Portland City Council on Wednesday approved an ordinance aiming to hold business owners accountable for human trafficking, drug trafficking and other crimes that take place on and near their properties, particularly those along 82nd Avenue.
The ordinance, sponsored by Councilor Steve Novick, was first proposed in January and came before council twice with a package of six amendments. It updates an existing code that defines any business where someone associated with the property has engaged in three or more nuisance activities within a 30-day time frame as a chronic nuisance property that could face closure. But councilors said the code is rarely used now because of its history of selective and racist police enforcement.
The ordinance adjusts the requirement to three reports within 90 days. It also raises the threshold so the police must have probable cause to believe a nuisance activity occurred, not just “an unfounded report from a grumpy neighbor,” as Novick put it. If business owners report crimes themselves, that will not be held against them…