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Portland Playhouse knew it needed to remove a wheelchair ramp leading into the 105-year-old North Portland church it calls home. The city of Portland stated that the ramp infringed upon the sidewalk, so the leaders of the nonprofit theater had the ramp removed within the required 30-day time frame.

The city responded by sending a cease-and-desist letter, demanding that the theater company stop all productions in the converted neighborhood arts center. The city claimed the theater was a commercial venture illegally operating in a residential neighborhood.

鈥淲e thought that was just a mistake. We let them know we are a nonprofit and a community service, and we thought that would be the end of it. We quickly learned it was much more complicated,鈥� said Brian Weaver, Portland Playhouse鈥檚 artistic director.

The city had never before recognized a theater as a community service, which is allowed to operate in a residential zone, but only as a retail or commercial operation. Will Rasmussen, an attorney with Miller Nash, took the case pro bono and said it was unique on several levels.

鈥淭he theater is uniformly supported in the neighborhood and the community. It鈥檚 very unusual in land-use cases to not have anybody opposing a project, but nonetheless the city is trying to shut it down,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was also unusual in the value the group gives to the community. There aren鈥檛 many other arts and cultural outlets in the King neighborhood.鈥�

The issue took about nine months to be resolved, ending recently with a Portland City Council vote in favor of Portland Playhouse 鈥� followed by loud cheering from the 100-plus supporters who attended the hearing.

The council鈥檚 vote means other theaters, arts centers and cultural organizations that hold nonprofit status can be considered a community service and be located in residential neighborhoods as well.

鈥淚 personally hope that a result of this is that we end up with more arts and cultural venues in Portland neighborhoods,鈥� Rasmussen said.

Weaver said that Miller Nash鈥檚 pro bono services were a lifesaver for Portland Playhouse.

鈥淭he process with the city is so daunting and it鈥檚 easy to feel bullied by the process, so having Will and Miller Nash there to support us made a huge difference,鈥� he said.