Portland city councilors have postponed a proposed moratorium on the development of new music venues.
The moratorium would have paused the development of a music venues with a capacity for 2,000 people or more, including a controversial project spearheaded by local developer Mile Marker Investments and concert promotion giant Live Nation.
The development group has proposed building a 3,300-person music hall on Myrtle Street across from the Merrill Auditorium.
The project has sparked debate among some Portland residents and local arts operators, who believe that the new music hall could worsen congestion downtown and make it more difficult for patrons to visit other venues. Many are also wary of Live Nation, which would own and operate the new venue, because it's the subject of an anti-trust lawsuit and Justice Department investigation.
City councilors said at a meeting Monday night that they want more time to study parking and infrastructure questions associated with the project, and that a moratorium may not be the best way to provide answers.
"There's been a lot of emotion, a lot of activity, but not enough progress about answering some of the key issues," said city councilor Ben Grant.
"The best, but not the only example, is the legitimate concern about the movement of several thousand people in this part of town over 100 times per year at a new concert venue," he added. The questions have not been answered to my level of comfort. Parking is a piece of it, but not the only one: it's traffic control, pedestrian safety, law enforcement needs, and the list go on. These issues need a full vetting and something closer to a resolution in some form."
The city's sustainability and transportation committee will now take up the matter and come back to the city council at a later date.
