Restaurants and cafes can keep using public parking and Portland city streets as outdoor dining areas.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation announced on Monday it will extend two programs, created during the COVID-19 pandemic, to use street space for restaurants, other businesses and community gatherings.
FILE: The Pride Plaza in downtown Portland on Southwest Harvey Milk Street.
Sarah Gandy / Portland Bureau of Transportation
The free Healthy Businesses permits that allowed this use were set to expire on June 30 but will be extended through Aug. 31. Officials say that will allow more time for the city and businesses to transition to the next phase of the program. The city is also expanding its Street Plazas Program.
“Healthy Businesses permits allow businesses to use on-street parking space as well as sidewalk space for business operations,” PBOT spokesperson Dylan Rivera said. “And it allows businesses that are adjacent to each other and near each other to make use of side streets for actual plazas that go the whole width of the street. "
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, PBOT created the Healthy Business program to allow local businesses to convert street space to safely serve their customers outdoors when it wasn’t considered safe to do so inside. Since the program started in May 2020, the city has issued over 1,000 free permits to businesses.
“We’ve heard people feel really inspired by these installations that they’ve seen all over the city,” Rivera said.
The city plans to continue offering the permits permanently starting in September, though they won’t be free after that point. While the exact fee hasn’t been decided, it won’t completely cover the cost to the city.
“It’ll help partly cover the cost of lost parking meter revenue from using parking spaces for these businesses,” Rivera said. “It will also allow us to provide the kind of enforcement that the public would expect of an ongoing program, to make sure these healthy business permits are installed in a safe manner whether it’s space for pedestrians and people with disabilities to pass by or vision clearance at crosswalks.”
Applications for the Sept. 1 program will be accepted starting this summer after the City Council decides on the upcoming budget. The first round of permits will be good through Dec. 31, 2023.
This week, the city also announced plans to expand the Portland Public Street Plazas program. Community groups that want to partner with PBOT to create plazas in city streets are asked to reach out online. PBOT expects to work on five to 10 plazas starting this summer.
“Every neighborhood should have a welcoming place where community members can come together,” Transportation Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty said at a press conference Monday. “Hundreds of small businesses have told us that operating outdoors in city streets was essential to their survival during the pandemic. "
The continuation of Healthy Businesses permits and the Street Plazas Program beyond this summer, both depend on funding from the Portland City Council in the upcoming 2022-2023 budget.
PBOT has requested $6 million to continue the Healthy Businesses program for three years, and $2 million for staff and materials through 2024 to help community groups create street plazas.
The final adopted budget hearing is scheduled for June 15.