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Monday, April 10, 2000
First business construction OK'd in Portland's Old Town
By Michael Hines
Caller-Times
PORTLAND - Housed in a worn, off-white, two-story home, Charter Communications isn't the kind of business one expects to be nestled among similar, multi-colored, two-story houses.
But with a car wash, a video store and an auto shop sitting across the street, and a mini-storage unit only a few blocks down the road, the Portland cable company is an example of the city's Old Town mixed community.
It's also one of the first examples of how the city hopes to change that image.
Portland City Council approved an expansion for Charter Communications Tuesday, allowing the company to build a new telecommunications tower.
The work represents the first commercial construction approved for the Old Town area, bringing more than $600,000 for new offices and adding another 100 feet to the cable company's existing 50-foot tower.
Coming three months after the city first created the Old Town refurbishing project, the expansion shows how far the city still needs to go to attract newer businesses to the area, Mayor pro-tem Ron Jorgensen said
"Nothing happens overnight," Jorgensen said.
Approved in January, Old Town is the original layout for the city of Portland, extending west from the bay across U.S. Highway 181 and toward City Hall on Moore Avenue.
The 70-square-block area produced a mismatched setup of businesses and residences. With about 50 businesses in the site along with dozens of residences, the district sometimes housed automotive and light industrial businesses across the street from residential homes.
City officials have said they would like to see fewer eyesores and more bed and breakfasts and craft shops to attract tourists.
"We didn't want any more storage units and garages," City Councilwoman Dolores Butler said.
Butler said she hopes the construction could help spur more construction.
"It makes you want to do things," Butler said. "You see something going up and it becomes contagious."
The refurbishing effort, however, isn't one that will prompt overnight growth or even huge amounts of growth during the next few years, Jorgensen said.
While trying to attract new businesses, the Old Town area prohibits new shops from coming in and offering services already within the district. Coupled with no tax incentives or abatements to appeal to new merchants, industrial growth is still a way off, Jorgensen said.
Tuesday's approval of the telecommunications tower was based more on new technology than on the Old Town location, Jorgensen said.
Charter had already been established in the community for years, and the move to expand its office space came because the Portland area is about 35 feet above sea level, a good height for better reception of telecommunication signals, and not because of the Old Town designation.
Staff writer Michael Hines can be reached at 886-3758 or by e-mail at hinesm@caller.com
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