Just off Interstate 5 at the Columbia Boulevard exit in North Portland, motorists are presented with a 42-foot-long \"Black Lives Matter\" sign on the front of an industrial building at 866 N Columbia Blvd.<\/p>\n
Somebody didn't like the sign and, on Nov. 23, filed a complaint with the city's Bureau of Development Services. (The bureau declined to provide the name of the complainant, saying that the person's identity was not a public record.)<\/p>\n
On Dec. 10, BDS fined owner David Gold $292 for violating the city's sign code. The BLM banner,the bureau determined, exceeds the 32-square-foot maximum size above which building owners must seek permits and was indeed hung without a permit.<\/p>\n
That fine increases by $709 every 30 days if the banner isn't permitted or removed.<\/p>\n
BDS spokesman Ken Ray says that before citing Gold, the bureau notified him he'd need to remove the banner or apply for a permit, neither of which Gold did.<\/p>\n
\"The Bureau of Development Services reviews permit applications and enforces the city's sign code without regard to a sign's message or content,\" Ray says.<\/p>\n
Gold acknowledges receiving a warning from BDS, but he isn't happy.<\/p>\n
\"With all of the current protest signage in Portland and all other problems facing Portland,\" Gold says, \"it's unbelievable that city resources are being used to fine political speech.\"<\/p>\n
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The City of Portland Fines a Building Owner for Oversized Black Lives Matter Sign - Willamette Week<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Just off Interstate 5 at the Columbia Boulevard exit in North Portland, motorists are presented with a 42-foot-long \"Black Lives Matter\" sign on the front of an industrial building at 866 N Columbia Blvd. Somebody didn't like the sign and, on Nov Continue reading