While local Question 2 sounds good at first glance, it’s the small print that will cause lasting damage to Portland. If enacted, it would:
• Create a mayor-appointed Scenic Viewpoint Task Force to assemble a list of all city views and viewpoints. It will have no term limits, no City Council oversight, no sunset clause and can’t be modified without going back to referendum.
• Grant the task force the independent power to override zoning and the Planning and Historic Preservation boards.
• Let the task force make up its own judging criteria, leading to a review process that could be capricious and arbitrary.
• Give the task force the power to render valuable property unusable without any compensation to the owner, causing the loss of new property tax revenue.
Vote “no” on local Question 2 to save our city. Don’t let a few property owners trick us into paying higher property taxes so they can keep their views.
Cyrus Y. Hagge
Portland
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