Chief
03-29-2007, 08:09 AM
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1175135110152270.xml&coll=7
Hard cash - South Waterfront property owners agreed in 2004 to help cover tram construction costs
Thursday, March 29, 2007
RYAN FRANK
So how much would you pay to live near Portland's new aerial tram?
Three of the tram's neighbors opened their mail this month to find a bill from the city of Portland for the new silver people-mover and said:
Not that much.
The Oregon Department of Transportation, an industrial engineer and a 31-year-old townhouse buyer objected to the fees the city wants to charge those who own property next to the $57 million tram.
Developers sold the tram as the linchpin for opening the South Waterfront district to the medical and condo towers that now run the riverfront.
In other words: Without a tram, the city says, the riverfront property would be worth far less.
Not everyone sees it that way.
"We as homeowners in South Waterfront are not seeing any benefit that a homeowner in Northeast doesn't see," said Rich Heuser, a Realtor who bought a $533,000 townhouse in the Meriwether who says he doesn't ride the tram. The tram fee for his townhouse was $815. ". . . To me, that's a good enough reason to have the homeowners not front the tram cost.
"Us homeowners in South Waterfront have paid enough."
Heuser was one of 341 people billed. A majority of South Waterfront property owners agreed in 2004 to bill themselves to help cover the tram's construction costs. The fees can be paid over 20 years.
Hard cash - South Waterfront property owners agreed in 2004 to help cover tram construction costs
Thursday, March 29, 2007
RYAN FRANK
So how much would you pay to live near Portland's new aerial tram?
Three of the tram's neighbors opened their mail this month to find a bill from the city of Portland for the new silver people-mover and said:
Not that much.
The Oregon Department of Transportation, an industrial engineer and a 31-year-old townhouse buyer objected to the fees the city wants to charge those who own property next to the $57 million tram.
Developers sold the tram as the linchpin for opening the South Waterfront district to the medical and condo towers that now run the riverfront.
In other words: Without a tram, the city says, the riverfront property would be worth far less.
Not everyone sees it that way.
"We as homeowners in South Waterfront are not seeing any benefit that a homeowner in Northeast doesn't see," said Rich Heuser, a Realtor who bought a $533,000 townhouse in the Meriwether who says he doesn't ride the tram. The tram fee for his townhouse was $815. ". . . To me, that's a good enough reason to have the homeowners not front the tram cost.
"Us homeowners in South Waterfront have paid enough."
Heuser was one of 341 people billed. A majority of South Waterfront property owners agreed in 2004 to bill themselves to help cover the tram's construction costs. The fees can be paid over 20 years.