Portland is unlikely to change permitting rules to mirror at least one other Pacific Northwest city, despite some small business owners saying the rules force them to spend six figures on infrastructure projects outside their business.

However, the city commissioner in charge of the bureau in question said he directed employees to work with business owners to reduce development costs.

A KATU investigation last year first uncovered the requirements from the Portland Bureau of Transportation. The city – in some cases – forces small business owners to fix sidewalks and street corners outside their business in order to obtain a building permit.

Our investigation highlighted the city requirements placed on Matt Baysinger to open an axethrowing business in Northwest Portland.

The city initially told him he needed to redo a street corner outside his business to add new ADA corner ramps and a new storm drain, among other improvements. However, after our investigation, the city – through PBOT – waived the most expensive parts of the project.

“it’s hard to pinpoint [the savings] precisely, but I know for certain, I think we saved upwards of $200,000,” Baysinger told KATU.

Following the airing of that story, Kami Price reached out to KATU to tell hers. She wasn’t so lucky.

She and her business partner applied for a permit to renovate their new office in North Portland in early 2019. PBOT told them they needed to upgrade the corner outside her office – a project she said ended up costing over $100,000.

“Do you remember the very first time you got a bid for that corner, what you thought when you got the price,” KATU asked Price.

“I wanted to cry. It was way above what [PBOT] told us. It was going to be like several, several thousands more [than what PBOT said],” Price said.

Our investigation found the city made her fix the corner despite a planned state project that would've covered the same work.

KATU showed Commissioner Mingus Mapps – the person in charge of PBOT – our investigation into Kami’s situation. He was not in charge of PBOT when the agency made Kami redo the street corner.

“I can very much understand why Kami is upset,” Mapps said. “I do not believe the same situation would happen today. We do operate within a regulatory environment that we have to comply with. At the same time, I've made it very clear to PBOT that we want to work with businesses and developers to build great infrastructure and grow small businesses.”

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