Old Town Tries but Fails to Start Its Own Service District

In May, Old Town Community Association chair Jessie Burke formally sought permission from the city of Portland for the neighborhood to start its own enhanced services district.

That’s a district in which property owners pay into a dedicated fund to receive city services like trash cleanup and security that go above and beyond the city’s baseline. Old Town has for years been part of Downtown Clean & Safe, the ESD that provides those enhanced services to a swath of downtown Portland.

But Burke wants out.

In her May 6 letter to the city, she wrote: “Our goal is to split off and establish our own ESD that can be managed to meet the needs unique to Old Town, rather than the combined needs of downtown and Old Town, as downtown is drastically more livable and a very different landscape.”

Out of nine applicants, the city preliminarily chose four groups to create new ESDs. Burke’s application was not chosen.

Downtown Clean & Safe says 33% of its dispatches are in Old Town. About 15% of the ESD’s annual revenue comes from Old Town fees.

Burke wrote that because 50% of Old Town is occupied by social service providers, “our neighborhood ecosystem is severely out of balance, and we need to prioritize business support to aid community development, leading to the enhancement of economic resiliency, vibrancy, and vitality of the district.”