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Developers and business groups urge Portland planning board not to impose a large spacing rule for performance venues
Summary
Developers, the Portland Regional Chamber and local residents told the planning board that a 750-foot spacing requirement between large theaters would prevent economic development and is unnecessary because site-review and event permits can address traffic and safety. Speakers urged the board to protect investment predictability for the Portland Music Hall applicant.
At a Portland Planning Board workshop, a string of public commenters asked the board to reject proposed buffer spacing that speakers said would operate as retroactive zoning and chill investment.
Mary Poppstein, counsel for the applicant, said the 100-foot buffer adopted in 2007 was rooted in concerns about late-night bars and liquor licensing — not modern large-capacity music venues — and warned that the 750-foot proposal, if applied retroactively, "would kill that project." Todd Goldenbark, the project's…
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