair ramp, but the city was requiring 2. One in each direction rather than one large one in the middle!
I can understand some impact fees since he wants to rezone the property. But requiring a private business to fix public property before he even occupies the place is something I've never heard of. How a small business ever recovers these costs is a mystery.
BS! The government is imposing its lack of city maintenance accrued over decades of malfeasance on the new business owner. Completely unjustified. A serious inspection and audit of the government's books are in order.
@@darthtechnologies553you generated $300mil in state taxes? You sound like a bit of an exaggerator, or a person who doesn’t know what they’re talking about. The entire state of California lost out on just over 300million in taxes in 2021 😂. You’re so full of bullshit, if you actually are involved with any sort of business, i’d advise your clients to look elsewhere 😂😂
Trying to set up a Portland small business; $260,000 in fees and requirements - setting up a tent on a public street making people walk around it; free!, sanitation for said tent - just fling it and a city worker will clean it up for free! What exactly are the educational backgrounds of Portland's mayor, city council and other city leaders?
I’m pretty sure Portland’s officials are all products of the most Progressive universities in the country. That’s where they’re freed of the last shreds of common sense and taught how to be skilled deniers of reality.
Yeah they’re shaking him down. He wants everything done for free. If he doesn’t want to pay that’s fine. He can put his business someplace else. What’s the issue? He owns a lot of businesses and he’s complaining about $250,000? Wah wah. The city wants me to share some cost. Wah wah. Please.
I thought it was bad here in New York. There is no way in earth I'll move to Oregon, especially Portland. I've lived all over the country and these governments now days taxing their people to death is disgusting. Portland will be the new Detroit with vast swaths of vacant areas.
Our little city had homeowners pay for sidewalk repair in front of their houses. One friend of mine, a concrete worker, said that he could do the work cheaper than what he was being charged. He also said that his sidewalk benefitted the entire block, therefore the entire block should pay for the repair. The city scoffed at him. So, after the repair was completed he and his son put up a toll booth on his part of the sidewalk to help "Raise money for the repair and maintenance" of the sidewalk. It was hilarious. The city didnt agree, though.
IMO Did you know that when Walmart is looking for property to buy, they ask the city on a tax deferred plan between 10 to 25 years. That means Walmart doesn't pay property taxes for 10 years. Now if the city rejected Walmart, they just pick up and leave and go elsewhere. And the towns and cities don't get jobs and money a Walmart can bring. Now because Walmart is getting tax deferred, other businesses have to pick up their check. Just like Revel Casino. They stopped building until Governor Christie gave them a 10 deferment on the taxes. But just under 10 years, the casino files for bankruptcy and the state gets nothing until the sale of the building. We want businesses here, but who is willing to pay the tab for a business to get a tax break?
@@crazyknarf And most cities will factor in the increased revenue from the sales tax the business will generate. Unless the projections from this exceed the loss in property tax, they won't make the deal. The property tax on a bare piece of land does not generate much revenue at all for a city.
Jeez, Portland. How disconnected does a group of bureaucrats have to be to think those costs are reasonable? Having a polished spokesperson explain that stupid is really smart doesn't help.
What the city of portland really needs is not just a new management structure. They need to replace all the managers, elected and appointed with new sensible people.
@@WarpigPSUits very ironic that those are the same people that have "save democracy/voting matters) stickers on their cars, yet they are the ones voting to turn once great places into shitholes.
Portland should have already fixed the ADA sidewalk accessibility, not wait for a new business to open and pay for it, craziness. Shame on Portland Citizens that made this a regulation.
I know a guy that started working for Portland Metro back in 2003. They gave him a 6 figure income to start with great benefits. Despite not having any urban development experience, he told me how they were planning this new urban development project called the Intertwine Project which has the goal of among other things creating a more bike friendly city. His buddies at the top made him in charge and his goal was to be able to make a system of bike trails and bike lanes that would take you from one side of the city to the other without having to worry about sharing the road with cars. He was responsible for all the streets that went from 2 lanes to 1. Last I checked Portland is still in the top 10 for worst traffic in the country. He and his wife moved away from Portland after the riots and the homeless problem got out of control. And trust me, he accepts no responsibility for accepting a 6 figure income for a couple decades and then as soon as times get tough, he moves away.
@@russ254 True. You don't marry your job but you should marry your values though. I should emphasize it's not him necessarily, it's the system that would promote his thinking that wastes so much of our tax dollars. It's why so many people commute from Vancouver to Portland even though the traffic is terrible. People see their tax dollars being wasted on little pet projects that have unforeseen consequences. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Not as bad as this, but Boston is the same way. Many small shops can't deal with the fees. Fees used to prop up the bloated bureaucratic city government.
@@judycorbridge6470100%. We wouldn’t want any socioeconomic mobility now would we? Only billionaires are allowed to make any significant money here. Everyone else is expected to subsidize their “success”.
What if he would have opened his business in middle of the block rather than the corner? Would he still have to put in those curb ramps? Dont other businesses on the block benefit from this so why arent they paying part of it?
"The public expects that the business will make a contribution to accommodate that traffic." No, the public expects the local government to pay for those items. No wonder businesses go elsewhere. You're broken, Portland.
'Modernizing'. What a curious term to describe what is going on in Portland. And as far as reputation goes , I'd say that Portland has all that and a bag of chips.
"Modernizing" is Portland's definition of creating a business environment with high crime and homelessness to shut down businesses and discourage any new businesses. They think their new "tax base" will be the millions of homeless people
They voted for this. Voting has consequences. Voters: “ we’re to lazy, stupid, and cheap to deal with this, we want others to do it for us. “ Politicians: “ Ok, we gave you what you wanted, now here’s the bill! “ Voters: “ wait! NO!! Other people are supposed to pay for it! Not me!! Wahhhh! “
Dumb saying of the year. They voted for it. You can look at any city in any state. Choose an issue and say, “they voted for it”. It’s just dumb. It’s not helpful and it’s childish. Instead of childish finger pointing how about some real solutions? Yeah thought not. 😮
This is insane, disgusting and counterintuitive. That corner will be overrun by graffiti and homelessness when the business owner eventually abandons that place. Maybe that’s what the city wants? 🥴
They just a few years ago have changed the specs for the ramps you cannot just have a concrete ramp like that. You have those fiberglass dotted flat traction inserts all around louisville it’s gave pork barrel money to the city to break all of the existing ones and installed the dot ramps in the concrete.
Portland can't get out of its own way. There are so many small businesses priced out by just one of those $100K+ charges, much less two of them. That holds particularly true for businesses willing to locate in and help improve run-down areas versus just opening their doors in an already-improved and generally better area of town.
That's crazy, as a small business owner myself I opened a manufacturing business in a small town where they were happy that someone was renovating the old dilapidated building and creating jobs. We opened a 30,000 sq. ft. factory with just paying a $30.00 business license from the city and a $50.00 merchants license from the county. They even gave us a tax deferment for five years. The historic building was likely going to collapse if nothing was done to prevent it so we spent tens of thousands of dollars on materials and many hours of labor over six months to get it to a point where it was stable and we were able to start working in it, the city was happy and said nothing about not having permits, the mayor did several walk throughs and was pleased the building was getting this restoration. That's how you attract businesses to your area not piling bills upon them especially at start-up. Had this been their first location it probably would have ended before it opened!
Where is this lol? The small town I used to live in was a perfect example of how to slowly kill an entire local economy with zoning laws and local regulations.
I’m sorry, but if that was an office space (presumably open to the public) prior to this, why weren’t there ramps installed there before? Why is it up to an owner to make sure a public sidewalk is ADA compliant?
In this businesses location, there is an ADA ramp, they shouldn't have to upgrade it. This is crazy! Apartment developers are digging up the streets to connect utilities and the patching back a strip of asphalt that will get chewed up by the busses in a year or two. Make them do thier due diligence as well. Look at Burnside, Belmont or Division Sts on the eastside as examples.
Here in Palo Alto, CA, about 20 years ago, ADA sidewalk ramps were installed in every neighborhood, at enormous expense. Then, about seven years later, many of them had to be torn out and replaced with slightly different ramps because some bureaucrat in DC changed the regulations - again at enormous expense. I guess when you’re spending someone else’s money, the sky’s the limit.
This is guy is adding value to the neighborhood. Meanwhile I can guarantee there is someone sitting on a vacant lot of land not bringing value and waiting to sell when it gets to a certain price. How about the city incentivize that vacant lot to start bringing value instead of punishing those that do bring value.
he should have come up here to clark county. it would have been basically the same tax structure as he had in seattle, but cheaper, and FAR less bullshit to deal with. i opened a business in vancouver. no problem, no sweat, no hassles. NONE. it was all: "thank you for your business." OH: and we throw the riffraff from portland in prison when the fuck around with us up here. we really do. we have prosecutors that know what their job is.
My business left Portland in 2014. The "City that works" had my business duplicate listed & even after numerous verbal & email contacts, still after 1 year later had not corrected it & continued to bill me with penalty fees. Just got that same letter again last month .
5:20 Isn't the contribution the business is making to the city in the form of tax revenue? It seems like cities like Portland won't be happy until we are all living like it is the stone age.
It's been a bit since I had to do this type of civil work, but the ramps and concrete work will be around $3500 total, the storm drain - not clear on what they'll require, i assume just a new grate - $3000. The City is literally forcing business out with purpose. No reason at all for those type of building permit fees -- should be less than $5000.
@@jimarcher5255 I have to pull building permits all the time for residential and commercial projects. There is no way, no way, to justify a buildout of +/- $1M or less that's what they were charging. For comparable sized projects here, short of a new building, no way that permit fee with engineering and inspections, even expediting should be over $5000 let alone $100,000.
Makes one wonder with all these permits and fees who is benefiting from this and filling their pockets. This was unheard of years ago. I had to pay 350 dollars for a building permit to move a manufactured house that was already built on a piece of property. These crooks are pocketing money and nobody can tell me different.
The businesses make their contribution to the city through their TAXES! Requiring a business to fund independently the city's infrastructure is paying for it twice (if not more).
How is it a private business responsibility to maintain a public owned piece of road? That road should be maintained with tax money. Slice the salaries of all of the city council by half and I guarantee thats enough money to fix a lot of these street issues. If the business has to pay for the road in front of its business, then at least the business should own that piece of road.
I can remember one municipality changing from the group of municipalities covering codes to a private company and the school district had a 30,000 bill for inspections one summer for renovations, but with the old group or council of governments it would have cost less than 1000. This is rural Northeast PA.
@@gravitasnon8231 There are no sidewalks in front of that school. Still my Borough has bluestone sidewalks in places, except where the state had money for Route 11 where new ones were put in 40 years ago as concrete and a few other places where the owners replaced them with concrete. They are still in perfect condition. The concrete and 100+ year old bluestone sidewalks.
where I lived, the city, just took care of all the new crossing areas because that’s their job, they didn’t go to the people that lived on the corners of the intersections and say hey, you gotta pay to have a new curb/side walk just because
Here is the thing. How things have changed and not just in Portland. But in my sleepy eye little town a million miles away from anything even remotely West Coast, if you build a large scale residential or commercial property, you now have to ensure the side walk is up to current code. Even if there is no sidewalk, or if the town allowed the sidewalk to be neglected for years. The crazy thing is the town has control over your easment. They dictate where the utilities and sidewalks run. And the ordinance allows for up to 30 feet of easiment into the property. My town is looking at a half a block to put for sale for development. The town knew the sidewalk requirement was going to be a heavy burden on any development so the town found a grant to cover the renewal of the sidewalk around this property to get it to code. But I can tell you, the cost of that sidewalk was around $1 million USD. But to be fair, the ran it all around the entire block. Even in areas that didn't have a side walk. It also incorporated the cost of going over a small creek. But to also be fair, I have no doubt a good portion of this sidewalk is getting destroyed once heavy equipment comes on site to start the construction process when the property is sold by the town.
Homeowner here. We paid $2,500 to replace the sidewalk in front of our house after I tripped on it. We also maintain the elm tree on city property in front of our house. Plus a $10k property tax bill, and a front row seat to camp fires, gas cans, drug use and all sorts of lawlessness in the industrial district. Do your research before you buy a house...not that Portland is affordable or worth it.
Back in 2010 my Urban and Regional Geography Classes talked about Portland's UGB. It sounded like a good idea (in theory). Where's all this money going that's supposedly sustaining the urban-core?
I understand the requirement for ADA ramps, no arguments there. But why is that being dumped on this one business? Are the customers of that one business the only ones using that crossing? It sounds like the sidewalk may be on part of his property but it seems odd the city would make maintenance and upgrading that sidewalk the responsibility of the business. Around here the city does street and sidewalk maintenance and installation and that works well. It spreads the cost out over a larger base and the city puts the work out on bids and as they do a lot of projects they get pretty reasonable bids for that work. It all still has to be paid for of course, but with the larger base you don't have homeowners or businesses getting whopping bills because a sidewalk needed to be upgraded.
"Portland is by far the most difficult city to work with"... Only if you're trying to be a productive and quality citizen. If you want to live in a tent and drain off of other citizens to feed your addiction, the city government will subsidize that lifestyle...
Streets and sidewalks are the responsibility of the city to pay for and maintain.. Businesses by law must maintain the first 8 feet from the structure.. The rest is the city's responsibility.. They need a class action lawsuit with a good real estate lawyer.
This would be like the city saying I have to "upgrade" the public street or sidewalk in front of my house or I can't live there! The city shouldn't have the authority to force someone to pour money into something they don't own. Basically he's having to pay TWICE for this, once when he pays his taxes and then again with these extra charges!
our property taxes pay for street improvements.. until the city starts filling potholes (which is their responsibility) I don't see how they can insist on business owners to pay for the city's obligation to the tax payers.. Road conditions are incredibly bad in portland.. the PBOT has been tearing up all the streets to lay 5G for their GlobalSurveillance system. But after the cables go in, they don't repair the pavement to same or better. (a requirement of digging up streets)
lots cities are actually have those impact fee or development charges, and most of them abandon or significantly reduce the fees after a few years because they realize it discourage small business growth. i opened one of my restaurant in santa fe, NM years ago and was hit with 56k water impact fee, and 24k neighborhood development fee. when i went to the city for permits there are ONLY 2 people are at the inspector office myself included, which is ridiculous. other cities has lines of business owner seeking permits. i was told by the inspectors, city hall officers they been complaining the situation to the city council since they introduce the new fee a year ago, no one is opening business in the city anyway(except big corp). the inspectors were nice enough to show me a loophole in the fees calculation and saved me over 30k at the end.
Own a small business in Portland for 40 years. In 1984, I could spend 30 minutes keeping up with tax accounting, compliance, building code and permit regs, filings a month. Now it is a full time job and requires a 40-hr work week employee just to wrangle all the gov'ts attempts to torpedo small businesses in Portland.
This business has provided so many jobs, workshops, and beautiful art created by artists in downtown Portland. This is a shame! I love Bull's Eye Glass.❤
Midwest builder here, I have buildings in 28 counties between Indiana and Ohio. The fact is, of the 28 counties I have built in, every county where Democrats are the prominent elected officials, there are higher fees with stiffer regulations, which are often frivolous. Lucas County at Toledo, Ohio requires additional engineering in our simple pole-barns that the designing engineer does not require.
When I first saw the headline, I thought, how ironic if it turns out he couldn't do the sidewalk improvements because of the tents that no one seems to want to move.
