Testimony in Salem highlights costly permit dispute that prompted proposed limits on shifting publicly funded improvements to property owners

House Bill 2658 would prohibit cities or counties with populations of 15,000 or more from conditioning a permit or zone change on the applicant completing a public improvement project that a public body had already planned or financed. The bill drew extended public testimony April 3 in the House Committee on Emergency Management, General Government, and Veterans.

The hearing centered on the case of Cammie Price, a Portland small-business owner who said the City of Portland required her to pay for curb, sidewalk and ADA-ramp work tied to a multimillion-dollar Oregon Department of Transportation project that had been planned for the same corners of North Lombard Avenue.

Price said she began interior renovation of a 1,300-square-foot storefront in January 2019 and was told by the city her permits were being held because of sidewalk and ADA requirements. She testified that initial city estimates for the sidewalk work ranged from about $2,900 up to $8,000–$10,000, but later the city required civil engineering plans and a performance bond. After months of coordination among Price’s contractor, Portland and ODOT, she said bids for the corner work ballooned; the contractor she ultimately…