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Thursday, December 1, 2011

City Hall Reprieve for Old Town Tent Refuge? Maybe, but City Says, For Now, "Clock Is Still Ticking"

Posted by Denis C. Theriault on Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 4:14 PM

Commissioner Dan Saltzman's office is pushing back, a bit, on a story in this week's Portland Tribune that noted—rather emphatically—that the Right 2 Dream Too tent refuge at NW Fourth and Burnside "may be about to gain semi-permanent status."

Matt Grumm, a policy adviser for Saltzman, confirmed it's possible the campsite could receive a city permit, as a nonprofit "community service," but that the application process is more arduous than the Trib's story indicated: just $700 for an application and a smaller fence along Burnside.

Grumm said the state would first need to sign off, according to its own rubric for concerns like sanitation, electricity and density. Grumm also noted the owners of the camp's private lot had yet to begin the approval process and would probably need to spend heavily on whatever infrastructure would be required to win state approval. That's pretty much what the Mercury reported a week ago—that there's a path forward, but it won't be easy.

"There's no reprieve," he said. "The clock's still ticking."

The Bureau of Development Services warned the lot's owners last month that the campsite currently isn't legal and could eventually face monthly fines of $583. Grumm said applying for a permit wouldn't stop any fines from accruing; it would just keep the city from trying to collect them.

"If they get through the process, it's all forgiven," he says. "But if they say 'forget this process,' we throw the fines back on them. Those fines will continue to accrue until they get legal."

The camp, meanwhile, has been winning over its critics since it opened up October 10, thanks to a stringent code of conduct banning drugs, alcohol, and violence, but also by working to become a conscientious neighbor.

 

Comments (7) RSS

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1
I wonder how much the owner of the property pays in taxes every year? I can't imagine his thumbing his nose at Randy Leonard and city codes to last forever - and that spot has got to be worth alot of money.
Posted by frankieb on December 1, 2011 at 6:34 PM · Report
2
Fines of $583/month? That's got to be a lot cheaper than going through their application process, and building infrastructure. $583/month, to have another homeless shelter downtown? Totally worthwhile.
Posted by Reymont on December 2, 2011 at 8:51 AM · Report
3
@frankieb - I think it's actually two legal lots. According to PortlandMaps.com, his property taxes last year were $9,308 total.

Only the bigger lot has a sale on record - $160,000 in 1995. Together, the city has them both appraised at $1.16 million.

I know the guy had it listed for $3,000,000 a while back, but that seems ridiculously high.
Posted by Reymont on December 2, 2011 at 9:02 AM · Report
4
The monthly fines are in place only for three months, as Sarah's story notes. Then it's daily fines. And they're all attached in a lien that makes getting any money for the property, let alone $3M, much more annoying.
Posted by Denis C. Theriault on December 2, 2011 at 9:40 AM · Report
5
@Denis - Where does it explain that in the story? I can't find any reference to three months, or daily fines, or liens, or any of that. In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it actually DOESN'T say any of those things that you just claimed it did. You are LYING, and it needs to stop.

And if you're paying more than a million dollars for the property - and probably a lot more right after, to develop it - does getting $1,500 in fines cleared up in the process really sound like a big hurdle?
Posted by Reymont on December 2, 2011 at 9:57 AM · Report
6
The only thing I'm trying to say is that to have even a vacant piece of property, worth a bundle, sit idly by while collecting fines and having to pay taxes on it without generating any income - just isn't going to last.
The owner of the property doesn't really care for the homeless, he is more interested in pissing Leonard off.
And maybe he has a right to feel that way.
But the homeless living there shouldn't get to feeling too comfy.
Posted by frankieb on December 2, 2011 at 11:32 AM · Report
7
Reymont you need to work on your reading comprehension. Denis clearly stated "as Sharah's story notes" which is a reference to the link to Sarah Mirk's Portland Mercury article. There's a link in there, click it man.

Don't confuse your idiocy for lies.
Posted by pdxlager on December 4, 2011 at 4:46 PM · Report

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