Neighborhood Notes

This information is courtesy of News 4 Neighbors:

Steve writes "Dear Governor Kulongoski, House Bill 2056 has made it's way to your desk for consideration. I urge you to veto it.

HB 2056 usurps local control and reduces local governments' ability to protect the quality of our neighborhoods. Voting for this bill would be an early Christmas present to the liquor lobby and a finger in the eye to people fighting to preserve and improve the quality of their towns and cities.

The City of Portland City Council approved the Time, Place & Manner ordinance two years ago to address the small minority of liquor establishments that ran their businesses in an irresponsible manner. Developed by a broad base of stakeholders, the law provides my city government and neighbors like myself a tool to protect neighborhood livability.
Now the liquor lobby is trying to destroy our ability to govern ourselves through HB 2056 while cutting every city and county in Oregon to its knees at the same time. Not only does HB 2056 eviscerate our Time, Place & Manner (TPM) law, it reduces the ability of local governments throughout the state to diligently investigate liquor license applications and problem businesses. HB2056 re-writes our TPM law and makes a problem liquor establishment culpable only for incidents that happen IN or ON, as opposed to FROM, the establishment. For example, if a drunken patron vomits or breaks a window after stepping off the establishment¹s premises, the City would have no recourse against this establishment.

HB2056 would also extend the period for liquor license renewal from one to two years. Currently, the one-year renewal period provides local government and police with an effective tool to persuade problem establishments to clean up their act. A two-year renewal period would let problems fester and increase. In addition, a two-year renewal period would significantly reduce fee revenue that local governments rely upon to perform the necessary due diligence on liquor license applications.

This is a horrible bill that runs in the face of local control that legislators from both sides of the aisle cherish. Please use your veto power to keep this bad idea from becoming a bad law.

Thank you for your attention on this matter.

Background Information

Contact Governor to Veto Anti-Neighborhood Liquor Bill (HB 2056)

The liquor lobby successfully pushed HB 2056 through the legislature. If the Governor signs it, neighbors' best tool to deal with problem establishments will disappear.

Please contact the Governor and request that he veto HB 2056. You can leave him a voice message at 503-378-4582 or send an email from the Governor's web site.

Here's why the bill stinks:

* The bill changes Portland's Time, Place & Manner law, eliminating our ability to deal with nuisance activities that occur outside the building that houses a bar/restaurant (e.g., on the sidewalk, in the parking lot, a few feet outside the door in the street)

* Extending Renewal Period from One to Two Years: Currently the City and neighbors deal with many problematic issues with liquor licenses during the renewal process. A two-year renewal would negatively impact the community and law enforcement by keeping us from dealing with problems quickly.

* Two Year Renewal: In short, each local government in Oregon will lose 1/2 of the revenue for license renewals in their area. In Portland that would mean a loss of approximately $33,000 per year, a third of the Liquor License Notification program. The City currently performs a much stronger investigation into liquor license applications than the OLCC.

* Temporary Licenses: The issuance of a temporary letter of authority could allow a problem outlet to operate without the due diligence of a background investigation and neighborhood feedback, thereby increasing the risk for problem behavior/nuisance activity violations which impact the community's overall livability.

To turn in a letter to the Governor, go here: http://governor.oregon.gov/Gov/contact_us.shtml

New Information
Callers to the Governor's Office should ask for Marian Hammond or Ray Naff
at (503) 378-3111.

Emails should be sent to Marian Hammond marian.hammond@state.or.us or Peter
Cogswell Deputy Chief of Staff at peter.cogswell@state.or.us

Ask the Governor to veto HB 2056 (House Bill 2056). This bill would gut the
last remaining tool available to encourage documented problem liquor
establishments to work with the community to address issues that degrade
livability and community harmony in many of our neighborhoods.

The recent violence in the downtown core of Portland is a very visible
reason why this bill should be rejected. But there are many other problems
that the press does not cover that impact a neighborhood's livability just
as much.


* Background
* Citizens of the City of Portland are very concerned about
livability in our community. The fear of crime and the very real threat of
endangerment have profound effects on our feelings of wellbeing and safety.

* For over the past five years, the City of Portland and the
various neighborhoods have worked hard to ensure that liquor outlets within
the City of Portland meet community expectations, and operate in a manner
that does not unreasonably disturb the peace and tranquility of our
neighborhoods.
* Citizens encouraged the City of Portland to develop and
adopt a Time Place and Manner ordinance to provide additional tools for
prompt nuisance mitigation and problem-solving.
* Part of the City's strategy is to work directly with the
community and businesses to solve problems at the lowest possible level.
* HB 2056 would remove one of the key components in our
ability to work with establishments that have a documented history of
nuisances and disturbances.
*
* MENTION A FEW OF THESE BULLETS -
*
* In Portland, there are over 2,000 liquor establishments that are
part of vibrant neighborhood commercial areas as well as downtown and other
entertainment districts.
* According to data provided by the OLCC, there has been a significant
drop in resources allocated towards enforcement. For example, in 2001,
there were 4,809 biannual licensed premises visits, and 2,035 in 2004 of the
over 10,000 licenses within the state, amounting to over a 50% decrease.
* Additionally, the number of licensees per inspector has gone from
313 in 1990 to now just under 400, a 25% increase in workload
* In the meantime, the City has been experiencing a dramatic increase
in the number of licensed establishments operating within the City.
* The OLCC has inadequate inspection resources within the City to
properly and speedily investigate and follow up on nuisance complaints.
* Given this context, the City needed to step in with new tools to
address operating nuisances that get reported and documented.
* In these cases, the City encourages mediation between the
establishment and its neighbors. It's as simple as getting the parties to
come to the table and work out solutions to mitigate the problems. In most
instances, mitigation results in a Good Neighbor Agreement and the immediate
implementation of mitigation efforts at the establishment.
* In the past year, the City has been involved in problem-solving
activities for 21 locations, which had generated nearly 150 complaints from
neighbors.
* Of those 21 locations, 10 (or about half) have met the threshold of
our TPM ordinance, which requires 3 substantiated complaints in 30 days,
after which we notify the licensee and attempt to develop an abatement plan
with the licensee.
* Of those 10 locations, only 2 failed to submit an acceptable
abatement plan.
*
* ADD PERSONAL EXPERIENCES IF ANY, WITH PROBLEM ESTABLISHMENTS.
*
* Time, Place, and Manner
*
* Section 5 of HB 2056 would limit the City's authority to pursue
valid complaints to only those occurring INSIDE licensed premises.
* According to City documents, fully 85% of all valid nuisance
complaints received since adoption of its TPM ordinance have occurred
OUTSIDE the premises.
* Therefore, 2056 will severely limit a local jurisdiction's ability
to address livability issues related to or arising from a liquor-licensed
establishment, on several fronts:
*
* Conclusion
*
* The OLCC lacks the inspection resources to quickly investigate and
follow up on nuisance complaints. That is why the City was urged by
citizens to adopt its Time Place and Manner ordinance.
* HB 2056 substantially limits the City's ability to proactively work
with badly-managed establishments to mitigate nuisances occurring both
within and related to the establishment.
* The Legislature acted improperly when it voted to limit the City's
locally developed authority to implement citizen-driven policies within its
jurisdiction.
* Multnomah County Circuit Court clearly found that the City acted
within both its local authority and within statutory grants of authority in
developing its TPM ordinance. The Court upheld the City's authority to
pursue valid complaints occurring both inside and outside establishments.
* For these and other reasons stated above, the Governor is urged to
veto HB 2056A.

Sample Letter below

Honorable Theodore Kulongoski
Governor of Oregon
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, Oregon 97301-4047

HB 2056A contains language in Section 5 of the bill that would substantially
limit the reach of Portland's Time Place and Manner ordinance, which the
City adopted in 2004. This is an unacceptable preemption of Portland
citizens' desires to control liquor establishments within out neighborhoods
that create havoc. I urge you, on behalf of all of Portland's citizens, to
veto HB 2056A

Immediately after Portland adopted its ordinance in early 2004, the Oregon
Restaurant Association challenged it in Multnomah County Circuit Court,
arguing that the City lacked the authority to impose operating requirements
on problem establishments. The Court upheld the City's ordinance. Portland
uses the authority of the Time, Place and Manner ordinance for activities
occurring both inside and off-premises.

Now, the ORA claim that changes to Section 5 of HB 2056 are simply
"reinforcing" the Court's ruling. This is a mischaracterization. The court
held that valid complaints could occur at, related to or arising out of the
establishment. In other words, the Court upheld the City's authority to
pursue valid complaints occurring both inside and outside an establishment.
The ORA's assertion that the Court barred regulations of off-premises
nuisances is factually incorrect.

The amendments in Section 5 of HB 2056A would limit the City's enforcement
to "nuisances are occurring on" (meaning in) licenses premises. That simple
word change could prevent the City from following up on complaints outside
the establishments, where fully 85% of valid complaints have taken place.

Portland's ordinance is a local response to a local set of problems.
Governor Kulongoski, I urge you to reject efforts to limit our City's
ability to resolve problems that threaten us or compromise neighborhood
livability.

Thank you for your favorable consideration of my request.

Sincerely,

Name and address.


Kimberly Mark-Villela
Liquor License Programs
111 SW Columbia St. Rm 670
Portland, OR 97201
kmarkvillela@ci.portland.or.us
503-823-3092 phone
503-823-7961 fax
503-793-0339 cell